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Oceans Deeply talks with experts about the plastic pollution that's threatening the ocean: What we know, what we don't know and, crucially, what we can do about it.

An endangered monk seal resting on a tangled web of fishing gear and marine debris.NOAA

In our latest Oceans Deeply Talks, community editor Ian Evans is joined by journalist Erica Cirino, a frequent contributor to Oceans Deeply, and Keith Cialino, the northeast regional coordinator for the marine debris program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to discuss marine plastic pollution.

While aboard a marine research vessel recently, Cirino spotted plastic debris 2,000 miles (3,200km) from shore. However, much of the plastic that flows into the ocean disappears from sight as it breaks down into tiny bits known as microplastics and even smaller pieces, not visible to the eye, called nanoplastics. Cirino witnessed scientists pulling up shards of plastic from 650ft (200m) below the surface of the sea. This, she says, means we may have "grossly underestimated" the amount of plastic in the ocean.

Cialino has seen similar plastic pollution off the east coast of the United States. Derelict fishing gear is particularly problematic because marine animals often die from eating it or becoming entangled in fishing lines and nets.

How microplastics and nanoplastics affect animal and human health is not well understood. These tiny pieces of plastics can be vehicles for viruses, bacteria and toxins. The particles are eaten by fish, which can end up on dinner plates. A recent United Nations report stated that 121 commercial seafood species have been found to ingest plastics.

"It is well known, though, that those chemicals cause serious health problems in animals and humans," says Cirino. "So, the fact that these plastics are absorbing these chemicals is a huge concern for scientists."

One solution is to prevent plastics from getting into the ocean. Cialino notes that cleaning up plastic pollution can boost local economies. NOAA's Marine Debris Program, for instance, pays fishers to collect abandoned fishing nets that are then incinerated to produce energy or recycled into other products.

To learn more, you can listen to our full, 30-minute conversation.

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Oceans Deeply Talks: Drowning in Plastic

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Oceans Deeply talks with experts about the plastic pollution that's threatening the ocean: What we know, what we don't know and, crucially, what we can do about it.

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Scientists and environmental protection advocates are warning that a coming plastics boom could lead to a permanent state of pollution on the planet-and denouncing the fossil fuel industry for driving an increase in plastics production amid all that's known about the material polluting the world's oceans.

"We could be locking in decades of expanded plastics production at precisely the time the world is realizing we should use far less of it," Carroll Muffett, president of the Center for International Environmental Law (CEIL), told the Guardian. The CEIL has compiled several reports about the plastics industry since September.

The American Chemistry Council, a trade organization, has acknowledged that fossil fuel companies including Exxon and Shell Chemical have poured more than $180 billion into the creation of plastics facilities that are expected to create a 40 percent rise in production of the material over the next decade.

The rise in shale gas exploration in recent years has caused the price of natural gas liquids, used to make plastic, to drop significantly, causing companies to begin more than 300 plastics production projects since 2010.

"Around 99 percent of the feedstock for plastics is fossil fuels, so we are looking at the same companies...that have helped create the climate crisis," said Muffett. "There is a deep and pervasive relationship between oil and gas companies and plastics."

The report follows the CEIL's recent study, released earlier this month, which showed that the plastics industry has known its products were polluting the world's oceans since the 1970s and has spent decades fighting regulations that aim to keep the crisis from getting worse.

"We are already producing more disposable plastic than we can deal with, more in the last decade than in the entire twentieth century, and millions of tons of it are ending up in our oceans," Louise Edge, senior oceans campaigner for Greenpeace UK, told the Guardian.

Another study by researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara, published earlier this year, warned that excessive plastic production could lead to "near-permanent contamination" of the earth since the material is not biodegradable.

The CEIL warns that the rise in plastics will prove that research correct in the coming decades.

"All this buildout, if allowed to proceed, will flood the global market with even more disposable, unmanageable plastic for decades to come," predicted Steven Feit, an attorney with CEIL.

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Oil Giants Invest $180B in Plastics, Propelling Oceans Toward 'Near-Permanent' Pollution

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Scientists and environmental protection advocates are warning that a coming plastics boom could lead to a permanent state of pollution on the planet-and denouncing the fossil fuel industry for driving an increase in plastics production amid all that's known about the material polluting the world's oceans.

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Would Banning Plastic Bottles Help or Hurt the Planet?

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How much plastic did you use today?

Since the 1950s, more than 9.1 billion tons of plastic has been produced. In 2015 alone, production came to roughly 448 million tons. In an effort to curb plastic use, some states are tackling the issue by banning or limiting certain plastic products, including single-use plastic items.

These include plastic bags from your local grocer, plastic straws in your beverage of choice, plastic utensils from a takeout order and even traditional plastic water bottles.

In honor of Earth Day 2019, let's do the numbers on plastic.

