Australia: a plastic waster

Originally posted on 27 May 2021 by Clive Jackson

The Mindaroo Foundation WA study of plastics makers, puts a world-focus on the need to massively reduce single-use plastic items that soon become waste. It also shows that per capita, Australia leads the world in its use.

Some shocking facts uncovered:

• Whist the average person worldwide generates just over 15kg of waste plastic per year, the rate in Australia (and the US) is ~50kg/year!
• In 2019 over 130,000,000 metric tons of single use plastic was burned, buried in landfill or discarded directly into the environment
• 98% of the world’s plastic is made from “virgin” fossil fuels – just 2% is produced using recycled polymers.
• A large expansion of single use plastic production is planned over the next 5 years
• China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the biggest producers of plastic with an estimated 30% of the market and 20 of the world’s largest petrochemical companies produce 55% of the stuff.

…we are treating the ocean like a liquid landfill left to accumulate at least eight million metric tons of plastic waste each year.

Here’s what the report recommends governments do:

• Require recycled polymer production to be made from plastic waste feedstocks, or charge a levy on virgin production
• Establish a Montreal Protocol-style agreement to set targets for phasing out fossil-fuel-based polymers
• Require full disclosure from producers and users of single use plastics – much like carbon accounting – to better monitor the supply chain