Author: lucang

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The Plastic Problem.

Andreoni, Manuela. “The Plastic Problem.” The New York Times, 17 Jan. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/climate/plastics-climate-pollution.html.

 

Plastics are a jack of all trades used throughout our daily lives, from clothes to medicine. However, almost half of all plastics are single-use and end up in our landfills, oceans, and even in organisms, including humans. Negotiations are currently underway to decide what plastic management system should be in place worldwide. The two significant proposals are the “High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution,” which aims to set a binding target for the amount of plastic each country can produce. The other proposal is put forth by fossil fuel producers like the US and Saudi Arabia, which seek to focus on recycling plastic and have voluntary commitments rather than enforced goals like the Montreal proposal, which has shown success in preventing climate change. 

To fight climate change, goals must be set with punishments for those who fail to reach those goals. For too long has, the planet suffered at the expense of greedy nations like the United States, who seek to profit while destroying our planet. While recycling helps fight climate change, it could be more effective in making the significant change needed to slow it on a large scale. If the United States lowers its plastic production, we can focus on getting the current plastic out of the environment rather than stopping new plastic from entering the atmosphere. While turning to alternatives for plastic will be a hard endeavor due to our reliance on them in our daily lives, a sacrifice must be made to protect the environment. Plastics have had many beneficial uses like revolutionizing medicine, but there needs to be innovation in more eco-friendly ways to take the place of plastics in the United States.

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McDonald’s Is Testing a Change for Its Cups on Its ‘Journey Towards Good.’

Deb Kiner, dkiner@pennlive.com. “McDonald’s Is Testing a Change for Its Cups on Its ‘Journey Towards Good.’” Pennlive, 27 Jan. 2023, www.pennlive.com/food/2023/01/mcdonalds-is-testing-a-change-for-its-cups-on-its-journey-towards-good.html.

Mcdonald’s is getting rid of plastic straws in favor of new lids that don’t need straws. The new lids are part of Mcdonald’s journey to reduce plastic waste. Many praise Mcdonald’s for being innovative in reducing plastic waste by using these new kids on most of their drinks and using straws that make up a large portion of plastic waste from fast food restaurants. On the other hand, many people see the lids as virtue signaling because their cups are still pliable, and they only get rid of a small amount of overall plastic with their publicity stunt. Moreover, many restaurants still give straws with their cups making the movement redundant.

Mcdonald’s is on the right track regarding reducing plastic waste with the new lids. However, they are doing it in small steps that are seen as publicity stunts rather than attempts to decrease the amount of plastic waste they produce. If Mcdonald’s was serious about reducing plastic waste, they would eliminate the plastic cups alongside their straw and use more eco-friendly packaging. On top of that should focus on more major pollutants of plastic, such as shipping their food products that use cellophane plastics. All the food they receive comes with this plastic, and they should look for alternatives to reduce their waste. They also need to be more strict with their restaurants regarding reducing plastic, as only some restaurants follow the regulations, such as not giving straws, which defeats the purpose of their new lids. If Mcdonald’s wishes to significantly impact plastic waste in the United States, it must come up with more innovative solutions than sippy cup plastic lids.

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Advanced’ Recycling of Plastic Using High Heat and Chemicals Is Costly and Environmentally Problematic, a New Government Study Finds

Weisbrod, Katelyn. “‘Advanced’ Recycling of Plastic Using High Heat and Chemicals Is Costly and Environmentally Problematic, a New Government Study Finds.” Inside Climate News, 20 Jan. 2023, insideclimatenews.org/news/19012023/plastic-advanced-recycling-cost-environmental-impact.  

 

Many of the new plastic recycling methods, including gasification and pyrolysis, are found to be inefficient and highly polluting. In some chemical recycling methods, only 1 to 15 % of the plastic remains after being processed, meaning close to 90% of the plastic is still benignly released into the environment. Some other methods are more favorable, with an 80-95% success rate, but they still need to be more efficient in the fight for recycling plastics. The most efficient and economical method is mechanical recycling, which has been around for the most extended time; it has a lower emissions rate and is less polluting than other methods. Experts say that multiple methods must be used to fight against plastic waste. The purest plastics should go through mechanical recycling, while the impure plastics should be chemically recycled. 

