Plastics have become a hot topic. News stories about plastic on beaches and in the oceans abound, and policymakers have begun to respond with bans or limitations on single-use plastic items.
The plastics industry has been selling us a false narrative: the plastics crisis is much more than a waste-management problem. The real story starts as soon as oil and gas are extracted from the ground, and continues long after plastic waste enters the ocean and other ecosystems. Not only is plastic production a major source of greenhouse-gas emissions, it also releases a wide range of other chemicals, many of which end up in our lungs and stomachs.
To keep global warming within an acceptable range, we absolutely must reduce the amount of plastic we produce, consume and discard. This is not a problem that we can recycle our way out of. Less than 10% of all plastics ever produced have been recycled. In the case of the United States, less than 10% of plastic waste is recycled; the rest is incinerated or dumped in landfills.
Some of these measures are already being adopted. In Asia, entire cities are moving toward zero-waste solutions through decentralised, community-led initiatives, bans on single-use plastics, and lobbying against waste incineration. Many of the solutions remain to be discovered and developed, but Asia is proving to be the engine of change.