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<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2020, the rate of plastic <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> in the US dropped by 5.7% from the prior year.</li><li>New research shows that seeing pictures of ocean creatures can make people use less plastic.</li></ul>Your summer beach getaway: sun, surf, sand — and plastic. As many of us head toward the water for Memorial Day, it's more likely than ever that we'll find our oceans aren't just white with foam. They're also laden with plastic flotsam that never biodegrades but keeps breaking into smaller pieces.But maybe the thing to remember as we near the unofficial start of summer isn't how severe <keyword id="12318689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="Orion">plastic pollution</keyword> has become but how much we have to lose. That's because new <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00139165221090154" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">research</a> indicates that visualizing beloved ocean inhabitants can make more of us willing to go on a plastic diet.It's certainly one we need. We're using more plastic and often recycling less of it. The amount of plastic in the world's oceans is <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">projected</a> to outweigh fish by 2050. And in 2020, the rate of plastic recycling in the US, which was already low, <a href="https://circularityinaction.com/2020PlasticRecyclingData" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">dropped</a> by 5.7% from the prior year.There might be a way we can use nature to help battle the plastic problem. Jiaying Zhao, a researcher with the University of British Columbia, and her colleagues found that placing pictures of marine life like sea turtles, whales, and dolphins above the recycling bins in a Vancouver office tower reduced overall <keyword id="12427295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-waste" source="Orion">plastic waste</keyword> — either discarded or recycled — by 17% compared with before the signs went up.The photos of animals grappling with plastic waste in their aquatic homes were more effective than simple recycling signs or ones that asked office-goers to pledge to cut down on how much plastic they used.The decrease in plastic waste held even after the signs with animal pictures were removed, Zhao told Insider. She said that suggested office workers had begun to change their habits and perhaps do without things like single-use water bottles and utensils.When Zhao returned to the building to interview the workers who'd unwittingly been part of the experiment, those questioned by her team said they didn't remember seeing the animals on the posters."That was most surprising because I thought it would be memorable," Zhao said of the photos that showed a turtle chewing on plastic or a dolphin with a plastic bag caught on its fin. "If it elicited some kind of emotional response in me, and I felt bad for throwing away plastic stuff now — and I'm making a conscious effort to not do it — I should remember it, right?"Zhao said the animal pictures above the recycling bin appeared to be an effective nudge to change people's behaviors without proving so distressing that they were traumatized, as was the case with a viral <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH878t78bw" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">video</a> several years ago of a turtle with a straw lodged in its nostril. Outrage over that video pushed some consumers and businesses to ditch plastic straws.<h2>Happy turtles could help change behavior</h2>In some cases, less dire images might win out. Zhao said subsequent experiments she and her colleagues conducted using images of "happy" turtles and dolphins appeared to be even more effective in changing people's actions than unsettling images.There could be broader lessons in all this for the environmental movement, Zhao said, because many awareness campaigns ask consumers to commit to shifting their behavior in some way."A lot of the tactics are like making a pledge," she said. "I pledge not to do this or not to buy this. That didn't work in our study."The researchers found that when people made an emotional connection to the animals — even if they didn't remember it — the effect was more powerful.Linda Escalante, the Southern California legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said giving thought to the influence of our actions, including our reliance on <keyword id="12149811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastics" source="Orion">plastics</keyword>, was essential to maintaining a successful coexistence with marine life. Besides, she said, as plastic pollution breaks down into tiny bits, it makes its way back to us."It is penetrating the food web," she said. "You find this stuff all over the planet in places where you could never imagine because it is easily transported by water and air."That's why it's now in our <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/06/1091246691/microplastics-found-in-human-lungs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">lungs</a> and in our <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recycling-doesnt-keep-plastic-out-of-stomachs-lungs-or-blood-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">blood</a>. And it's why we <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/30/youre-eating-a-credit-cards-worth-of-plastic-a-week-and-its-killing-your-gut/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">consume</a> a credit card's worth of the stuff every week. So doing more to protect water is in our self-interest.Escalante, who also sits on the California Coastal Commission, a powerful state agency, said she believed demand for beach days would increase because rising temperatures in many inland areas — and even wildfires in the parched Western US — would drive demand for access to water and cooler coastal areas. That's yet another reason it's so important to safeguard bodies of water, she said.She also pointed to humans' need to experience natural beauty, something on display during the height of the pandemic."We became more attached to getting out there, to the outdoors, to finding that connection," Escalante said. She said she didn't expect that to diminish, adding: "Our beaches, our coasts are going to be in very high demand."

