Bio-based plastic won’t solve the plastic problem
Source: fastcompany.com/90872141/bio-based-plastic-wont-solve-the-plastic-problem
Authors: ADELE PETERS Adele Peters
“Bioplastic isn’t a silver bullet,” says Steve Hynd, policy and media manager for City to Sea, a UK nonprofit focused on plastic pollution. The first and most obvious step, he says, is using less plastic to begin with. Global plastic production doubled between 2000 to 2019. Since then, in the U.S. alone, more than 40 new petrochemical plants to make plastic have stad construction or the permitting process. The surge in plastic—around half of which is designed for a single use—isn’t just a waste problem, but a climate problem. (The new government goal is part of a broader plan to hit net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.) Most plastic is made from ethane, a byproduct of natural gas; 35 ethane “cracker” facilities in the U.S. release around 70 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions a year, according to a 2021 report from Beyond Plastics. Other chemical feedstocks and additives in plastic add even more emissions to the final product. The report calculated that the plastic industry in the U.S. could outpace pollution from the country’s coal power plants by the end of this decade. Depending on how it’s made, bio-based plastic could help significantly shrink that footprint. One new bottled water brand, for example, uses compostable bioplastic made with food waste (the material, called PHA, also has a lower footprint than other bio-based feedstocks like sugarcane or corn, and is designed to break down more easily than some other compostables). But it still makes more sense to focus on refillable and reusable packaging, argues Melissa Valliant, communications director for Beyond Plastics.