If we don’t act against plastic pollution now, we will run out of options

Gone are the days when people had to be convinced of a plastic crisis. It’s hard these days to find someone who hasn’t read about microplastics in the ocean and its horrific effects on marine animals.

Plastic pollution is not something we can ignore anymore. It’s right there, in front of our eyes. We could blame Covid, the increase in takeaways during lockdown, or a shortage of containers. However, none of this can explain why plastic production will double by 2030.

A research team at NUIG recently estimated that a third of all waste shipped from Ireland for recycling is not recycled and gave a conservative estimate that 3% of plastic waste from Ireland ends up in the marine environment. Given that we as a nation produce 300 million tons of plastic annually, nine million tons of Irish plastic waste is dumped into the ocean every year.

Dissemination of plastics

The insidious nature of this man-made material is so profound that microplastics have been ingested in the depths of the Marianna Trench and into the northern foothills of Mount Everest.

The effects of plastic pollution on the marine environment are well documented, but it’s not just floating islands of plastic waste three times the size of France that we have to worry about. Our oceans act as a carbon sink. In fact, they store up to half of all the CO2 produced by mankind over the past two centuries. In the delicate dance of the biological chain reaction, algae mistake plastic waste for food and fail to absorb the required carbon molecules that float on the water.

This carbon is not captured by the algae, so it is not eaten by the salps (which ingests the algae) and carried to the sea floor, where it is stored outside of our atmosphere.

Instead it will be reissued. This study, carried out by NUIG and UCC, shows how marine litter and microplastics can affect animals and even ecosystems in ways that have not been considered before.

Highlighting the problem

We at the Sick of Plastic campaign have teamed up with SSE Airtricity to create the spectacular Planet or Plastic? Photo exhibition for the first time in Dublin. The exhibition highlights the effects of plastic on our environment, our seas and oceans, and marine life.

Source: Mandy Barker

Mandy Barker is a photographer whose work can be seen in the exhibition. She has documented the effects of plastic pollution in her work. This picture, made up of hundreds of brightly colored plastic pieces arranged in a decorative pattern, is almost beautiful in its symmetry. That is, until you read that these are actually the remains of a gull’s stomach that had died from ingesting so much plastic waste.

“The future of plastic lies in the garbage canâ€, a quote from a leading plastics industrialist – Lloyd Stouffer in the mid-1950s. He was referring to the endless cash cow that plastics are, as our culture is one of throwing away instead of reusing. And he was right.

As long as we throw it in our trash cans, the oil and gas will keep producing, the chemical companies will keep making toxic chemicals to mix them up, and the poor quality single-use plastics that we resent will just keep on coming. It’s a business plan and there has been little or no regulation of the industry.

It wasn’t long ago that plastic wasn’t that widespread. Does anyone remember glass milk bottles? Loose fruits and vegetables? We got used to the slightly irritating and garbage-loading middleman. But our green bins have enough. Who else is piling their heaviest children on their recyclable mound every other week just to make a little more space for the recent flurry of plastic packaging in the supermarket?

To ride on ocean currents, seahorses grab drifting seaweed or other natural debris with their tails. Instead, in the polluted waters off the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, this seahorse clung to a plastic cotton swab – “a photo I wish it didn’t exist,” says photographer Justin Hofman

Source: Justin Hofman

So what is to be done? Recycle more? No. Do less! Recycling is not the solution, it is only a small part of the overall solution.

Only 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled and a piece of plastic can only be recycled a few times before it crumbles and has to be burned or landfilled.

However, there are solutions, particularly at a political level, that would drastically reduce the amount of plastic we produce here in Ireland (and no, including soft plastic on the recycling list is not one of them):

• We need refill targets for our supermarkets. France has passed a law requiring that by 2030 20% of the retail space of stores larger than 400 square meters must be equipped with refill systems. Smaller shops, off-licenses, cosmetic shops and perfumeries are excluded. So what would that look like? Just like your reusable grocery bags, bring your own pasta, rice or porridge containers, or any other staple that you buy regularly, and just refill them. Instead of buying these products and unpacking them once you get home, buy them bulk and cheaper too (since they are bought in bulk).
• Limit the use of some formats of single-use packaging for certain applications (e.g. vegetable and fruit packaging), especially when reusable products or systems are widespread or consumer goods can be safely handled without packaging.
• Compulsory company Plastic reduction reporting should be introduced. We need our businesses and companies to be 100% transparent about the amount of plastic they produce. This should be publicly documented annually.
• Financial support for the reuse infrastructure: Currently, the Irish food sector does not have the necessary infrastructure to support a robust, reuse-oriented system. Therefore, funding for infrastructure provision must be given priority.

Our Sick of Plastic campaign is aware of the fact that the solutions have to be top-down (politics) and bottom-up (consumer-oriented). We all have a personal responsibility to effectively manage our own waste.

A face mask on land on the Baltic island of Sobieszewo in northern Poland. Since disposable face masks and other personal protective equipment usually contain plastic, they are neither recyclable nor compostable.

Source: Jakub Rybicki

As we urge the industry to implement packaging-free solutions and reusable options, we ask anyone who is fed up with plastic please use their consumer power to make a difference. There are ‘zero waste’ or ‘packaging free’ stores in Ireland. Maybe there is one near you.

Lyndsey O’Connell is the campaign manager for the Sick of Plastic campaign. Would you like to know more about Planet or Plastic from National Geographic? Exhibition at Harbor Plaza, Dún Laoghaire runs until November 11th and The Promenade, Skerries November 15th to December 15th. It’s free to enter, it’s outside, and fun for the whole family. The exhibition is also part of the event program of SSE Airtricity as main partner of the UN Climate Change Conference 2021 (COP26) in Glasgow, the crucial gathering of world leaders to address the effects of climate change on our planet.