Visualizing beloved aquatic animals when we reach for plastic might just help us use less of it and protect our oceans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Colorado is the third state to approve taxing bottles, food wrappers, and other packaging.</li><li>The tax revenue will be used to help boost the state's below-average recycling rate of 15%.</li></ul>This article is part of Insider's weekly newsletter on <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword>, written by Catherine Boudreau, senior sustainability reporter. It's not every day that <keyword id="12454038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="big-business" source="Orion">big business</keyword> backs a new tax, especially on their own products.But that's what happened in Colorado, which on Friday became the third state to <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1355">enact a law</a> that will slap fees on bottles, food wrappers, and other packaging to help fund recycling programs and keep waste out of landfills. Colorado — a state that prides itself on protecting the environment — has an <a href="https://cdphe.colorado.gov/colorado-recycling-totals">abysmal recycling rate of 15%</a>, less than half the national average of 32%. The law, known as extended producer responsibility, got rare public endorsements from food and beverage brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, <a href="https://www.americanbeverage.org/education-resources/blog/pr/colorado-governor-signs-landmark-law-shifting-recycling-responsibility-to-private-sector/">and their trade group, American Beverage</a>. <keyword id="11893281" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="walmart" source="Orion">Walmart</keyword> and the software giant <keyword id="11892769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="salesforce" source="Orion">Salesforce</keyword> also got on board, marking the first time each company engaged in the policy for packaging. They joined forces with environmental groups like Recycle Colorado, World Wildlife Fund, and Sierra Club. For brands and retailers, boosting US recycling rates is key to meeting sustainability targets to use more recycled materials and less virgin plastic. For Salesforce, whose eponymous <a href="https://salesforcetower.com/">headquarters</a> building soars over the San Francisco Bay, backing the Colorado law was part of a new policy push announced Wednesday to protect oceans' role in fighting climate change. Plastic pollution is a major threat to the world's oceans, which have <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2019/09/25/srocc-press-release/">absorbed more than 90 percent</a> of the excess heat trapped on the planet because of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere. Rising water temperatures and pollution is harming fish and other marine life, a food source for billions of people. Only 9% of plastic ever gets recycled, while an estimated 11 million tons of it ends up in the <keyword id="12127110" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ocean" source="Orion">ocean</keyword> each year — or more than a garbage truckload every minute, <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-leaders-set-sights-plastic-pollution">according to the United Nations</a>."We can't just deploy climate solutions on land and destroy the oceans," Whitney Johnston, Salesforce's director of oceans sustainability, told Insider. "Plastics is also a petroleum-based product, so we need to be strategic about how much we're producing and keep it in circulation."The broad coalition of industry and environmental groups backing Colorado's program set it apart from similar laws enacted in Maine and Oregon last year, which didn't attract much support from big business. The difference is in the design. In Maine, lawmakers and environmental groups were worried that giving industry too much control over a recycling program would maintain the status quo. The state's law gave regulators the authority to set packaging fees and manage the money, with input from brands. In Colorado, these responsibilities will fall entirely to the industry, which will develop a plan with approval from an advisory board and a state agency."The reason we had so many industry partners is because of the structure," Liz Chapman, the executive director of Recycle Colorado, said. "They know what it takes to get materials back into their systems and see this as an opportunity to innovate."That doesn't mean there wasn't opposition in Colorado. Ameripen, a trade group <a href="https://www.ameripen.org/page/member_companies">that represents plastic and packaging makers</a>, as well as brewer Molson Coors and some state business groups, lobbied against the law. Molson Coors brews its namesake Coors in Golden, Colorado.Dan Felton, the executive director of Ameripen, told Insider that the group objected to the law requiring companies to fund 100% of the recycling system without any controls on the potential costs. Ameripen supports a shared-responsibility model, where taxpayers pick up some of the tab. "We worry it will be a blank check," Felton said. Colorado will know the price tag of expanding recycling to more residents after a needs assessment is finished by January 2024 at the latest.

Package deal: Businesses and environmental groups pushed for a Colorado tax that will fund recycling of bottles and containers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Amazon said nearly all deliveries in North America no longer have plastic air pillows inside.</li><li>This change avoids 15 billion air pillows a year, Amazon's biggest plastic reduction effort yet.</li></ul>Nearly all Amazon deliveries in North America no longer include plastic air pillows, the e-commerce giant said on Thursday.Amazon said the change would avoid some 15 billion air pillows — the company's largest reduction in plastic packaging to date. Instead, Amazon is using a paper filler made from 100% recycled material that customers can recycle at home as part of a broader effort to eventually eliminate all plastic packaging from North American fulfillment centers. Amazon already met that goal in Europe this year.The switch to recycled paper comes as <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-global-plastic-pollution-treaty-under-scrutiny-2024-4">companies and governments are under pressure</a> to phase out single-use plastics that are piling up in landfills and contributing to the climate crisis. The vast majority of plastics are made from oil and gas, can't be recycled, and degrade into tiny particles that leach into the air and environment. Scientists have found those microplastics in human blood along with organs including the liver, heart, lungs, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-found-in-human-testicles-what-to-do-2024-5">most recently testicles</a>, but the effects on our health are still being studied.For years, Oceana, a nonprofit that advocates for protecting oceans, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-plastic-air-packets-boxes-circle-the-planet-2022-12">has criticized Amazon's ballooning plastic</a> footprint as the company ships billions of packages around the world. Matt Littlejohn, Oceana's senior vice president, told Business Insider that eliminating air pillows indicated Amazon was serious about its plastic-reduction efforts in North America and that it was welcome news for oceans. Plastic air pillows are made with a film <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?amazonTrackingID=bi-auto-70463-20&amp;h=c38415b31a84dfb5aa56a438e162cc317827951d6b626391c4e894a25633a2fd&amp;postID=66736386b38735ca9df50ca4&amp;postSlug=amazon-cutting-single-use-plastic-shipping-packaging-paper-recycling-2024-6&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41893-021-00720-8">that's commonly found littering marine areas</a>.Oceana recently <a target="_blank" href="https://oceana.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/18/2024/04/Amazons-United-States-of-Plastic-Oceana-Report-April-2024_reducedsize-1.pdf">estimated that Amazon generated</a> more than 94,000 metric tons of plastic-packaging waste in the US alone in 2022, a 9.6% increase over the previous year. That's enough to circle the Earth more than 200 times in the form of air pillows, Oceana said.Amazon disputes Oceana's figures and <a target="_blank" href="https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/2022-sustainability-report.pdf">reported a lower amount of plastic packaging across</a> its global operations in 2022: Nearly 86,000 metric tons, an 11.6% decrease from the previous year.Oceana said its estimates were higher than Amazon's because the company hadn't accounted for orders sent by third-party sellers. Those independent sellers account for <a target="_blank" href="https://sell.amazon.com/sell?ld=SEUSSOAGOOG-sitelink-guide-D&amp;tag=googhydr-20&amp;hvadid=664128654868&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvexid=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=11107216929719429337&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9007526&amp;hvtargid=kwd-297084214751&amp;ref=pd_sl_2vge9q2e84_b&amp;ld=SEUSSOAGOOG-BFBA12122B-CLK-D&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjw4MSzBhC8ARIsAPFOuyXwoFqkDpXAG0SpyouCS4LjcgY7qHDkeWaOK2XItdtbw5ohJv0188UaAtm2EALw_wcB%5C">more than 60% of Amazon's sales</a>. Amazon's plastic-packaging data reflects orders shipped through its own fulfillment centers — which some independent sellers opt for — and through its grocery business. The data also isn't broken down by country."The first thing for us is to really test and learn and then scale what we can control within our own facilities," Pat Linder, Amazon's vice president of mechatronics and sustainable packaging, told BI. "That's been our focus."Linder pointed to an Amazon fulfillment center in Cleveland that last year became the first to eliminate plastic delivery packaging and replace it with paper that's curbside recyclable. The effort involved rebuilding existing machines that were using plastic to package products. Additionally, As well as being more sustainable, the recyclable paper is better at protecting orders from damage, Linder said.He added that Amazon would disclose the impact of these changes on the company's plastic use in a future sustainability report.That report is also set to detail Amazon's broader climate strategy. The company aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 while boosting sales and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-data-energy-centers-water-energy-land-2023-10">building more data centers</a> that demand vast amounts of electricity.In 2022, Amazon's carbon footprint dropped by 0.4% from the previous year, although it was still higher than in 2019, the first year Amazon reported its emissions.

