" The second Plastic Waste Makers Index, compiled by the philanthropic Minderoo Foundation, found the world generated 139 million metric tons of single-use plastic waste in 2021, which was 6 million metric tons more than in 2019, when the first index was released."
From Brisbane Australia, In CNN Marketplace HERE, this article pinpoints some of the areas that contribute to plastic waste.
"But the report found that recycling isn’t scaling up fast enough to deal with the amount of plastic being produced, meaning that used products are far more likely to be dumped in landfills, on beaches and in rivers and oceans than to make it into recycling plants.
The index named just two companies in the petrochemical industry that are recycling and producing recycled polymers at scale: Taiwanese conglomerate Far Eastern New Century and Thailand’s Indorama Ventures, the world’s largest producer of recycled PET for drink bottles.
Indorama Ventures is also number four on a list of 20 of the world’s biggest producers of virgin polymers used in single-use plastic. The list is led by US oil major Exxon (XOM) Mobil, China’s Sinopec (SHI) and another US heavyweight, Dow, in that order, according to the report.
And in making polymers bound for single-use plastic, those 20 companies generated around 450 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions — around the same amount of total emissions as the United Kingdom, according to Carbon Trust and Wood Mackenzie, which analyzed the data. Last June, the UK’s Office for National Statistics said UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 13% to just over 478 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt Co2e) in the year to 2020."
The report does mention a few of the steps being taken to limit single use plastics by countries and states. Then it goes on to say:
"Last year, the United Nations Environment Assembly, the world’s highest-level decision-making body on the environment, agreed to create the world’s first-ever global plastic pollution treaty.
An intergovernmental committee is working to a 2024 deadline to draft a legally binding agreement that would address the full lifecycle of plastic, from its production and design to its disposal."
Today's quote:
Politeness is the art of choosing among your thoughts. -Madame de Stael, writer (1766-1817)
...plastic is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteIt has become that way.
DeleteRemember when we made do with glass, metal, and cardboard? We survived just fine.
ReplyDeleteGood point. There sure was Pre-plastic time!
ReplyDeleteWe try so hard to make better decisions about plastic. It is tough, some days.
ReplyDeleteIt can drag us down! Just a little effort does make me feel better.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt is hard trying to avoid items made with plastic. Take care, have a great day!
I actually thought about which take-out containers are used by different restaurants last night when I wanted to bring home dinner. And I chose the one which had cardboard rather than styrofoam.
DeleteLast quote is remarkable
ReplyDeleteHere is from wisdom aries :)
Hi Barbara, I'm going to have to enlist you as my proof-reader! Thanks for pointing out my fat fingered actions... Its nice to know that someone is actually reading what I write and not just looking at the photos. As for plastics, we use cloth grocery bags, try to recycle whatever plastics we can, don't use plastic straws, reuse any plastic bottles as water bottles, etc. This is a huge problem with no easy answer. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a huge problem without an easy answer. And I may spell horribly but do notice dates like 1067 for a car.
DeleteTroubling.
ReplyDeleteI could have sworn I've commented on these posts.
I've been having my comments disappear too. But this one finally (today, 2/10) was emailed to me so I could post it! Nope, we're not going crazy, much as blogger seems to want us to!
Delete