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To estimate the risk presented by plastics when they accumulate in the environment instead of in the garbage bin, the team of chemists led by Frederik Wurm are working on the PlastX project with social scientists from Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt and the Institute for Social-Ecological Research. The researchers are seeking to present potential alternatives to the customary polymer materials and to put forward proposals on how environmental pollution by plastics can be reduced, not just in Germany but primarily in developing and emerging countries. The North-Rhine Westphalia consumer advice centre, the "Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit" and various companies – such as the supermarket chain Tegut – are also taking part in the project being funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
The researchers working on the PlastX project soon realized that there were no straightforward solutions to the issues they were seeking to resolve. First of all, there is the danger that plastics in the environment pose to animals and humans. The materials are today perceived as a threat for this reason alone because they are so durable and accumulate on a large scale in the environment unless they are properly disposed of. The figures in themselves are alarming: A US study conducted by, among others, researchers from the University of Georgia revealed that the volume of plastic waste is increasing by 4.8 to 12.7 million tons a year – mainly because packaging and unwanted devices are carelessly thrown away. According to a study by IUCN, an international nature conservation organization, between 0.8 and 2.5 million tons of plastic micro-particles are pumped into the oceans each year.
"It is not yet clear to what extent plastics – particularly in the form of micro-particles – are hazardous to animals and humans," says Frederik Wurm. "For example, we do not yet know whether they produce nanoparticles that are much more easily absorbed by the body than micro-particles." There is also uncertainty over whether harmful substances find their way into animal or human organisms through the plastic particles or whether they are then detached from the plastic particles there.
Not enough ozone, too much carbon dioxide, and seas of plastic. What is to be done?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Immerman on Tuesday May 09 2017, @12:54AM (2 children)
In this case there's a valid case to be made - because the "developing and emerging" economies contain the majority of the human population, and are advancing fast.
Not that we should stop looking for solutions to the existing problems, but the biggest, cheapest gains are almost certainly going to be in preventing the bulk of humanity from making the same mistakes we did. In their case you don't have to fight habit, because they don't yet have our bad habits, and if you can hold up the problems of our own bad example along with a viable alternative that will mitigate those problems for everyone else, you've got a good chance of creating new markets for the alternative. Markets that can then expand without the aggressive defensive actions of those who are profiting from our problems.
It may even prove a valuable tactic for our own problems - in many cases it may be faster and easier for a company/business model to establish itself in such a vacuum and then expand here, rather than try to get started here under the watchful eyes of the established opposition.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 09 2017, @12:40PM
It is too late already for non-habits. Plastic-packaged consumer products (drinking water, prepackaged sweets and beverages) are first and thickest link of developing world with industrialized world. We throwaway at home, we throwaway on our vacations and business stays in Third world.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Thursday May 11 2017, @06:26AM
The best solution is one of the three R's. The first one. "Reduce" Don't buy something you don't need to. Or grab a bag to put what you bought into instead of getting a fresh new plastic bag from the store.
Hell, just today, I was buying a bag for holding stuff in the bed of my truck (I carry a lot of stuff for my business). The "bag" I bought comes in a ridiculous plastic pouch (pouch has a zipper, clear patch to view the contents, along with the cardboard product sheet with bar code). And after buying it, the cashier wanted to stuff it into a bag (it was the only thing I bought). I declined the 3rd bag...