There's hope in the race against plastic

WITHIN 15 YEARS, a garbage truck's worth of plastic could be entering our environment every second. Not every minute. Every second. Plastic is everywhere in modern life and has essential, lifesaving uses, but the proliferation of plastic has also made it one of the great environmental challenges of our time. Plastic pollutes our land, air and water; costs governments billions each year to manage; and is putting human health at increasing risk.

- WINNIE LAU

On the current trajectory, the consequences of plastic pollution are far worse than we understood even five years ago. The latest findings by the Pew Charitable Trusts are sobering, but they also chart a clear path forward using solutions that already exist.

The world already creates more plastic than can be effectively managed. And it is on pace to grow plastic production by more than 50% by 2040 — twice the expected increase in waste management capacity over the same period. This means that despite more than $32 billion in additional investment in waste management capacity, plastic production will continue to grow faster than the infrastructure being built to manage it.

And these costs come not just in dollars and cents but also through various health threats linked to plastics — including cancer, heart disease, asthma, decreased fertility and developmental issues. Microplastics have been found throughout people’s bodies, including in placentas alongside fetuses.