Baltic Breakfast: The plastic problem – bigger than waste

However, this only focuses on the end of the life cycle of plastics, when in fact the whole life cycle is a global, complex socio-environmental problem, Patricia Villarubia-Gómez continues. It impacts not only marine life, but also all aspects included in the planetary boundaries framework, including climate change and ocean acidification. Furthermore, the plastic issue is also a chemical issue, as plastics are made up of more than 16,000 different chemicals, a quarter of which are known to be hazardous.

"We have no data for more than 10 000 chemicals, and that is very important. When we talk about plastics, we have to talk about chemicals too", says Patricia Villarubia-Gómez.

New treaty on the table

Negotiations on a global treaty to end plastic pollution have been underway since the UNEA 5.2 meeting in 2022. Now it is hoped that an effective treaty will come into force at the INC 5 meeting in Busan, South Korea, at the end of November.

Patricia Villarubia-Gómez will be attending the meeting as a member of the Scientists Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, with the aim of informing policy-makers.

"As a scientist, I asked myself what I could do. I've tried absolutely everything: to go plastic-free and reduce my contact with plastics, but it's impossible because the system doesn't work," she says, explaining the background to her involvement.

Starting with five members – Patricia Villarubia-Gómez included - the coalition has grown to include more than 400 scientists from over 70 countries.

"Our role is to gather all the science that we have and bring that information to the negotiators. And try to unblur the confusion that exists."

The treaty to be discussed in Butan contains some key elements, such as plastic production, non-plastic substitutes and waste management, that may seem simple at first glance.

"But it is very complicated, every single word is contested," says Patricia Villarubia-Gómez.

There is a polarisation between, on the one hand, the most ambitious 66 countries attending the meeting and, on the other, a like-minded group of few but loud countries.

"This group is blocking discussions and substantive issues. Some of the things that are being contested are the impact on human health, microplastics and human rights," says Patricia Villarubia-Gómez.

However, the largest group of countries is somewhere in the middle, making it difficult to predict the outcome of the negotiations.

"The Swedish delegation has been very good, I am impressed how approachable and prepared they are," adds Patricia Villarubia-Gómez.

Impacts on climate change

The research of Fredric Bauer, Associate Professor at the Department of Technology and Society at Lund University, focuses on the impact of plastics on climate change, which is significant.

"Plastics are fossil fuels," he points out.

But it is not primarily the burning of plastics that affects the climate, although it contributes, he explains. Instead, it's the production and manufacture that causes most of the greenhouse gas emissions.
To make plastics, oil and gas fractions are heated to a temperature high enough to crack the molecules. The smaller building blocks are then combined to form polymers, which are mixed with other additives. The process is very oil-intensive - 14 per cent of all oil is used in the petrochemical industry, where plastics are the dominant product category. 

The global production of plastics is very unevenly distributed and has undergone a shift since the last millennium. From being concentrated in Europe, North America and Japan, it is now dominated by Asia, with China being the largest single producer, accounting for around a third of total production. 

"We have seen production growing in the regions that are most dependent on fossil energy, in particular coal”, says Fredric Bauer. “That means that over time production has become dirtier and associated with greater emissions of greenhouse gases."

150 kg per person per year

Global consumption of plastics, like all material consumption, is also very unevenly distributed around the world. 

"The wealthier we are, the more material resources we use and consume," says Fredric Bauer.

People in north-western Europe now consume an average of 150 kg of plastic per person per year, while the global average is around 60 kg.

Packaging is the largest single application, but only accounts for about 35 per cent of total use. A lot of plastic is also used in buildings, construction and infrastructure. Textiles are another major contributor, with almost two-thirds of all textile fibres in the world now synthetic, i.e. plastic.

"We talk about plastic as if it were one thing, but we use it in every aspect of our daily lives," says Fredrik Bauer.

In Sweden, most plastic waste is incinerated, and only about a tenth of all plastic is recycled. While incineration is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions at the national level, it is not a significant contributor at the global level, simply because most waste is landfilled.

"On a global scale, greenhouse gas emissions from the plastics value chain are completely dominated by the sourcing of raw materials and the production of plastics, because of the very, very high energy intensity of production and all the emissions associated with resource extraction."

So, what can we do?

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from plastics could include to reuse, to reduce and partially to substitute the use of plastics. However, as Fredrik Bauer points out, not all plastics can be substituted, partly because of the specific material properties of plastics that are desired in many products, and partly because other materials are not without environmental impacts.

"So, to a large degree reducing our stressors on the environment is about reducing material consumption in our society – plastic and others", he emphasises.

While bio-based and alternative feedstocks could form part of the current plastic production, they are unlikely to form the majority as the impact on, for example, land use and energy consumption would be too big.

"We can work towards a more circular economy, but the idea of 100 percent circularity is a fallacy. All these things are pieces of the puzzle rather than silver bullet solutions. To align with the net zero targets that we have international agreements upon, we have to reduce primary production of plastics."

So, if there is no agreement in Korea, what can I do? asks moderator Ellen Bruno.

"That’s a tricky one. It’s not very meaningful to think that this is about individuals transforming to plastic-free lives, because it’s not about one type of consumption, it’s about how our modern economies work –plastics are everywhere. But one thing what we can do is to reduce our material consumption in general. That has a very strong positive impact on climate change and also on biodiversity loss."

"I tried to go plastic-free while also being a vegetarian, and I became anaemic," adds Patricia Villarubia-Gómez. "There is no way we can eat without plastic touching our food the way the system is. So, it's about changing the system.”

Text: Lisa Bergqvist

See a recoring of the seminar