Amazon is trying to eliminate plastic that doesn't get recycled. It's actually making some progress.       

America has long had a plastic problem. It's an urgent question — what do we do with the 40 million tons of plastic waste we produce annually? One year of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disposable-face-mask-waste-toxic-poison-water-nanoplastics-pollution-health-2022-2">plastic waste</a> is roughly enough to smother the entirety of Manhattan a meter deep, and it has to go somewhere. For years, the answer was simple: Make a lot of it, dump most of it in the landfill, and make the rest of it someone else's problem — the US regularly exported 7 million tons a year to China alone. Some of it was melted into lesser plastic; the rest was incinerated or buried.But then, in 2018, China cut off plastic imports.Now, America is coming to terms with a hard truth: Plastic was never designed to be recycled and there's no profitable way to recycle 91% of it. The environmental impacts have been disastrous. About 430 million tons of plastic are produced globally every year, accounting for 14% of global oil demand. The refinement of plastic alone emits up to 235 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. Most of that plastic breaks down into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-risks-heart-attack-stroke-study-2024-3">microplastics</a> that make their way into the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/expert-how-i-keep-baby-family-safe-toxic-plastic-microplastics-2023-1">air, rain, and our bodies</a>. Almost 95% of America's water supply contains plastic fibers.While the US, the UK, and other European countries responded to China's ban by sending their waste to places like Thailand and Malaysia, those countries then followed China in cutting off waste imports. The message was clear: The Global South would no longer be a dumping ground for the West.<div type="image" title="A scavenger drinks water while collecting plastic waste to sell to a recycling center at a landfill in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia in March 2024" height="3333" width="5000" msid="109561992" hostid="261"></div>America is now scrambling to find alternatives. One approach peddled by oil corporations like Chevron and Exxon has been to turn plastic into crude oil, which they say extends the life of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-americas-largest-waste-hauler-investing-in-a-plastic-recycler-2022-9">plastic that would've otherwise ended up in a landfill</a>. As these companies look to replace projected lost revenue from the phasing out of fossil fuels, they're lobbying to blanket the country with 150 plants that specialize in pyrolysis, a form of chemical recycling that melts plastic down into crude oil to be used for fuel and petrochemicals, as well as to make lesser-quality plastics. While advocates champion these facilities for breaking down hard-to-recycle plastics that other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-recycling-startups-aluminum-plastic-valuable-materials-2024-4">recyclers toss aside</a>, critics condemn them for emitting toxic particles, relying heavily on government subsidies, and acting as a greenwashed alternative to addressing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-recycled-into-bricks-ivory-coast-conceptos-plasticos-2023-2">the plastic problem</a>.As they're pitched as an innovation set to bring us a "circular economy" of plastic that allows us to stop making new plastic and just reuse what we have, marketing for pyrolysis and recycling overlooks a glaring fact: Plastic production doubles every 15 to 20 years.This isn't sustainable, Tim Miller, a vice president at the Ohio plastic-recycling center Royal Paper Stock, told me, adding: "But I don't know how to stop it." Pyrolysis is another sign of America's plastic paralysis.In the years after World War II, plastic flooded the marketplace as a cheap alternative to otherwise scarce and finite materials. It was hailed as a democratic harbinger of a new, utopian age of capitalism, fueling the subsequent decades of cheap consumerism that became synonymous with the American dream."The continuous flow of oil fueled not just cars but an entire culture based on the consumption of new products made of plastics," Susan Freinkel wrote in her book "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story."Plastic went from being practically nonexistent in 1940 to being consumed at a rate of 30 pounds a person each year by 1960. Just as quickly, it became a target of environmental movements protesting litter, garbage-filled oceans, and landfills brimming with plastic. Oil and chemical companies responded by looking into whether recycling was realistic or, more importantly, profitable. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">It wasn't</a>. So companies shifted the blame for the pollution onto consumers. The "Crying Indian" commercial, funded by beverage and packaging corporations, aired in 1971, showing a Native American character crying at the sight of litter.The messaging worked. As companies expanded plastic into every facet of life, recycling became the due diligence needed to sustain our hyperconsumption. We didn't worry about plastic bottles because the recycling truck carried them off to a new life. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nestlé slapped "100% recycled" and "100% recyclable" labels on their packaging to appear sustainable. Just last year, the Plastics Industry Association launched a million-dollar ad campaign, "Recycling Is Real," claiming that it's "not only real, but feasible and economical."While recycling is real, the vast majority of plastic isn't recycled, mostly due to how expensive it is to clean and sort it effectively. A 2022 report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found only 9% of all plastic ever produced had been recycled; 72% ended up in landfills or the environment. Unlike aluminum or glass, the plastic that can be recycled rarely results in replacing one recycled water bottle with another.<div type="image" title="Recycling sorters at Recologys Recycle Central sort out pieces of flimsy and film plastic destined for landfill in 2019 in San Francisco" height="4480" width="6720" msid="109561996" hostid="261"></div>Instead, it's a process of downcycling — turning plastic into lesser plastics like plant containers or bins before they are relegated to a landfill. By downcycling a tiny portion of plastic waste, companies can genuinely reuse a relatively small share of plastic, while convincing consumers that the industry has created a circular economy of infinitely recycled plastic. Never mind that products advertised as being made from recycled plastic are made almost entirely out of new plastic or that almost all the 300 pounds of plastic every American consumes each year (10 times as much as in 1960) ends up in a landfill, in the ocean, or incinerated.Larry Thomas, a former president of what's now called the Plastics Industry Association, told NPR in 2020: "If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment." And if they aren't worried about the impact of plastic on the environment, they won't threaten the plastics industry.Since 2018, the fossil-fuel and plastics industries have faced two harsh realities: Oil is being phased out in favor of clean, renewable energy, and plastic waste can no longer be exported to developing nations in the South. To replace their fuel losses, oil companies are going all in on plastic. The International Energy Agency predicted in 2018 that petrochemical products like plastic would outpace trucks, aviation, and shipping in oil demand by 2050. In a recent report, ExxonMobil predicted that petrochemicals used largely for plastics and fertilizer would account for nearly all of the oil industry's growth by 2050, replacing industrial fuel demand, which is projected to decrease. To keep expanding plastic production, however, it needs to look sustainable.<div type="image" title="A Good Year sign in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562000" hostid="261"></div>Akron, Ohio, which hosts about one-quarter of the country's polymer companies, is ground zero for this push. Designated by the Biden administration as the only "tech hub" in Ohio, the city has received tens of millions of dollars from the CHIPS Act, which it hopes to use to create a circular economy around plastic.In 2012, Alterra Energy opened America's first large-scale plastic-pyrolysis facility. According to its website, Alterra converts "plastics back into their original building blocks to produce new plastics and other valuable products." The crude oil produced by the Akron facility is shipped to petrochemical companies around the globe to be purified and made into new plastics. But it's unclear how effective this process is.A study published in 2023 by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that the economic and environmental impact of turning pyrolysis oil back into plastic was actually far worse than it was to make brand-new plastic. As a result, they said, pyrolysis oil is "typically reintegrated into the petrochemical industry where only a small fraction is used for closed-loop recycling."<div type="image" title="The Alterra Energy facility in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562003" hostid="261"></div>"It has had, let's say, limited success," Miller, the Royal Paper Stock vice president, said about pyrolysis. "No one yet in the United States that I know of is just cranking in plastic and pumping out oil." He pointed to a pyrolysis facility in Oregon that just announced it would shut down after tens of millions of dollars in losses.Residents in Akron are split on the impacts of the Alterra facility. On the one hand, pyrolysis melts plastic to be reused instead of sending it to the landfill or incinerator. On the other, it emits cancerous pollutants such as mercury, benzene, and arsenic, and props up the very fossil-fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis.<div type="image" title="Kelley Sayre in front of her garage in Akron, Ohio" height="1500" width="1200" msid="109562007" hostid="261"></div>"Akron's going for 'the green city on the hill,'" Kelley Sayre, a fourth-generation Akron resident, told me, "but it's really 'the greenwashing city.'"Vicky Abou-Ghalioum, the lead petrochemicals organizer of Buckeye Environmental Network, has been working with Akron residents concerned about the environmental and health impacts of chemical recycling, but it's proved challenging in a city ruled by polymers. "People are afraid to talk about plastic," she told me. Her organization has been pushing the EPA to address the influx of planned pyrolysis facilities in Ohio, arguing that they're bad for the environment and people, and aren't even profitable.In a statement to Business Insider, Alterra Energy said its Akron facility is profitable and diverts over 100,000 pounds of plastic each day from landfills. "We operate in a heavily regulated industry and are in compliance with those requirements," the company said in response to concerns about toxic emissions. It also said one of its customers uses Alterra's oil product exclusively for making new plastic.Despite the problems of pyrolysis, many manufacturers hail it as a sustainable miracle. Companies such as Eastman Chemical Co. see chemical recycling as the solution to recycling or composting 50% of their plastic packaging by 2025, and the American Chemistry Council claims the growing industry is necessary for fostering what it calls "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/news-trends/press-release/2022/america-s-plastic-makers-encourage-congressional-focus-on-advanced-recycling-to-achieve-circularity">plastics circularity</a>." But these companies face an uphill battle. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City launched an $85 million campaign in 2022 to stop over 120 proposed petrochemical facilities. "Petrochemical plants poison our air and water — killing Americans and harming the health of entire communities," Bloomberg said in a statement.In the plastic-recycling industry, pyrolysis is seen as a well funded but failing experiment. A 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling">report</a> by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network found that the 11 pyrolysis facilities in operation in the US required massive public subsidies, most couldn't operate at full capacity, and only two of the plants sold the crude oil to be used exclusively for plastic production. Most of it was sold to make fuels and chemicals. Based on their findings, they argued that pyrolysis was ultimately "a public relations distraction to prevent plastic regulation and prop up the profits of the petrochemical/plastics industry."Though the conundrum of plastic grows more dire by the day, there are signs of hope. In early <a target="_blank" href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop">2022</a>, the UN adopted a resolution that could send shock waves throughout the entire plastic-disposing world. Heads of state, environment ministers, and UN representatives agreed to end all plastic pollution with a legally binding international plastic treaty to be officially adopted later this year. "Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic," Espen Barth Eide, Norway's then-minister for climate and the environment, said in the announcement. "With today's resolution we are officially on track for a cure."The resolution would establish an agreement addressing plastic at every level, from production to recycling, in an attempt to reduce plastic pollution worldwide. Organizations such as the international coalition Break Free From Plastic have said that cutting the production of plastic has to be on the table. "The oil and gas industry sees plastic as its primary growth market and is investing billions of dollars in new and expanded facilities," the organization wrote in a 2022 statement. The group recommended bans on single-use plastics, a plastic tax, and regulations that prioritize plastics that can be recycled."Reduction in the production of plastic is entirely possible," Abou-Ghalioum of Buckeye Environmental Network told me. She pointed to the more than 500 cities and 12 states that have banned plastic bags, reducing the number of bags used by the billions. "It's talked about how we rely on plastic for so many things, and it just feels like a marketing ploy to make us reluctant to shift away from it," she said. "We had everything we ever needed before plastic."The tough reality is that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/landfill-plastic-area">9.5 billion tons of plastic</a> with us will be here for hundreds of years. But how many millions of more tons are added will be determined by the types of solutions we arrive at today.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/taylor-dorrell">Taylor Dorrell</a> is a writer and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio.

