How the lifetime of plastics exacerbates climate change

But even though plastics have so many benefits, they are still fossil fuels, according to a May 2019 report entitled "Plastics and Climate: the Hidden cost of a plastic Planet" released by the International Center for Environmental Law. Plastic emits greenhouse gases from cradle to grave.

However, while current policies continue to promote plastic production, fossil fuel consumption will only increase. According to the World Economic Forum, about 4% of the world's annual oil consumption is related to plastics. If we continue to rely on plastics, plastics will account for 20% of the world's total oil consumption by 2050.

The Hidden cost report shows that the transition to "zero waste" (that is, saving resources through responsible production, consumption, reuse and material recycling without incineration or landfill) is the best way to reduce emissions. However, achieving the goal requires a huge cultural shift and a transformation of every step in the product life cycle.

We know that more than 90% of plastic products are produced by fossil fuels. and greenhouse gases are emitted at every stage of the plastic life cycle: 1) the extraction and transportation of fossil fuels, 2) the refining and manufacture of plastics, 3) plastic waste management 4) once plastics enter the ocean, waterways and natural landscapes, it will have a lasting impact.

Here is the really exciting part, through the above four cycles, let's elaborate on how plastic has a lasting impact on the global climate.

01

Problems caused by mining and transportation

The exploitation and transportation of fossil fuels that make plastics produce large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Sources of emissions include direct emissions, such as methane leakage and combustion, emissions from fuel combustion and energy consumption during oil or gas drilling, and emissions from land interference when clearing forests and fields for use as rigs and pipelines.

In 2015, in the United States alone, the extraction and transportation of fossil fuels (mainly fracturing gas) for plastic production generated emissions of at least 9.5-10.5 million tons of CO2e per year. Outside the United States, oil is the main raw material for plastic production. Each year, about 108 million tons of CO2e is caused by plastic production, mainly from mining and refining.

02

Refining and manufacturing to accelerate emissions

Plastic refining is one of the industries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing industry, and it is also one of the fastest growing industries.

The manufacture of plastics is inherently energy-intensive and emission-intensive, producing large amounts of emissions by cracking alkanes into olefins, polymerizing and plasticizing olefins into plastic resins and other chemical refining processes.

According to the report, global emissions of ethylene, the basic material for polyethylene plastics, ranged from 184.3 to 213 million metric tons in 2015, equivalent to 45 million passenger cars in a year.

03

Waste management makes things worse.

Globally, about 40% of the plastic is used for packaging. In general, packaging is for one-time use only, so it can be processed quickly. The packaging can be disposed of in three different ways: landfill, incineration or recycling. Each way produces greenhouse gas emissions.

The impact of landfill on climate is much lower than that of incineration. Of the three schemes, waste incineration has the greatest impact on the climate. The emissions of recycling are moderate, but they will replace the new primary plastics on the market, which has an advantage from the perspective of emissions.

But research by the Allen MacArthur Foundation (Ellen MacArthur Foundation) shows that up to 72 per cent of plastic packaging is not recycled at all, of which 40 per cent is landfill and 32 per cent is lost outside the recycling system. In other words, most plastic packages are either not recycled at all, or are illegally dumped or improperly disposed of after recycling.

Incineration leads to extremely high emissions, which is the main source of emissions from plastic waste management. Worldwide, the use of incineration in plastic waste management is bound to increase rapidly in the coming decades.

It is estimated that carbon dioxide emissions from plastic incineration in the United States were 5.9 million tons in 2015. According to plastic packaging accounting for 40 per cent of plastic demand, global carbon dioxide emissions from the incineration of this particular type of plastic waste totaled 16 million tonnes in 2015. This estimate does not account for 32% of known unmanaged plastic packaging waste. Open-air burning of plastics is incineration without any energy recovery, or other common and difficult to quantify practices.

04

Plastics enter the environment and still have an impact on the climate

After using plastic, people may deliberately throw it into the environment, sometimes accidentally into the environment. Even if the plastic is transported to landfills, some plastics are light enough to blow into the wind and enter the waterway. These unregulated plastics will eventually enter the environment and continue to have an impact on the climate as they degrade.

The report shows that the plastic on the ocean surface continues to release methane and other greenhouse gases, and these emissions will increase as the plastic further breaks down into microplastics. Current estimates cover only 1% of the plastic on the ocean's surface. 99% of plastic emissions below the surface cannot be accurately estimated. Notably, this study shows that plastic on coastlines, riverbanks and land releases greenhouse gases at a higher rate.

Microplastics in the ocean may also interfere with the ocean's ability to absorb and isolate carbon dioxide. Since the beginning of the industrial age, the earth's oceans have absorbed 20-40% of all man-made carbon emissions. Phytoplankton in seawater play a vital role in the biological carbon pump, which captures carbon from the ocean surface and transports it to the deep sea to prevent it from re-entering the atmosphere.

Around the world, these plankton are being contaminated by microplastics. Laboratory experiments have shown that this plastic pollution reduces the ability of plankton to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

They also believe that plastic pollution reduces the metabolic rate, reproductive success rate and survival rate of plankton that transfer carbon to the deep sea. The study of these effects is still in its infancy, but early signs suggest that plastic pollution may interfere with the largest natural carbon sinks on the planet, which should attract immediate attention.

The explosion of plastic carbon emissions will aggravate the climate crisis.

Plans to expand plastic production in the plastics and petrochemical industries are likely to exacerbate the impact of plastics on the climate.

If plastic production, disposal and incineration continue on the current growth trajectory, these global emissions will reach 1.34 billion tons a year by 2030, equivalent to 295500 megawatt coal-fired power plants. By 2050, plastic production and incineration will emit 2.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year, equivalent to 615 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.

Emissions from the life cycle of plastics

What's the solution?

This report considers a variety of responses to the plastic pollution crisis and assesses their effectiveness in mitigating the impact of plastics on climate, the environment and health. There are priority measures that can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the life cycle of plastics and have positive benefits for social or environmental goals. These include:

Stop the production and use of disposable plastics

Stop developing new oil, gas and petrochemical infrastructure

Promote the transition to a zero-waste community

Implementation of expanding producer responsibility sys