08/08/2024
5 minutes de lecture

The impact of plastic on the world

It is everywhere: in our daily lives, on our plates, unfortunately also in our stomachs and in nature. Plastic is still produced in millions and millions of tons each year, which is very difficult to get rid of. And yet solutions exist, if everyone does their part!

April 28, 2022: California launches a major investigation to establish the petrochemical sector's responsibilities for plastic pollution and takes the giant ExxonMobil to court. In the hot seat, the supposedly false campaigns on recycling: contrary to the reassuring speeches, the plastic recycling rate has never exceeded 9%. And to support his point, the prosecutor of the flagship state of the West Coast denounces: "Every week, we consume a volume of plastic equivalent to a credit card through the water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe."

Nearly 80% of plastic ends up in nature

Whether justified or not, this unprecedented legal action by a US state against industrialists demonstrates the inadequacies of plastic recycling in the face of continued production of this hydrocarbon derivative. The figures are staggering. According to the OECD, in 2019, some 460 million tonnes of plastic were produced worldwide, generating 353 million tonnes of waste, of which less than 10% is currently recycled. 12% are incinerated and 79% accumulate in landfills or in nature. For the oceans, the findings are clear: there are 5,000 billion pieces of plastic drifting and 700 species of marine animals have already ingested plastic or been trapped in it.

So, how can we act against this massive use of plastic and the pollution it causes? First, we must increase the use of recyclable AND recycled plastics as much as possible. Society is progressing, particularly through the collection and treatment systems that are now widespread in many countries. In France, Citeo estimates that 28% of plastics are recycled: 54.5% for bottles and flasks... but only 7.5% for other packaging. So we can do better.

The other option is to target these packages, which alone represent almost half of all plastic waste in the world. The first solution put forward: replace plastic with cleaner, or rather less polluting, materials.

Glass and aluminum are the preferred materials, both of which have the advantage of having a recyclability rate close to 100%.

Glass and aluminum: real alternatives (?)

If we take the case of glass, it can indeed be reused infinitely while being perfectly stable over time: it does not degrade, and therefore does not pollute its environment after being manufactured. The only drawbacks: the materials and the amount of energy used. To produce glass, sand is needed – a limited resource on the planet – and high-temperature cooking using ovens that are difficult to stop.

Aluminum, on the other hand, has the advantage of being easily accessible. It is also almost 100% recyclable, it is widely present in bauxite ore and is the most abundant metal on earth. However, its production is also energy-intensive and its recycling rate is insufficient: while glass has a rate of 85% in France, that of aluminum stagnates at 48% (Citeo figures), while unlike glass, it degrades slowly and ends up polluting soil and water if it is not recycled.

Conclusion on this point: glass and aluminum are credible alternatives to the use of plastic, but neither can claim to be an ideal solution. We must return to a widely accepted idea: the best waste is that which we do not produce!

In other words, recycle , yes, but also reuse and reduce according to the 3R principle dear to the circular economy.