China stopped taking our plastic. Now America is drowning in it. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11893181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> produced just shy of 600 million pounds of <keyword id="12427295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-waste" source="Orion">plastic waste</keyword> in 2020, a new Oceana report said.</li><li>An estimated 23.5 million pounds of that <keyword id="12367240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic" source="Orion">plastic</keyword> ended up in the world's <keyword id="12229472" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="oceans" source="Orion">oceans</keyword>, according to the report.</li></ul>In 2020, as more Americans than ever turned to Amazon amid COVID lockdowns, the company subsequently created more plastic plastic packaging waste than ever: 599 million pounds in total, <a href="https://oceana.org/reports/amazon-report-2021/">according to a new Oceana report</a>.Of that nearly 600 million pounds of plastic, Oceana estimates that "up to 23.5 million pounds" entered the world's oceans. That's equivalent to "dumping a delivery van payload of plastic into the oceans every 67 minutes," the report said.Oceana, which commissioned and published the report, is an international non-profit organization that's "dedicated to protecting and restoring the world's oceans on a global scale," the group's website said.Amazon disputed the report in a statement sent to Insider."Their calculations are seriously flawed," the statement said. "They have overestimated our plastics usage by more than 300%, and use outdated assumptions about the sources of plastic waste entering our oceans."The vast majority of the plastic entering the world's oceans comes from about 20 companies and doesn't include Amazon, <a href="https://sourceofplasticwaste.org/">according to the Plastic Waste Makers Index</a>. Instead, petrochemical companies like ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical and Sinopec are responsible for that waste.Just those three companies account for nearly 20% of the world's single-use plastic waste, according to the Index.Rather than companies like Amazon, which use plastics for packaging, the Plastic Waste Makers Index points to the source of the world's single-use plastics: The companies that produce the polymers used to create single-use plastics.Moreover, Amazon's reported contributions to plastic waste in the ocean account for a small fraction of the overall numbers. An estimated 17.6 billion pounds of new plastic enters the worlds oceans each year, the report said, compared with Amazon's 23.5 million pound contribution.The Plastic Waste Makers Index posits that, if petrochemical companies produced less plastic, companies like Amazon that use single-use plastics would be forced to use something else. Regardless, Amazon said in its statement that it's "making rapid progress in reducing or removing single-use plastics" from its packaging, and the company remains committed to "achieving net-zero carbon by 2040." Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email (<a href="mailto:bgilbert@insider.com">bgilbert@insider.com</a>), or Twitter DM (<a href="https://twitter.com/RealBenGilbert">@realbengilbert</a>). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