While current recycling options are inefficient and expensive, there should still be a push for more innovative options for recycling. Many of the systems tested were in their early stages or prototypes. However, the most efficient approach is also the one that has been around the longest. If we continue to research to improve and create new methods, the quality of the methods and products should increase alongside them. There will never be one system that will eliminate all our plastic waste; however, with a combination of multiple different methods, the amount of waste recycled should significantly increase. However, the main problem with plastic is not recycling but manufacturing. Our current recycling systems cannot keep up with the amount of plastic being produced, so to make a dent in the plastic waste problem, we must attack it at the source and lower our plastic production. With lower plastic waste being put into our society, recycling will be able to finally create a dent in the amount already present in the environment.

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We Have a Waste Problem

 

Michelson, Joan. “We Have a Waste Problem – Will ESG and Government Funding Help?” Forbes, 29 Jan. 2023, www.forbes.com/sites/joanmichelson2/2023/01/29/we-have-a-waste-problem–will-ESG-and-government-funding-help/?sh=56d785df4e22.

 

The Holiday season not only brings excellent cheer but also significant plastic waste. Plastic is part of our everyday lives, from wrapping paper on a present to packaging our food. The United States has a plastic waste problem that is going strong. Only 5% of the plastic put into recycling bins is recycled. Every hour 2.5 million plastic bottles are being thrown away. Many end up in landfills, our environment, and in the ecosystem. While there are thousands of recycling systems in the nation and many people are becoming more conscious of their plastic waste, there is still the growing problem of plastic waste. While there are still many problems with our plastic usage, companies, and bodies are creating change like Patagonia, who reduce plastic to make their apparel, others who are building biodegradable plastics, and those who are reducing their plastic packaging to make a difference. Regulations are being placed in certain areas that force plastic manufacturers to take accountability for the plastics they create from their creation until their disposal/recycling. Other programs are rapidly evolving with the current plastic epidemic, and only time will tell how effective they are.

It is disheartening to see that despite all our hard work, there is little impact on the amount of plastic pumped into the ecosystem by the United States and other countries. There needs to be more incredible innovation regarding methods that aim to reduce plastic waste on our planet. While we have thousands of recycling centers, little plastic is actually recycled. If we wish to reduce plastic waste, there must be a more significant push for effective recycling methods. There also needs to be a reduction in the amount of plastic being produced, as no matter how much plastic we take out of the environment, it won’t matter if we keep dumping more in than we take out. There needs to be set goals and regulations that manufacturers must follow to decrease the amount of plastic being made. Without their measures, the problem will continue to escalate, and our planet’s health will continue to deteriorate.

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Efforts to Regulate Plastic Pollution Likely to Increase in 2023.

Austin, Anne Idsal. “Efforts to Regulate Plastic Pollution Likely to Increase in 2023.” Waste Management – United States, 19 Jan. 2023, www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/waste-management/1272904/efforts-to-regulate-plastic-pollution-likely-to-increase-in-2023.

The biden administration have proposed environmental legislation that aims to increase the amount of plastic that is being recycled by the United States. It is likely that plastic waste will be a big vocal point for the biden administration and for congress. The United States government has recently started to implement more goals and legislators aimed at reducing plastic waste and fighting climate change. There has been more pressure put on the EPA to better reduce the plastic waste of the United States. Much of the effects of these new governmental actions are yet to be seen and will need time to see their impacts. 

I think that the government has to be more proactive in their fights against climate change and plastic waste. They keep setting up meaningless goals with no concrete plans put in action to reach those goals. Unless there is a big push and major change to our plastic usage those goal will stay out of reach. However I do think that the new legislation is a step in the right direction for the United step, it is one out of a thousand steps that must be taken to prevent further damage to our environment. The push for environmental policy must also extend past one term and shouldn’t be dismantled on the basis of political differences. In order to make change there must be a unified effort from all parties involved including the government and the people.

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Why pineapple leaves are a promising candidate to replace plastic materials used in single-use masks?

Since the begging of the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of face masks has increased by an immense amount. With this increase in use, there has also been an increase in waste caused by these face masks. Face masks are made using multiple layers of plastic, however, they’re mainly single use and they are thrown out after their use. A group of researchers has started to research the possibility of making pineapple leaves into face masks as they are biodegradable and are seen as waste in agriculture. However, more support is needed if these leaves are ever to turn into masks.

 

This article brings up an interesting alternative to our traditional face masks. Covid-19 has caused great harm to all parts of our life but I had been unaware that even the face masks we use to combat the virus are now causing harm to our environment. It astonished me just how much waste these face masks were causing and the possible ramifications of the waste of the masks. The alternative using Pinable leaves seems to be a great alternative however there do seem to be some flaws to them. Since only take a couple of days to start to decompose, they can’t be stored for long amounts of time before they go bad. On top of that, they do not handle well moisture and because covid-19 mainly travels through moisture, they may not be very effective in preventing catching the disease. All that being said, I think that there is a future for alternative materials to single-use plastic masks. The only thing holding them back is the lack of research and support for these alternatives to plastic masks.

