Global health burdens of plastics
A lifecycle assessment model shows that plastic pollution reduce our lives by 83 million between 2016 and 2040.
Microplastics Are Threatening Global Food Security
Microplastics cause a loss in photosynthesis and a wordwide loss in crops (grain, rice, fruits, vegetables) of about 10%.
1 kg of plastic equals 3 kg CO2-equivalents
On average 1 kg of plastic equals 3 kg CO2-equivalents for production and incineration 44% of all plastic consumption is packaging, mostly related to food. Multiply your waste by an average of 2 for the avoidance of CO2 for production or 3 when including incineration. Currently most plastic waste is still being burned (or exported)…
390 million tons of plastic production every year
Source: Plastic Atlas 2019 Plastic Soup Foundation Some figures on plastic production: The amount of plastic that is produced in the world every year has increased from 2 million tons in 1950 to 390 million tons in 2021 (figures from the plastics industry https://plasticseurope.org). 56% of the plastic is produced after 2000; The expectation is…
Plastic pollution is a human health issue
More and more results from research are available showing that plastic pollution has a major impact on health. About 95 additives in plastics are poisonous however still little is known about the dangers. We now do know additives impact our hormone system (‘Endocrine Disruption’), impact the unborn child and reduce fertility among males and females.…
Nanoplastics in the snow
Scientists detected nanoplastics of different types in the snow at a remote high-altitude site in the Alps. Air transport modelling indicates regional and long-range transport of nanoplastics, originating preferentially from European urban areas. These urban areas are important sources of nanoplastics at this site, however the research showed that nanoplastics also travelled from across the…