Amazon created 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020, 23.5 million pounds of which ended up in the world's oceans, watchdog report says

The concept of the spectral figure draped in a white sheet may have lost its terror appeal, but beneath the waves, where polythene bags drift much like shrouded figures, its reign of fear remains uninterrupted. The extended degradation time of plastics poses one challenge, yet when currents and other natural forces reduce them into smaller, fish-sized bites, a substantial problem arises for our marine friends who ingest them. This results in compromised liver, gut, and immune systems. So, if we are unable to diminish our reliance on plastics or prevent their influx into the oceans, what measures can we take to safeguard aquatic life? This conundrum gave birth to the idea of "biodegradable plastics," materials designed to break down more rapidly when discarded in landfills or water bodies. Scientists had long regarded such bioplastics as a panacea for combatting the microplastic-<keyword id="6355507" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="fish" source="Orion">fish</keyword> issue. However, it turns out that these advanced bioplastics aren't performing as optimally as initially anticipated. While they aren't as detrimental as traditional petroleum-based plastics, exposure to bioplastics still impairs a fish's ability to escape, a critical mechanism for protecting them from predators. Previous studies have revealed that both traditional and biopolymer <keyword id="6489736" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="microplastic" source="Orion">microplastic</keyword> exposure can influence various aspects of a fish's response to danger, such as a decrease in the speed or distance they would travel to elude their assailant. This recent study reaffirmed these findings, observing that fish (specifically a rocky reef species in this instance) tend to exhibit reduced escape velocities when exposed to bioplastics. Conversely, exposure to petroleum-based <keyword id="177410" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="polymer" source="Orion">polymer</keyword> microplastics predictably had an adverse impact on fish across the board. Traditional microplastic exposure hindered their responsiveness to danger and their ability to swim away quickly — qualities vital for survival. This also rendered the fish relatively lethargic, affecting their everyday behaviours like mean swimming speed and overall distance covered. While biopolymers did partially mitigate the harm to fish compared to traditional <keyword id="34567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic" source="Orion">plastic</keyword>s, the authors expressed concern that impaired escape behaviour would increase the likelihood of predation by birds and other fish. The paper consequently advocates for stricter waste management practices to improve plastic waste control. "With the escalation in the production of petroleum-derived and bioplastics, it is inevitable that marine organisms will encounter larger quantities of diverse microplastics, thus heightening the risk of microplastic ingestion," the paper observes. "It is important to acknowledge that, although bioplastics may be less environmentally damaging than petroleum-derived polymers, they are not without risks." The results of this study have been published in the journal Science of the Total Environment and can be accessed <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167423" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

Even ‘biodegradable’ plastics may not be enough to protect fish from doom, new research suggests

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="115238" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Plastic-waste">Plastic waste</keyword> in the oceans is causing "hyperactivity" in hermit crabs, according to a new <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X21005671#f0010">study</a>. </li><li>But the "exciting" response in the species may have detrimental effects on <keyword id="400852" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="marine-life">marine life</keyword> and its ecosystem.</li><li>Plastic congestion by marine animals can have an array of negative effects, including cancer.</li></ul>Amid the constant barrage of dire climate news and existential environmental dread, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X21005671#f0010">one new study</a> from across the pond suggests the ecological crisis may be impacting a common crustacean in a stimulating way. A team of scientists at England's University of Hull determined that a chemical leaked from plastic dumped in the ocean is eliciting "hyperactivity" in hermit crabs. The researchers, who are studying how climate change and plastic waste in the ocean impact marine life, studied 40 crabs in waters off the Yorkshire Coast. The team found signs that oleamide, an additive found in plastic that is released into the oceans, is increasing respiration rates among the species' population - an indication of excitement and attraction. The hermit crabs may be mistaking that plastic waste additive for a similar chemical that is naturally released by the species' food sources, researchers found, which could have harmful effects on the ecosystem.Jack Greenshields, the lead researcher on the study, told Insider that hermit crabs, who are scavengers, smell the naturally-occurring chemical called oleic acid from decaying corpses, which draws the animals to their food sources. But because oleamide - the additive coming from plastic waste in the ocean - smells so similarly, the hermit crabs may be drawn to the pollutants, falsely thinking it's a food source."If they were scavenging for eating purposes, it wouldn't only waste energy, but...they could ingest the actual plastic itself, which could be toxic to the animals," Greenshields said. He added that plastic congestion by marine animals can have an array of negative effects, including cancer.In addition to acting as a false feeding cue for <keyword id="1780892" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hermit-Crab">hermit crab</keyword>s, oleamide has also previously been found to be a major component in the sex pheromone of cleaner shrimp, which are distant relatives of the hermit crab. As such, Greenshields said it's possible that the pollutant could also "invoke a sexual response" in the hermit crabs. The prospect of plastic waste making hermit crabs sexually aroused has sparked widespread <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/08/10/hermit-crabs-sexually-excited-plastic-pollution/?utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_campaign=wp_main&amp;utm_medium=socialm=social">media</a> <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/hermit-crabs-sexually-excited-by-toxins-from-plastic-pollution-12377812">coverage</a> of the study, but Greenshields said the research cannot yet confirm that possibility."It's definitely an avenue that could be explored," he told Insider. "But it's not 100%.Greenshields said the study is only the start for investigating how wide-ranging the problem of plastic truly is in marine environments. He said he hopes to continue looking into the extent of what this oleamide attraction means not just for hermit crabs, but for other marine life as well.He also emphasized that the public can play a role in eliminating plastic waste in the oceans by not using single-use plastic, pressuring companies to use bio-degradable plastic, and making sure studies like his garner government attention.

