The United States is the biggest contributor of plastic waste in the world, said a new report that was submitted to the federal government, adding that the country needs a strategy to deter a large amount of plastic it is generating that ends up in the oceans. The report also asked the nations to take up steps to combat this growing crisis.
The Discovery of cheap, versatile plastics has created a “global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look”, the report stated. It further said the US is leading in generating disposable plastics that reach aquatic life, trapping and smothering marine habitats, damaging ecosystems and inducing harmful pollution up through the food chain.
In total, the US contributed around 42 million tons (MMT) in plastic waste in 2016 which is twice larger than China’s and more than the countries of the European Union combined said the analysis.
Every American on average produces 130 kilograms (286 pounds) of plastic waste per year, which is followed by South Korea next on the list at 88 kilos per year.
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Called "Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste," Congress has directed this report as part of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. The Act became law in December 2020.
Since the 1960s, plastic waste has increased significantly in the US with the nation now generating around 42m metric tons of plastic waste a year, which calculates to about 130kg of waste for each person in America. The report had also found that the overall amount of municipal waste that is created in the US is also two to eight times higher than any other country across the world.
"The success of the 20th-century miracle invention of plastics has also produced a global scale deluge of plastic waste seemingly everywhere we look," wrote Margaret Spring, who chaired the committee of experts that composed the report.
Since 1966 plastic production globally has increased from 20 million metric tons to 381 MMT in 2015 which is a 20 fold rise in over half a century, added the report. Further, it said that the primary cause of ocean waste was mainly focused on the ship and marine-based sources, however, it has come to the fore that any plastic on the land can reach the oceans via rivers and streams and cause damage, cautioned the report.
Research has found that almost a thousand marine species in the water body are vulnerable to plastic entrapment or to ingesting microplastics, that make their way through the food web back to the humans on their plate leading to serious diseases.
An estimated 8 MMP of plastic waste enters the world annually, said the report, adding that "the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck of plastic waste into the ocean every minute."
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If this speed continues, the quantity of plastics that would reach the ocean can go up by 53 MMT per year by 2030, which is approximately half of the total weight of fish that are captured from the ocean annually, stated the report. The reason is the waste generation explosion since 1980 that has not seen a proper range of recycling, creating more and more plastic debris.
With suggesting several steps to address the crisis, the report particularly, talked about reducing virgin plastic production. Some other recommended measures include using materials that deteriorate faster and are conveniently recycled, the decrease in the use of certain single-use plastics, and improved waste management, such as techniques to remove microplastics from wastewater. Improvement in the waste recovery technology would stop plastics in waterways and stemming plastic disposal directly into the ocean body itself is another priority work to do.
Judith Enk, president of the Beyond Plastics nonprofit said, "This is the most comprehensive and damning report on plastic pollution ever published. It is a code red for plastics in the ocean and documents how litter cleanups are not going to save the ocean.”
She further urged the policymakers and world business leaders to thoroughly read the report and take necessary actions.