 

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How ‘superworms’ could help solve the trash crisis.

Australian researchers have discovered that the larva of the darkling beetle is able to completely survive and become beetles on a diet of polystyrene which is an ingredient in styrofoam. The larva eating the plastics allows the scientists to use the waste and make it into more valuable bioplastics. Scientists are looking into the specific enzymes in the larva that allow them to break down the plastics in order to better scale the operation into a more efficient one. Scientists say people must also use more ecologically friendly plastics in order to make this future a reality.

 

This article talks about the discovery of the darkling beetles’ ability to break down plastic foam. It also talks about it could also be scaled up to a larger scale in order to handle lots of plastic. This intrigues me because we now have a new way to repurpose plastic waste that has been choking our environment. It also means we can now more feasibly reduce the effects of plastic as there would be less of it in the environment. I am surprised at the larva’s ability since even with the poor diet of plastic, it is still able to go on to become a beetle and thrive. I wonder how long this could take to be put into a large-scale operation and I am also curious if we can use the new bioplastics that are produced through the process.

 

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The plastic crisis needs a binding treaty, the report says.

The EIA is pushing for the UN to make a binding treaty with set goals to reduce the amount of plastic created and how to handle the plastic waste. Although there is a lot of support from nations and groups, countries like the U.S. and organizations like British Plastics Federation are in opposition since they are some of the largest producers of plastic, the raw materials necessary for plastic, and plastic waste. The researchers on plastic pollution have come to the conclusion that any delay could cause irreparable harm to our environment. 

 

The BBC news article has revealed how urgent we need to act if we are to stop the tons of plastic pollution in our environment. It has also shown how the greed of companies and the self-interest of governments are coming in the way of stopping plastic pollution and creation. Plastic is found everywhere in our environment from the soil at our feet to the oceans, even all the way in Antarctica, microplastics can be found. On top of that, the pollution from plastic is causing many animals to die including elephants that ingest the pollution in their habitats. In order to stop the problems, there must be infrastructure in place to recycle and have compostable plastic and plastic alternatives. On top of that, there needs to be a giant decrease in new plastic use in order to lessen the amount of plastic waste going into our environment.

 

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New Study finds microplastics in meat, milk, and Animal Blood.

A recent study in the Netherlands tested beef and pork and found that they contained microplastics in their blood. Three-fourths of the meat tested contained this microplastic. The contamination was widespread with even store-bought milk and hand-milked milk, and they both contained microplastics. Microplastics are also starting to appear in the arctic with a garbage patch starting to form there like the one in the Pacific. These microplastics could lead to the health of the livestock and humans that ingest them deteriorating.

The article reveals how microplastics have become engraved into all life, including the ones humans ingest. I find it surprising that microplastics are even found in the daily food we eat, like carton milk and the meat we eat. I also find it surprising that it is found in most of our products consumed daily without our knowledge. I also find it astonishing that there is a second large garbage patch being created in Antarctica. A land so far removed from most of society is still feeling the effects of our plastic use. I think the effects of ingesting these microplastics should be researched in order to get an understanding of what will happen to people that are ingesting these microplastics. I also think that we should find a way to get rid of microplastics found in our food sources and plastics in general.

 

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How bad is plastic for the environment?

Plastic waste has become a significant problem in the 21st century as our consumption since 1950 has grown 190x. The major problem with plastics is that plastic contaminates our environment for thousands of years after their short use. Microplastics and nano plastics that come from plastics that cannot retrieve from the environment are in every organism, including humans. 90% of sea birds contain microplastics and nano plastics in the bloodstreams of humans. To reduce its impact, more plastic must be recycled and cleaned up from the environment.

This article sheds light on how much damage the plastics we use daily are causing our environment. Nowadays, plastics are a part of our daily lives. We take for granted the availability of plastics without considering how much damage a single-use bottle is causing our environment. As the article revealed, microplastics are so widespread that they are in our bodies without our knowledge. This article made me think of how widespread the problem of plastic waste is. It also made me realize that if we want to protect the planet and ourselves from plastic, we must start to recycle the plastics we use and cut down on the number of single-use plastics we consume daily. I wonder why we allowed the problem to get to this without much intervention. I also wonder how long it will take to reverse the effect, if possible, that plastic waste has caused on the environment. A considerable joint effort is needed to combat the plastic waste problem on our planet and its inhabitants.