(New York) The United States is the undisputed champion of plastic waste.
On average, each American generates 130 kg of plastic waste per year, compared to 21 kg for the average Canadian or 54 for the average citizen of the 28 countries of the European Union (EU).
In 2016, Americans as a whole also generated around 42 million metric tonnes of plastic waste, more than double the number of Chinese and more than all citizens of EU countries combined.
And where does this plastic waste go? Many of them end up in seas and oceans, by rivers and streams. Globally, we are talking about at least 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste, which end up, year after year, threatening more than 900 marine species, of which 701 have already experienced problems of ingestion of plastic and 354 got entangled in this material.
If the trend continues, 53 million tonnes of plastic waste per year will be dumped in the oceans from 2030, or about half the total weight of fish that are caught there annually.
The suffocating data can be found in a report released earlier this week by the National Academy of Sciences, which recommends that the United States government adopt a national strategy to tackle what it calls an “environmental and social crisis.” For which the Americans are largely responsible.
“We noted that the population of the United States is 4.3% of the world’s population and that we produce more plastic waste than any other country, both in total volume and per person. It is therefore our responsibility to manage this waste that we produce ”, declared to Press Kara Lavender Law, professor of oceanography at the Sea Education Association, who is among the authors of the report.
The limits of recycling
For now, recycling enthusiasts are really no match for the deluge of plastic waste generated in the United States, if the report is to be believed.
“Retraining is a delicate matter,” Prof. Law explained in a telephone interview. “On the one hand, we state very explicitly that the current recycling system in the United States is insufficient to deal with the complexity and increasing amount of plastic waste in the current waste stream. On the other hand, there are improvements that could be made both in the design phases of the material products and in the actual handling of waste, sorting and the end market. “
One of the barriers to successful recycling is the relatively low cost of virgin plastics compared to processed or recycled plastics.
Kara Lavender Law, Professor of Oceanography
According to the report of the expert committee of the National Academy of Sciences, the national strategy of the American government should be articulated around six main axes intended to reduce plastic waste in the oceans.
One of them would lead to setting “national objectives and strategies to cap or reduce the production of virgin plastic”. For the moment, the industry strongly opposes such an intervention.
“This is an error that would lead to supply chain disruptions, economic and inflationary pressure on already taxed consumers and more serious environmental consequences, especially with regard to climate change,” said in a statement Joshua Baca, vice president of the American Chemistry Council, while touting the rest of the report from the National Academy of Sciences.
A government “ready to listen”
Professor Law expects a better reception from the US government. After all, the Academy’s report was commissioned by Congress, which in December 2020 passed a bipartisan bill dubbed the Save Our Seas (SOS) Act and enacted by Donald Trump himself.
“I’m more confident than ever,” says the oceanographer. I am actually as optimistic as I have been that the federal government is ready to listen. How quickly this will translate into action is of course an open question. ”
A decade ago, I don’t think the federal government was very concerned about this problem.
Kara Lavender Law
If all goes as desired by the expert committee of the National Academy of Sciences, the implementation of a national strategy to reduce plastic waste in the oceans should be evaluated no later than December 31, 2025.
This is an ambitious timetable that reflects “the urgency of the problem,” according to Kara Lavender Law.
In the meantime, the Academy’s expert committee also recommends that the US government deploy a system for monitoring and surveillance of marine litter, in order to be able to more accurately measure the evolution of the problem.
The United States owes President Abraham Lincoln the creation of the National Academy of Sciences. Formed by volunteer scientists, this independent institution must, at the request of any department, “examine, study, experiment and publish on any subject in the sciences or the arts”.