The production of new plastics is also a HUGE problem for the climate.
99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels and plastic production could DOUBLE within the next 10-15 years, and TRIPLE by 2050 if the industry has its way.
We need a strong #PlasticsTreaty to turn off the tap.
@greenpeace I didn't see plastics in single use items until the mid-70s. Liquids in glass, cans , maybe paper cartons for milk. Paper bags, or cloth for shopping. Cups, mugs, glasses? Ceramic, metal or ! Surprise! Glass. Picnics? Paper plates & cups
Quality of life related to purchases and consumption of goods wasn't that bad. Where water quality was bad we got delivery of 5 gal jugs for drinking, cooking.
Today - I use reusable metal mugs, by liquids in mostly glass, some cans, or paper cartons (milk). Lucky enough to live in a city with good water.
Why do we need soooo much plastic?
(And yes, for some but not all applications we need synthetic polymers. But not in our disposable single use mode, with functionally non-refundable plastics the reality, industry lies notwithstanding)
@PaulWermer @greenpeace We have so much plastic, not because of demand, but rather because of supply. Put simply, plastic is made out of the fractions of crude oil that don't go into gasoline. Early on, it was essentially considered a waste product, until someone discovered we could polymerize it into something useful.
So, as long as we're burning oil, we'll have an excess of these materials that can be turned into packaging or utensils at a fraction of the cost of other materials.
@LouisIngenthron @greenpeace my only quibble - it's low price, not low cost. Our whole Fossil Carbon Industry relies on what can easily be monetized, and the immediate benefits to users.
It's easy to monetize the labor, equipment, materials and selling price of goods.
It's much harder to monetize the health & ecosystem impacts.
So we are making these decisions based on the costs of some aspects of production vs the $ per unit sold, but in no way are we looking at a total lifecycle cost. Penny wise, pound foolish economics
@PaulWermer @greenpeace In the case of plastics specifically, maybe not. Because the compounds they come from are volatile and flammable (usually gasses). There was a time when we just burned them as waste (in fact, we still do burn some; ever heard of butane?). So, while plastics aren't great for the environment, it's arguably a much better use of the raw materials than the other options, because polymerizing them traps the hydrocarbons in the plastic.
@LouisIngenthron @greenpeace so manufacturing most plastics has nasty impacts on surrounding communities (cancer alley, etc)
And then there's the microplastic problem, still nowhere near fully understood but many worrying indicators.
Not to mention the physical hazards posed to wildlife from a variety of macro&mega-plastic waste.
And, butane, propane, ethane have relatively low GWPs, nothing like methane .
(I won't bother with the arcane rules of attributing impact to the various products of a process or complex material (think meat vs leather vs collagen glues from a beef steer, or soy oil vs soy feed) in Lifecycle Impact Analysis)
In short, it's better to leave it all in the ground.
@LouisIngenthron @greenpeace (this risks sinking more time than I have, but:) agreed that venting the gas is wrong.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the volatiles in fossil carbon are methane (between 60 & 90%), .which is difficult to use as a plastic feedstock, so mostly used in hydrogen production and as a fuel.
Ethane (polyethylene) , propane (polypropylene) are probably the most widely used for making plastics. Propane has other uses (excellent application in heat pumps, superb performance and very low GWP compared to almost everything else)
The problem is that it's not just climate impacts, and polyethylenes and polypropylenes are a small percentage of the plastics.
PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is a) ubiquitous and b) the manufacturing process exposes workers and communities to potent toxins and carcinogens. When in fires ( and garbage dumps have fires) the smoke is especially toxic . And additives used to modify the PVC properties have a host of nasty health impacts.