WASHINGTON, Jan 22\u00a0\u2014 If there\u2019s one material that defines modern life more than any other, it\u2019s plastic: present from the moment we\u2019re born in newborn stool, in product packaging, in the soil beneath our feet and the air we breathe.<\/p>\n
Hard as it is to imagine, it wasn\u2019t always thus\u2014and doesn\u2019t have to remain this way, argues Judith Enck in her new book, \u201cThe Problem with Plastics.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf of all plastic ever produced was since 2007,\u201d the year the iPhone debuted, she told AFP in an interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a fighting chance to reduce plastics because it\u2019s very much a contemporary issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enck, a former senior environment official under Barack Obama, is clear-eyed about the challenges posed by the \u201crabidly anti-environmental\u201d President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Last year, the administration helped derail a global plastics treaty and reversed a phase-out of single-use plastics in national parks.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, she sees momentum building at the state and local level\u2014hailing, for example, New Jersey\u2019s \u201cSkip the Stuff\u201d law enacted this week, which requires restaurants to provide single-use cutlery only upon request, a measure shown to significantly reduce waste.<\/p>\n
\u2018Myth\u2019 of plastic recycling\u00a0<\/p>\n
Enck\u2019s book traces the history of plastic: from its earliest incarnation in 1909, when Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, through the \u201cmyth\u201d of plastic recycling promoted by industry from the mid-20th century onward.<\/p>\n
Along the way, Enck argues that responsibility for the crisis has been systematically shifted onto consumers, even as plastic production continues to soar.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the United States, only five to six percent of plastics actually get recycled,\u201d she notes. Unlike metal, paper or glass, consumer plastics are made up of thousands of different types, or polymers, making large-scale recycling economically unviable.<\/p>\n
Early advertising campaigns helped popularize terms like \u201clitterbug,\u201d while today the focus has shifted to \u201cchemical recycling,\u201d promoted by industry as a way to break plastics down into their basic building blocks.<\/p>\n
Dig deeper, though, and this too is a \u201cfalse solution,\u201d Enck said: a report by the Beyond Plastics nonprofit she leads found just 11 such facilities handling about one percent of US plastic waste\u2014three of which have since shut down.<\/p>\n
Around 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the ocean every year, \u201cthe equivalent of two large garbage trucks filled with plastic being dumped into the ocean every minute.\u201d<\/p>\n
Microplastics, along with ultra-tiny nanoplastics, can kill or severely sicken marine life before entering the food web and ultimately ending up on our plates.<\/p>\n
Research into the health effects is ongoing, and some findings are contested. But a 2024 study found that people with microplastics in their heart arteries face an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and premature death.<\/p>\n
For those living in the shadow of the expanding petrochemical industry, the impacts of toxic emissions have long been felt. Nowhere is this more evident than Louisiana\u2019s \u201cCancer Alley,\u201d where cancer rates are seven times the national average.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur zip code is dictating our health, and plastics therefore are a major environmental justice issue, because these are communities of color and low-income communities,\u201d Enck said.<\/p>\n
No to shaming\u00a0<\/p>\n
The recent surge in plastic production, she argues, is driven by a \u201cglut\u201d of gas generated since the mid-2000s by the hydraulic fracturing industry, which has sought new markets for its product even as it fuels climate change.<\/p>\n
It may be easy to lose hope, but Enck says it is not too late to make a difference\u2014pointing to a twofold approach that combines personal action with collective pressure. Her book is replete with advice on how to organize, lobby local governments and advance model legislation.<\/p>\n
While Enck would prefer consumers shop at stores that sell toiletry refills, ditch plastic coffee pods and take other steps, she acknowledges that such choices are not yet realistic for many people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not into plastic shaming,\u201d she said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of choice when we go to the supermarket, so you do the best you can. But what we really need is systemic change\u2014and what I mean by that is new laws that require less plastic.\u201d \u2014 AFP<\/p>\n
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