By Karen Florini
Our expert today is Karen Florini. Karen most recently held multiple leadership roles at Climate Central, a non-profit climate science research and communication organization that creates highly localized information on climate impacts and solutions. Previously, she served as Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change at the State Department. Earlier she spent more than two decades at the Environmental Defense Fund, working on environmental health and on climate change. She earned a law degree at Harvard, but now regards herself as a recovering lawyer.
Q: What role do plastics have on climate change?
A: Plastics are a double-edged sword for the climate. On the one hand, they have some notable benefits. Plastics are key components of clean-energy systems, including solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries. Other benefits include their relatively light weight, thus reducing the amount of energy needed to ship goods (including their packaging) by land, sea, or air. Plastic components of cars and trucks also reduce vehicle weight, making them more energy-efficient and improving their gas mileage.
Plastics also reduce material waste by protecting goods from rain or snow. And they can help reduce food waste by extending the shelf life of some fresh produce, reducing the amount of energy going into food production, transport, and disposal. In addition, plastics are used in many insulation and weather-stripping products that reduce use of energy to heat and cool buildings.
On the other hand, plastics are a big users of fossil fuels, as the feedstocks for making plastics come from crude oil and natural gas. Globally, production and disposal of plastics now accounts for about 3% of global emissions of heat-trapping gases. If plastics were a country, it would be the 6th-biggest emitter in the world.
About 90% of emissions from plastics occur during manufacture, as converting oil and gas into plastics is an energy-intensive process. The remainder occurs at disposal, particularly when trash is incinerated, at which point burning releases the carbon contained in the plastic. Recycling of plastics is notoriously unsuccessful, with recycling rates hovering below 10% for a variety of technical, economic, and practical reasons.
In addition to the climate effects of plastic production and disposal, other concerns are emerging. These concerns have intensified in light of recent information on the astonishing prevalence of micro-plastics and nano-plastics – minute particles (five millimeters or less) that come from the breakdown of plastics – that affect human health. Plastic waste also significantly impacts oceans and marine life, as well as birds and terrestrial wildlife.
Alternatives to plastics are available for some consumer uses, particularly for single-use plastics, and manufacturers are beginning to develop non-fossil-based plastics though these are not now widely available.
