In the past 20 years, Gardiner writes, plastic production has doubled, and it will double again, perhaps triple, in the near future. Petrochemicals for plastic are, she says, “expected to be the largest single driver of oil demand in the decades to come. Obviously these oil companies can see what’s coming – they understand that that shift away from fossil fuels is a threat to their business model that has been so profitable for them.” Plastic, she says, “is a way for them to keep drilling and to keep making money. Putting their expertise and muscle into solar or wind power was not the way they wanted to go. It’s not as profitable as selling oil and gas, so they’re all in on the current model, and plastic is a way to perpetuate it. Which is why it is, I guess, even more catastrophic. Because if it’s enabling the industry to keep drilling, to keep selling oil and gas, that is a huge threat to the climate.”

The extraction and transport of fossil fuels, and manufacturing and disposal of plastics, all create carbon emissions. According to the UN, in 2019, plastics generated 1.8bn tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – 3.4% of total global emissions.

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15 comments in c/world@lemmy.world view that post
[–] 48 points 8 months ago (12 children)

And they want to make it our responsibility to control plastic waste. Politicians and CEOs are one evil entity.

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  • [–] 36 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    I've worked/been adjacent to manufacturing and seeing every single plastic panel of a budget electronic product coming in its own plastic sleeve with plastic film pre-applied to the outer surface, assembling these things and seeing the mountain of single use plastic films being used is monsterous.

    And then you see what happens with returned products at places like amazon and see the whole ass product being crushed by a baler completely unused.

    We're a stupid fucking species. We have enough. Its a distribution problem and we're being held captive by 8-10 specific rich assholes.

    I wish godzilla was here.

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  • [–] 11 points 8 months ago*

    The same ploy has been used for everything environmental and climate change based. Apparently you have a CO2 emission cost, you have a personal plastic and waste cost its all your consuming fault. No one seems to challenge the idea that if we don't "consume" this plastic we die from lack of food since everything comes wrapped. Almost all production of waste products generally is done by companies for products they sell us, they are secondary emissions.

    The most common ones where people actually produce the waste themselves are petrol/diesel cars, gas boilers/heating and stoves. But the bulk of production is all the choice of really very profitable businesses and asking them to change over the last 55 years has not worked.

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  • [–] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    Plastic production has doubled since 2000 and less than 10% gets recycled. The oil industry is actively poisoning the planet for quarterly profits. There is no solution besides ending mass plastic production, but that seems like a nonstarter. Just another neverending global disaster to be conveniently ignored.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    They'll tell us they have bigger problems (distractions) to worry about like immigrants, war for oil, Epstein... Meanwhile climate change is going to kill us all. If life were a movie, now would be the part when humanity unites against evil and we fight back hard. If it's not too late.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago (3 children)

    Also why we need government regulation of social media, because individuals will never self-regulate properly en masse.

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  • [–] 21 points 8 months ago

    I remember reading an article in the early 2000s about how plastic recycling was essentially China buying plastic en bulk to only bury it. Once they saw it was poisoning their water they stopped, which effectively stopped plastic recycling in a lot of areas.

    Today, I still try to recycle plastic if I can. I try to limit my use if I can help it but it's so fucking hard. I've recently learned that glass isn't even recycled in my area. (It's crushed and then sold as aggregate filler.)

    Aluminum cans aren't recycled like they used to because they have a plastic lining now.

    We really need to force companies to take back their products or at minimum pay a tax so that localities can actually recycle their trash.

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  • [–] 7 points 8 months ago

    Companies are evil and lie. It's high time to treat them accordingly.

    But no, it's totally different with the current hype (AI...) ! Really, totally different I swear!

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  • 3 comments in c/collapse@lemmy.zip view that post
    [–] 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

    Legislate to make the manufacturer responsible for cleanup of their products and packaging, particularly for things that are not easily recyclable. End this nonsense of making the consumer responsible for the cleanup.

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  • [–] 5 points 8 months ago (1 child)

    Could also implement deposits on plastic packaging. That clamshell your mouse came in? Charge $1 that is refunded once the package is turned into a recycler. If it works for aluminum cans in many places it can work for plastic. Also why the fuck is the deposit on aluminum not a global thing by now? Aluminum is so easy to recycle now and can be done infinite times.

    For real though, why do we use plastic for packaging when aluminum is better? I would completely buy product in an aluminum clamshell.

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  • [–] 3 points 8 months ago

    It's just one of the options they would switch to if it's more costly for them to use plastic .. or even nothing at all. There's so many things that wouldn't be plastic if the onus was on the manufacturer to make provision for cleaning up the waste associated with their product.

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  • 1 comment in c/environment@beehaw.org view that post
    [–] 2 points 8 months ago

    And there will never be legal consequences

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