Researchers found that plastic pollutants in the ocean may be 'exciting' hermit crabs, which could lead to disrupted marine food webs

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A ban on single-use plastics has support from three-quarters of people worldwide, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/75-people-want-single-use-plastics-banned-global-survey-finds-2022-02-22/?taid=6214414b39c1a300014bb400&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter">Reuters reported.</a></li><li>Countries will meet in Nairobi later this month to start negotiating a plastics treaty.</li></ul>Three-quarters of the world population want to ban single-use plastics like soda bottles, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/75-people-want-single-use-plastics-banned-global-survey-finds-2022-02-22/?taid=6214414b39c1a300014bb400&amp;utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&amp;utm_medium=trueAnthem&amp;utm_source=twitter">according to a poll published by Reuters and IPSOS.</a>The survey marks an uptick from 71% who favored a similar action in 2019. The strongest support for a single-use plastics ban came from respondents in Mexico, Colombia, and India, all nations hard-hit by plastic pollution, according to Reuters.The poll, published early Tuesday London time, also found that 85% of those surveyed say that manufacturers and retailers should "be held responsible" for reducing the impact of <keyword id="12427295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-waste" source="Orion">plastic waste</keyword>. The survey polled 20,000 people from 28 countries."People worldwide have made their views clear," Marco Lambertini, director general of the World Wildlife Fund International, told Reuters of the survey. "The onus and opportunity is now on governments to adopt a global plastics treaty ... so we can eliminate plastic pollution."Governments will have an opportunity to forge such a treaty later this month. That's when representatives of different nations will meet in Nairobi to make plans for a pact on plastics, Reuters reported. The meeting is scheduled to span from Feb. 28 until March 2.Groups that lobby for oil and chemical companies, such as the American Chemistry Council, are pushing governments to avoid any agreements that would limit plastic production, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/un-pact-may-restrict-plastic-production-big-oil-aims-stop-it-2022-02-18/">an investigation by Reuters earlier this month found.</a> Petroleum products are a key ingredient for producing plastic.Ninety percent of those polled by the Reuters/IPSOS survey said they want a treaty to tackle plastic pollution, though a treaty could take a variety of forms, from focusing mostly on <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> efforts to broader curbs on plastic production.Major manufacturers that rely on single-use plastics have publicized commitments that fall into the first category. <keyword id="12109002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola" source="Orion">Coca-Cola</keyword>, for example, said earlier this month that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/coca-cola-criticized-plastic-pollution-pledges-25-reusable-packaging-2022-02-10/">make 25% of the packaging it uses worldwide reusable</a> by 2030. Rival <keyword id="12259147" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pepsico" source="Orion">PepsiCo</keyword> said in September that it would <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/pepsico-slash-plastic-use-sustainability-push-2021-09-15/">reduce its use of virgin plastic in its packaging.</a>Plastic packaging from food, beverages, and other consumer goods has become common in the <keyword id="11901561" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="environment" source="Orion">environment</keyword>. It has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6">accumulated in large patches in the Pacific Ocean</a> and can harm the health of humans and wildlife.The problem has become even worse during the pandemic, with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oceans-polluted-with-approximately-tons-ppe-during-pandemic-2021-11">single-use plastics from hospitals accelerating pollution.</a>

Three-quarters of the world's population wants single-use plastics banned, according to new study

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Amazon used nearly 86,000 tons of single-use plastic packaging last year, an 11.6% drop.</li><li>The company is using more materials like paper as part of its sustainability efforts.</li></ul>Now part of your Amazon delivery: less plastic.The <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=9d6cff22feb867210c6ed04e4e5e540fd423969d25162da7144665ba133fa0bd&amp;postID=64b82f9f323712730ff6298d&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsustainability.aboutamazon.com%2F2022-sustainability-report.pdf">e-commerce giant said</a> it used nearly 86,000 tons of single-use plastic to send orders to customers around the globe last year. That's 11.6% less than in 2021. Amazon is also ditching its blue and white padded plastic mailers in favor of easier-to-recycle paper packaging.The numbers on plastic, released Tuesday, came in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=00a097cd330a065216cafacf9a2617c5a115e6165c0721da4aeca6f598b77965&amp;postID=64b82f9f323712730ff6298d&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fsustainability.aboutamazon.com%2F2022-report%23waste-and-packaging">Amazon's latest sustainability report</a> that tracks the company's progress toward its climate and social goals. Amazon aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 — even as the company plans to boost sales — by powering its operations with renewable energy, shifting to electric delivery vehicles, using recyclable packaging, and minimizing waste, among other initiatives.Amazon didn't start reporting how much plastic is used in the billions of packages it ships until <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=e79540b1c70606b724dda0d4b74c3a93cd7453daffd29fbfebe0813be5f16e83&amp;postID=64b82f9f323712730ff6298d&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aboutamazon.com%2Fnews%2Fsustainability%2Fhow-amazon-is-reducing-packaging">December 2022</a>. That followed years of pressure from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/2023/6/8/investors-amazon-plastic-action-walmart">environmental groups and investors</a> concerned about a growing amount of plastic pollution <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/geh_newsletter/2021/2/articles/new_study_finds_ocean_pollution_a_threat_to_human_health.cfm">threatening oceans, wildlife, and people's health</a>. Only about <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm">9% of the world's plastic gets recycled</a>; much of the rest piles up in landfills, is burned, or leaches into waterways.Matt Littlejohn, senior vice president of the conservation group Oceana, said Amazon's latest progress and commitment to phase out plastic-padded mailers is a "real win" and will mean less waste ends up in the world's seas."We will monitor Amazon's developments going forward to ensure the company continues to disclose a shrinking plastic packaging footprint," Littlejohn <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://oceana.org/press-releases/good-news-for-the-oceans-amazon-single-use-plastic-packaging-declines-by-over-11-in-one-year/">said in a statement</a>.Oceana for several years has tried to put numbers on how much plastic Amazon is using. The company has described those estimates as inaccurate and exaggerated. Oceana's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://oceana.org/press-releases/report-amazons-plastic-packaging-waste-jumped-18-to-709-million-pounds-in-2021/">analysis for 2021</a> found Amazon used about 709 million pounds of plastic packaging — some 355,000 tons.Oceana said its estimates are higher than Amazon's data because the company doesn't account for orders sent by third-party sellers. Amazon's data reflects orders shipped through its own fulfillment centers and through its grocery business.Amazon said it used less plastic in 2022 by expanding packaging made with recyclable paper across the US, Canada, and Europe. The company also eliminated plastic air pillows in Europe and Australia.The company's overall carbon footprint slipped by 0.4% from 2021 to 2022, although it was still higher than in 2019, the first year for which Amazon reported its emissions. Amazon emitted 71 million metric tons of carbon dioxide last year. In 2019, emissions came to 51 million metric tons.

