Can Plastic be Sustainable?

As plastic is part of our lives, using innovative solutions for waste management may be necessary. However, this can mislead the public into believing that plastic use is sustainable.

When considering the consequences and complexities, these may not be sustainable solutions at all. 

Improved recycling collections - As plastic is part of our lives, it is obviously desirable to recycle as much of our waste as possible. Innovative collection methods may lead to higher rates of recycling, but there are limits to plastic recycling: many plastics are not recyclable, and even those that are cannot be indefinitely recycled.

Better recycling techniques - Chemical recycling is often promoted as a new sustainable solution, but it is energy intensive, economically unviable and qualifies as partial recycling at best.

Creating energy from waste - ‘Waste-to-energy’ has been put forward as a clean way to deal with plastic by burning it to create energy. However, this is just a type of incineration; it leads to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution and ultimately provides very little energy.

Advanced plastics - Bioplastics may have a role to play in cases where plastic use is necessary. However, they still have sustainability issues surrounding them, including greenhouse gas emissions, extensive use of resources and pollution.

With fossil fuel and petrochemical giants ramping up plastic production, these solutions are not nearly enough. In fact, they distract from the real problem—excessive plastic production. Vested interests spread disinformation about plastic, denying a problem exists, offering up false solutions and deliberately misleading the public about the root problem.  

Most people don’t know what terms like ‘bioplastic’, ‘bio-based’, ‘biodegradable’  or ‘recyclable’ really mean. The terminology is complicated and leads people to believe that the plastic problem is being taken care of. This is exploited by corporations. Labelling products with these terms means environmentally conscious consumers are more likely to buy them. This greenwashing allows corporations to continue to profit from plastic. 

We need to hold the entire plastics industry to account, preventing greenwashing, disinformation and demanding stricter legislation. Rather than dealing with managing plastics, we need to cut off the problem at its source.

To create a sustainable plastics system, we need to drastically reduce plastic production and use.