HOW TO TRULY END PLASTIC POLLUTION

By:SanaviKulkarni

Foryearsstudentshavebeentaughtthatthemost fundamentalruleofsustainabilityistofollowthe three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But with plastic pollutionbeingamajorglobalchallenge,theidea that we only need to continue recycling is far fromthetruth.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 40% of recycled plastic waste is thrown away due to low quality. Plastic collected from households is downcycled, meaning the single polymers without additive pigments have been spoiled resulting in a loss of quality. We cannot prevent the damage to the structure of plastic after use, but we can prevent the times we use the plastic. Therefore, the solution to ending plastic pollution is a transition from reducing the non-essential plastics to using long-lastingproducts.

This transition relies on policy making. In Ireland, one of the first countries to charge for plastic bags, had a 90% decrease in plastic bag consumption. Additionally the EU’s trend in policy is shifting and promoting improved designs of durable products. Hopefully, the plastic treaty writers of the UN can use these efforts as a guide to emphasize why manufacturers should focus on making longlastingproducts.