Amazon used 11.6% less plastic for shipping last year and is phasing out those blue and white plastic mailers

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leland-melvin-black-nasa-astronaut-police-attempted-arrest-bill-nye-2020-6">Bill Nye</a> teamed up with The <keyword id="12109002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola" source="Orion">Coca-Cola</keyword> Company to make an animated video promoting <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recycling-doesnt-keep-plastic-out-of-stomachs-lungs-or-blood-2022-4">recycling</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-spikes-law-firm-diversity-policy-black-lawyers-2022-3">Coca-Cola</a> is one of the world's biggest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-discovered-in-human-blood-for-the-first-time-2022-3">plastic</a> polluters, and <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> isn't solving that problem.</li></ul>Famous <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">science</keyword> educator <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-nye-angrily-tells-everyone-to-fight-climate-change-2019-5">Bill Nye</a> has teamed up with The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coca-cola-fresca-mixed-canned-cocktail-corona-constellation-brands-2022-1">Coca-Cola</a> Company for some not-very-scientific education.Nye, best known for his TV show, "<keyword id="13583133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bill-nye" source="Orion">Bill Nye</keyword> the Science Guy," appears in a Coca-Cola stop-motion <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRadzzvQNY">video</a> posted to YouTube Tuesday and originally reported in <a href="https://gizmodo.com/bill-nye-sells-out-shills-for-coca-cola-on-plastic-bot-1848763404">Gizmodo</a>. Nye narrates as an animated doll of himself with an upside-down <keyword id="12367240" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic" source="Orion">plastic</keyword> bottle for a head and a Coca-Cola label for a bowtie.<div type="image" title="bill nye headshot" height="2488" width="1658" msid="90748801" hostid="261"></div>"If we can recover and recycle plastic, we can not only keep it from becoming trash, we can use that plastic again and again. It's an amazing material," Nye says, popping off his plastic-bottle head in one hand, and presenting a Coca-Cola bottle in the other."What's more is that, when we use recycled material, we also reduce our carbon footprint. What's not to love? So the good people at The Coca-Cola Company are dedicating themselves to addressing our global plastic waste problem. They know they have a responsibility to help solve this issue, and their goal: create a world without waste," he continues.Then he explains how recycling a bottle works, as Coca-Cola runs a cutesy animation of the process.In reality, recycling doesn't create a world without waste. Plastic bottles can only be recycled a few times before going to the landfill or getting lost in the ocean. Turning them into new products only delays their disposal or incineration.Recycling can reduce the amount of new plastic produced, and therefore reduce the amount of carbon emitted during that process, but it doesn't do so on a very large scale. Because recycled plastic is more expensive and lower quality than new plastic, experts say that it's unlikely to ever overtake plastic production.Plastic pollution abounds — from the depths of the Mariana Trench to the top of Mount Everest — and Coca-Cola is one of the worst offenders. The company produces about 3 million metric tons of plastic packaging each year, according to the company's reports to the <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/global-commitment/overview">Ellen MacArthur Foundation</a>. That's the equivalent of 200,000 bottles a minute, making it the top plastic producer out of the 130 businesses that report their numbers to the foundation. An <a href="https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2021/10/25/the-coca-cola-company-and-pepsico-named-top-plastic-polluters-for-the-fourth-year-in-a-row/">audit</a> by the NGO coalition Break Free from Plastic has ranked Coca-Cola as the world's top plastic polluter for four years in a row.The company has pledged to use at least 50% recycled material in its packaging by 2030.Coca-Cola did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Representatives for Nye did not immediately respond either.<h2>Recycling has only made a small dent in plastic production</h2><div type="image" title="coca cola bottles in plastic packaging" height="1684" width="2246" msid="90748804" hostid="261"></div>Less than 10% of the 7 billion metric tons of plastic waste worldwide has ever been recycled, according to a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128178805000025?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">2020 study</a> cited by the <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/36963/POLSOL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">UN Environment Programme</a>.Even when recycling happens, it doesn't prevent that plastic from becoming garbage or pollution. Bottles like Coca-Cola's are made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which means they can be recycled more times than other plastics. Some companies claim PET can be recycled infinitely. In reality, just <a href="https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data#:~:text=The%20recycling%20rate%20of%20PET,was%2029.3%20percent%20in%202018.">29%</a> of PET bottles and jars were recycled in 2018.Each round of recycling degrades the quality of most plastics, so bottles are often "<a href="https://oceana.org/blog/recycling-myth-month-plastic-bottle-you-thought-you-recycled-may-have-been-downcycled-instead/">downcycled</a>" into fibers or wood replacements.The market for this recycled plastic is limited, since it's often cheaper to make new plastic from oil or gas, according to an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">investigation by NPR and PBS</a>.That investigation also probed the origins of recycling, and found that plastic-producing companies spent millions of dollars to make the practice popular. The companies' own scientists, however, told them that recycling wouldn't work on a large scale."Making recycling work was a way to keep their products in the marketplace," Ron Liesemer, a former DuPont manager who led the industry's recycling campaigns in the 1980s and 90s, told <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/plastic-wars/transcript/">PBS and NPR</a>. "It improves the image of the material."By 2015, the quantity of plastic produced each year had <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution">increased tenfold</a> from 1971. Plastic production is expected to double by 2040 and triple by 2050, according to <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf">the World Economic Forum</a>.<h2>Recycling doesn't stop microplastic pollution or protect human health</h2><div type="image" title="toddler child drinks bottled water" height="1600" width="2133" msid="90748806" hostid="261"></div>Even if every plastic product was recycled, it wouldn't prevent plastics from polluting our environment and bodies. Years of research show that plastic products we use every day are shedding microscopic bits and leaching invisible chemicals.Studies have found microplastics in humans' <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/health-wellness/how-to-eat-less-plastic-microplastics-in-food-water-a8899165110/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">food</a>, drinking <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516198" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">water</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-in-baby-poop-study-2021-9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">poop</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020322297" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">placentas</a>, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421010888" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">lungs</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/opinion/plastic-air-pollution.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">drifting</a> through the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thousands-of-tons-of-microplastics-are-falling-from-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">air</a> we breathe, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-discovered-in-human-blood-for-the-first-time-2022-3">flowing through some people's veins</a>.In fact, recycled bottles may leach even more chemicals into their beverages than fresh plastic bottles do, a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389422001984c">study</a> in the Journal of Hazardous Materials found last month.A 2019 <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b01517" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">analysis</a> estimated that the average American ingested about 50,000 microplastic particles each year and inhaled about the same amount. Another study from 2021 <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33130380/#:~:text=Subsequently%2C%20we%20estimated%20that%20globally,value%20relevant%20to%20human%20toxicology." target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">estimated</a> that the average person ingested a credit card's worth of plastic each week.The health consequences of that exposure aren't fully clear. Research has linked common chemicals in plastics — such as bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (<a href="https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">PFAS</a>) — to increased risk of cancer, issues with fertility and development, and hormone disruption. One <a href="https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/ueber-uns/news/default-0f889c8985-1/gesundheitsrisiko-durch-mikro-und-nanoplastik-in-lebensmitteln/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">study</a> suggested that microplastics in the human gut could trigger harmful inflammation and start processes associated with cancer. <a href="https://news.fsu.edu/news/science-technology/2021/04/19/microplastics-and-human-health-fsu-researchers-find-exposure-to-microplastics-may-alter-cellular-function/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">Another</a> found that the particles altered cell function in human lung cells.No matter how much plastic Coca-Cola recycles, as long as it keeps using PET bottles, it will be part of the problem.

