Senior Project 2021
Peer Interviews
The problem with plastic can only be solved if all citizens of the world collaborate and fully acknowledge the problem. For this section of the project, I want to emphasize the fact that plastic does not just have a significant impact on the region of Southeast Asia but also on other countries around the globe. Each interviewee's perspective highlights the problem with plastic in their own lives and community through personal anecdotes and stories.
*I didn't catch this during the recording, but I misread some data that was shared with the participants. Firstly, when I said in the interview that 380 million tons of plastic per year are dumped into the ocean, that number signifies the total number of plastic produced per year (2). The actual number of plastic waste in the ocean is 8-10 million tons per year (1). Secondly, in some of the interviews, I read "...out of 813 billion metric tons", which was meant to be 8.3 instead (3). I am truly sorry for this inaccuracy in the data I shared with the participants. After finding out about this mistake, I have contacted each interviewee to correct the data which I had previously misgiven.
Global Plastic Problem (statistics)
Out of all environmental problems that are threatening our Earth's equilibrium, plastic pollution is one of the most devastating and pressing issues as nations throughout the globe are having trouble curbing production and properly collecting discarded plastic (4). To further explain plastic, it is integral to really understand what plastic is. From a simple definition, plastic "could be any group of synthetic or natural organic materials that may be shaped when soft and then hardened" (5). And while the first synthetic plastic was created in 1862, it would not be until 1871 that PVC (polyvinyl chloride) was first created by Eugen Baumann, and Whinfield and Dickson invented PET (polyethylene terephthalate) (5). Today, a variety of plastic types are being used, from PET and PVC to HDPE (high-density polyethylene) and PS (polystyrene) for all sorts of material goods and packaging (5). But since it was first marketed and mass used in 1970 with the production of Bakelite, from the 1950s to 2015, annual production of plastic increased 200-fold and increased exponentially from 3.6 million tons in 1950 to 228 million tons by 2015 (2). To make matters worse, scientists estimated that half of all plastic ever manufactured has been made in the last 15 years and is expected to double in amount by 2050 (2). As of 2020, there are about 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our ocean and 46,000 pieces in every square mile of ocean, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes (4). On average, around 8 million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean, making plastic pollution in the ocean one of the biggest threats to marine life and marine biodiversity (6).
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"In the chart, we show the plastic waste generate rate per person versus gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. In general — although there is significant variation across countries at all levels of development — plastic waste generation tends to increase as we get richer. Per capita, plastic waste at low incomes tends to be notably smaller." (2)
Apart from just changing the ecosystem through numbers, plastic is also revolutionizing our daily habits and various industries (4). From an industrial lens, plastic is one of the most transformative materials that allow modern life to be as we know it to be (5). The usage of plastic extends from being used in medical devices and lighted cars to life-saving equipment like incubators and clean drinking water systems (4). As for individuals, plastic is one of the most habit-changing materials. They promote single-use culture and mass over-consumption, leading to tons of plastic waste after merely a few minutes or hours of usage compared to its lifespan of approximately hundreds of years (4).
"The data presented in the analysis above is for the year 2010; how is this global picture likely to change over time? Jambeck et al. (2015) also project mismanaged plastic waste production for the year 2025. These results are presented in the map as the share of global mismanaged waste by country and aggregated by region. Absolute figures (in tonnes per year) by country are available to explore here.
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Overall we see that the global distribution is projected to change only slightly; whilst China’s contribution falls by a couple of percentage points, East Asia & Pacific maintain around 60 percent of the total. South Asia’s contribution — largely driven by India — increases slightly, as does Sub-Saharan Africa. Latin America, the Middle East & North Africa, Europe, and North America all fall in relative terms." (2)
From the data in the map above, it is evident that the majority of plastic waste that was disposed into the ocean is from Asia, parts of Africa, and Brazil (most consisting of countries that are labeled "developing" and have relatively lower economic incentives) (2). However, while the numbers are staggering, it is not much to one's surprise of the unequal distribution of plastic waste emission (2). For it is these regions of the world where trash are exported from richer countries and have lower means of dealing with it properly (2).
Today, most of our plastic trash live in oceans--floating on the surface, sinking to seabeds, as well as being incorporated into deposited sediments and marine bodily systems. For those that stay afloat, plastic is carried from coastlines to coastlines through conveyor belts, which accumulates more trash as they move downstream and, at times, being gathered at Garbage patches that exist in both the Pacific and Atlantic bodies (7). And it is through this travel of plastic that allows millions of animals--both marine and land-- to be killed every year. It is determined that nearly 700 species, many of which are endangered, are affected by plastic contamination and plastic entanglement (4). Many sea animals like whales, turtles, and seals are strangled by fishing gear or discarded six-pack rings (4). At the same time, more than 100 aquatic species like mussels and shrimp have been found with microplastic within their bodies that blocked digestive tracts and pierced their organs, leaning to death (4). Many that consume microplastics have also died from starvation as their stomachs have become so bloated with plastics (4).
To further expand on the issue of microplastic, they are labeled to be small particles less than about â…• of an inch in diameter that was broken down through sea, sunlight, wind, and wave action (4). And it is this type of plastic that has been found in almost all places--Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, which undoubtedly also means that microplastic has been found in municipal drinking water systems, air, and our bodies (4). Although there has been no evidence of microplastic harm to humans, the toxic effects of plastic particles are being studied and monitored (4).
"It’s estimated that there are more than 5 trillion plastic particles in the world’s surface waters. We can see this breakdown of plastic particles by the ocean basin here. The accumulation of a large number of particles tends to result from the breakdown of larger plastics — this results in an accumulation of plastic particles for a given mass.
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The figure summarizes plastics in the ocean surface waters by basin. This is shown by particle size in terms of mass (left) and particle count (right). As shown, the majority of plastics by mass are large particles (microplastics), whereas the majority in terms of particle count are microplastics (small particles)." (2)
