In case you haven’t noticed, we are drowning in plastic.
And the fossil fuels companies want to make more, more more. In fact, they want to make so much plastic that it will outpace coal by 2030. Because coal plants will be down by 65%. And plastic is nothing but terrible for the planet. Before I give you some summary points, here’s a link to the new report from Beyond Plastics:
The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change
In 2020, the plastics industry generated the CO2 emission of 116 coal-fired plants…232 million tons of CO2. Big Oil is pouring billions of dollars into the manufacturing and distribution of plastics. It’s their Plan B.
–90% of the plastic industry’s emissions occur in Texas and Louisiana, impacting low-income communities the worst. Take a look at the map on the link above.
–Petrochemicals and fracking are used to create plastics.
–In 2020, the plastics industry’s reported emissions increased by 10 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the course of 2019. Construction is currently underway on another 12 plastics facilities, and 15 more are planned—altogether these expansions may emit more than 40 million more tons of greenhouse gases annually by 2025.
–The industry reports less than half of what it actually releases, according to the analysis by Material Research.
–Hydrofracking of plastics feedstock releases methane, a powerful climate change pollutant. By 2025, methane releases could reach 45 million tons each year, which is more GHG than was released by 22 average coal-fired power plants in 2020.
–Transporting and Processing Fracked Gases emits an estimated 4.8 million tons of methane each year, and planned expansion would add 4.7 million tons of GHG each year.
–Exports and Imports of plastics feedstocks and resins emit at least 51 million tons of GHG each year – equivalent to more than 25 coal-fired power plants.
–“Chemical Recycling,” a term used by the plastics industry to describe the processing of plastic waste into fuel, has barely begun, but by 2025, new capacity may cause the release of 18 million tons of GHG each year – equivalent to 9 coal-fired power plants.
The above stats and many more can be found in the report as well as in the press release from the report.
In addition, know that the top 5 plastics producers in the US are:
–Coca cola
–PepsiCo
–Unilever
–Nestle
–Proctor and Gamble
Maya Angleou said “When we know better, we do better.” Now that you know, what can you do better? Here are a few suggestions:
–Make sure you aren’t holding any fossil fuel stocks.
–Cut single use plastics out of your life.
–Make small changes. Do your purchase soap? Remember when soap didn’t come in a plastic container? It was a bar. Switch back.
–Think twice about everything…does food need to be stored in plastic? Will reusable natural mesh bags be ok? And the grocery store? How much packaging is there?
–Did you know that only 8.5% of plastic actually gets recycled? When we were taught REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE, they weren’t kidding. But along the way we forgot all that. The first is REDUCE and it starts there. No plastic plates, no plastic forks, knives, spoons, cups. In fact, just use less. Just consume less overall. That’s what they mean by REDUCE.
–Finally, here’s a link to BeyondPlastics.org They have a documentary on their first page all about the story of plastics (many of us lived through it). But it’s full of fact sheets and info.
–If you need a quick video, Here’s a nice one that breaks it all down.
Now that we know better, let’s do better.