Bill Nye says Coca-Cola is recycling its way to 'a world without waste.' He's wrong.

Adidas is turning plastic ocean waste into sneakers and sportswear

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2015 <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-ocean-plastic-sneakers-reveal-a-new-reality-2018-3">Adidas partnered with Parley for the Oceans</a> to turn marine pollution into sportswear.</li><li>Adidas uses <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adidas-parley-for-the-oceans-special-sneakers-2016-6">recycled plastic bottles</a> as a replacement for virgin polyester.</li><li>In <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sneakers-lead-charge-for-sustainability-apparel-2019-8">2019 Adidas expects to make 11 million</a> pairs of shoes with Ocean Plastic.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.</a> </li></ul>Following is a transcript of the video.Narrator: Adidas makes over 400 million pairs of shoes every year. Manufacturing that many shoes requires a lot of resources. But constantly creating new materials isn't great for the environment. So Adidas is turning to a different source.Experts predict that in 30 years, there will be more plastic in our oceans than fish. And one study estimates that 90% of seabirds have consumed some form of plastic waste. All that pollution on beaches and in the ocean is harmful to both marine life and humans. So Adidas is trying to stop some of that plastic before it reaches the ocean. In 2015, Adidas partnered with the environmental organization Parley for the Oceans. Their goal? To turn marine pollution into sportswear. And they've made huge progress.In 2019, Adidas expects to make 11 million pairs of shoes with recycled ocean plastic. That's more than double what it made in 2018. Adidas says the partnership has prevented 2,810 tons of plastic from reaching the oceans. But how are these shoes made?It all starts at the beach. Parley and its partners collect trash from coastal areas like the Maldives. The waste is then sorted, and the recovered plastic is sent to an Adidas processing plant. Adidas uses plastic bottles that contain polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. And if it's something Adidas can't use, like caps and rings? Those get sent to normal recycling facilities.The processing plant crushes, washes, and dehydrates the waste, leaving nothing but small plastic flakes. The flakes are heated, dried, and cooled, then cut into small resin pellets. Normally, polyester is made from petroleum. But Adidas melts these pellets to create a filament, which is spun into what they call Ocean Plastic, a form of polyester yarn. Adidas uses Ocean Plastic to form the upper parts of shoes and clothing like jerseys. Each item in the Parley collection is made from at least 75% intercepted marine trash. And they still meet the same performance and comfort standards of Adidas' other shoes. Recycled polyester uses less water and fewer chemicals and helps prevent plastic pollution.Adidas' goal is to replace all virgin polyester with recycled polyester by 2024. Currently, more than 40% of Adidas' apparel uses recycled polyester. You may have seen Adidas' recycled sportswear without even noticing it. Clothing made with Ocean Plastic has been used in college football, baseball, the NHL, the Australian Open, and more. But this doesn't eliminate plastic pollution entirely. Washing polyester clothing can create microfibers, which may end up in the ocean. Adidas suggests that customers wash their clothes less often, use cold water, and fully fill the machine each time.But this is just the first step. Adidas is also developing a 100% recyclable shoe called the Futurecraft Loop. This shoe is made to be remade. Because it can be returned and broken down to create a brand-new pair. Futurecraft Loop is expected to be available in 2021.With the help of Parley for the Oceans, Adidas is using readily available material to manufacture new products. Which is a big step towards a sustainable future.

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