It’s been more than four years since the launch of the first universal recycling symbol. Yet, today, only 14% of plastic packaging is actually collected for recycling. As for the rest of it? Lots of it goes into landfills. And more than 1/3 of it — along with some of that 14% —gets mismanaged or “leaked” from the collection system, and goes into our oceans. According to a new report from the World Economic Forum, there are currently 150 million tons of plastic in the ocean currently — and it’s only getting worse. By 2025, experts expect that there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in the ocean, and by 2050, plastic will actually outweigh fish, pound for pound.
Sure, we encounter near constant reminders to “go green,” and many of us have recycling bins in our homes, but the reality is that worldwide plastic use has increased 20-fold in the past 50 years, and is expected to double in the next 20. In addition, about eight million tons of plastic escape collection systems each year and end up in our waterways and oceans. That’s the equivalent of dumping the contents of a full garbage truck into the ocean every minute. According to the report, if nothing is done, the number will increase to two garbage trucks per minute by 2030, and four per minute by 2050.
These numbers are a huge problem, for the economy and the environment. As it stands, the cost associated with plastic waste disposal and the greenhouse gas emissions from its production are estimated at $40 billion a year (more than the plastic industry’s profit). And the damage caused by the plastic in the waterways is taking a major toll on tourism, as well as the shipping and fishing industries, to the tune of about $13 billion annually.
Then there’s the ocean life — chances are we’ve all heard about marine animals getting tangled in the plastic six-pack rings, but the damage is so much more than that. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), ocean dwellers from seabirds to whales and turtles are dying from choking, intestinal blockage, and starvation as a result of eating this garbage. There may even be a negative impact on human health, due to fish consuming and transporting toxic pollutants.
Photographer Chris Jordan has documented the impact of plastics in the ocean with sickening photos of deceased albatrosses on Midway Island in the Pacific Ocean. In September 2009, he photographed the birds, showing the amount of plastics in their stomachs. The images, though difficult to see, show things like lighters and bottle caps inside the birds’ bodies, and along with this new data are perhaps the harsh reminder we need to take action because not all hope is lost.
According to the report, there are still things that can be done. Companies can work to produce more efficient and reusable plastic packaging, countries around the world can incentivize proper collecting and recycling, and governments can invest in improving disposal systems and infrastructure to help prevent plastic from escaping into the waterways.
But we can help on an individual level, too. As the NRDC notes on its website, “The most effective way to stop plastic pollution in our oceans is to make sure it never reaches the water in the first place.” We all need to take responsibility for our part in the problem, consciously limit our use of plastics (think: reusable water bottles, canvas grocery bags, and lunch bags and flatware), recycle everything that can be recycled, and never litter.
As the president of the U.N. General Assembly for the 70th Session, Mogens Lykketoft, wrote in the report, “Now is the time for implementation. We must now begin to practice what we have preached.”
Check out Teen Vogue’s February issue cover star, Amandla Stenberg.