The global recycling system is estimated to be a $200 billion industry. About 90.5% of plastic has never been recycled, according to a U.N. report released last year. In the state of California, about $25 million is spent each year to dispose of plastic waste in landfills.

Single-use plastic items aren't helping the economy. After its initial use, the World Economic Forum estimates that " 95% of plastic packaging material value, or $80-120 billion annually, is lost to the economy."
Plastic bags
In 2014, the Earth Policy Institute said that one trillion single-use bags were used every year - about 2 million each minute.

One single-use plastic bag is estimated to have a lifespan of 12 minutes, according to Environment Massachusetts. To reduce the use of single-use plastic bags, cities, states and countries around the world have introduced laws to ban the bags.

California was first state in the U.S. to ban the distribution of single-use plastic bags statewide. Last month, New York became the second to do so. The law is expected to go into effect March 2020.

However, not all plastic bags are created (or regulated) equally. Reusable plastic bags are available for purchase at many retailers in California. Prices are set at the discretion of retailers - but by law they must be sold for at least 10 cents a bag.

What about those cotton tote bags retailers like to sell as an alternatives to plastic? An organic cotton bag needs to be reused 20,000 times to have the same impact on the environment as a single-use plastic bag.
Drinking straws
Effective April 22, the city of Los Angeles restricted the use of disposable plastic drinking straws, making them available only upon request. San Diego and Washington D.C. have both done the same thing, as have companies like Disney and American Airlines.

This creates a market for reusable straws. The straw market is reportedly worth $924 million. Online retailer Etsy experienced a 198% surge in searches for metal straws in the first six months of 2018.

A luxury straw market also exists. Between Tiffany & Co.'s $250 sterling silver straw, a rose quartz-embellished straw for $68, and even bent glass straws for $8 each, the market is laden with options.
Water bottles
What about the water bottle market? In 2017, one million water bottles were purchased every minute. In an effort to curb the use of single-use plastic water bottles, a reusable water bottle industry has emerged.

A market intelligence company estimates it is worth more than $8 billion.
Where does it all go?
According to a 2015 study, about eight million metric tons of plastic waste ended up in the ocean in 2010. By 2050, it's estimated that, by weight, the ocean will contain more plastic than fish, according to a 2016 study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Some of that waste winds up in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a mass of waste in the ocean between Hawaii and California. The vortex is sometimes said to be larger than Texas (which is about 270,000 square miles in size).

But not all plastic in the ocean is visible to the human eye. Microplastics, pieces of plastics less than five millimeters in length, are the most common form of "marine debris" found in oceans and lakes across the world. According to the United Nations, at least 51 trillion microplastic particles are found in the ocean, " 500 times more than stars in our galaxy."
Correction (April 22, 2019): A previous version of this story mischaracterized a Los Angeles city rule regarding drinking straws. Straws are available on request. The text has been corrected. If you're a member of your local public radio station, we thank you - because your support helps those stations keep programs like Marketplace on the air. But for Marketplace to continue to grow, we need additional investment from those who care most about what we do: superfans like you. Your donation - as little as $5 - helps us create more content that matters to you and your community, and to reach more people where they are - whether that's radio, podcasts or online. When you contribute directly to Marketplace, you become a partner in that mission: someone who understands that when we all get smarter, everybody wins.

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The single-use plastic pollution problem - Marketplace

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How much plastic did you use today? Since the 1950s, more than 9.1 billion tons of plastic has been produced. In 2015 alone, production came to roughly 448 million tons.

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Why Single-Use Plastics Are Bad—And What You Can Do About It - Nature’s Path

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Single-use plastics are in the spotlight, as more and more people opt to reduce them. This even includes businesses like Hyatt Hotels and McDonalds in the U.K. and Ireland—as well as Starbucks, whose plan to go plastic-straw-free by 2020 will save one billion straws per year. Places around the world…

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The problem with single-use plastic & how you can avoid it

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Single-use plastic includes products such as straws, bags, and bottles; pretty much any plastic item that’s made for temporary use.

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The problem with single-use plastic & how you can avoid it

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Jump to Section

A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. These modern conveniences are so ubiquitous-and so quickly thrown out-that they hardly register in our minds. But single-use plastics come with a steep environmental price -one that we'll be paying off for millennia. Our plastic addiction is having a devastating impact on our oceans, our wildlife, and our health.

What Are Single-Use Plastics?

Put simply, single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use-often, in mere minutes. Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

Though plastic-a chain of synthetic polymers, essentially-was invented in the mid-19th century, it wasn't until the 1970s that its popularity skyrocketed. Manufacturers began replacing traditionally paper or glass staples with lighter or more durable and affordable plastic alternatives; plastic jugs replaced milk jars, for instance. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, and half of that in the past 15 years alone.

There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. But these cases make up a small fraction of single-use plastic. According to a 2017 study, more than half of non-fiber plastic, which excludes synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items.

Why Is Single-Use Plastic Bad?

Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. We produce 300 million tons of plastic each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items. That's nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.

Reducing plastic use is the most effective means of avoiding this waste (and the impacts linked to plastic production and use). Carrying reusable bags and bottles is one great way to avoid single-use plastics in our day-to-day lives; more on preventing plastic waste can be found below.

Recycling more plastic, more frequently, reduces its footprint. Polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly recycled plastics and the material that makes up most water and soda bottles, can be turned into everything from polyester fabric to automotive parts. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isn't recycled at all. Instead it ends up in landfills or in the environment. Single-use plastics in particular-especially small items like straws, bags, and cutlery-are traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers.

Left alone, plastics don't really break down; they just break up. Over time, sun and heat slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. These microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5 millimeters long, are hard to detect-and are just about everywhere. Some microplastics are even small by design, like the microbeads used in facial scrubs or the microfibers in polyester clothing. They end up in the water, eaten by wildlife, and inside our bodies. They've even made their way up to the secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animal's body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages.

Exposure to microplastics, as well as the chemicals that are added to plastics during processing, harm our health. Many of the chemicals in plastics are known endocrine disruptors,and research has suggested that human exposure could cause health impacts including hormonal imbalances, reproductive problems like infertility, and even cancer. The phthalate DEHP, as just one example from dozens, is often added to plastic goods like shower curtains and garden hoses to make them more flexible-but was also found to be a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Single-Use Plastics and Pollution

Although single-use plastic pollution accumulates most visibly on our streets, in fact our water suffers even more. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. Our waterway plastic pollution is particularly concentrated: Just ten rivers carry 93 percent of the world's total amount of plastic that enters the oceans via rivers each year.

In 2015 researchers from the University of Georgia estimated that between 4.8 million and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic per year make their way into the oceans via people living within 30 miles of a coast. The majority of this pollution-dominated by single-use plastic waste-comes from countries lacking infrastructure to properly manage waste, particularly in Asia. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. (It's also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. For instance, a lot of the plastic produced in Asian countries is for products that serve U.S. demand-and the United States often sends plastic waste back to these countries for recycling.)

Marine animals bear the burden of this influx of garbage into their habitats. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but it's also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals' guts.

Our addiction to plastic also has negative impacts on the climate. A recent report showed that plastic production contributes to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions at every point in its life cycle. The process of drilling for plastic's source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring and is often combined with clearing forests and wetlands that otherwise would have sequestered carbon. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gas-intensive industries in the manufacturing sector. And "cracker plants"-which break, or "crack," ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic products-are energy intensive and highly polluting. In 2015 a mere 24 of these ethane cracker facilities in the United States had the combined carbon output of 3.8 million passenger vehicles. And the recent fracking boom, resulting in a surplus of oil, is fueling a subsequent rise in cracker plants, too. That's bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030 -equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plants-even as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent.

Plastic pollution-whether in our oceans, piling up on our coastlines, or contributing to our climate crisis-impacts vulnerable communities first. Even if plastic doesn't end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. But the sheer amount of plastic waste inundates communities until they are drowning under thousands of tons of plastic trash. This is the case particularly in Southeast Asia, which has begun to import much of the plastic that used to go to China for recycling. Not only does the waste destroy the land itself, but when plastic is incinerated (as is the case for unrecyclable plastic at some illegal facilities) its toxic fumes quickly become a health hazard for residents, leading to everything from skin rashes to cancer. Such is the case with many environmental crises: the worst effects are pushed onto overburdened communities with the fewest resources to fight back.

Should We Ban Single-Use Plastics?

Plastic is putting a strain on waste management systems, our oceans, and vulnerable communities the world over. A wave of single-use plastic bans is sweeping the country and the globe-most often on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and takeout clamshells. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. Plastic bag bans-ideally accompanied by a fee on paper bags-are also catching on. New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and California's bag ban, which was passed in 2014, h as been shown to have reduced plastic bag usage by 85 percent (with some customers opting to pay a 10 cent fee for thicker plastic bags) and has reduced coastal pollution.

What do the bans accomplish? They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. And when it comes to waste that lasts forever, every ton counts. In New York, 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents each year. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production that's contributing to global climate change. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. And they help shift consumer mind-sets, as people begin to recognize that exorbitant and avoidable waste is not sustainable.

Major Corporations and Single-Use Plastics

Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. As part of the Break Free From Plastic movement, Greenpeace volunteers conducted an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines, sifting through tens of thousands of individual pieces across 42 countries to identify the pollution's sources. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé products were found most often. Coca-Cola has said that it alone produces three million tons of plastic packaging each year, equivalent to a terrifying 200,000 plastic bottles per minute. Policies like bottle bill laws-which generally require retailers to add a fee on individual bottles, which can then be partially redeemed by customers when they recycle-are a way to increase corporate responsibility for waste while providing a monetary incentive to recycle. In countries like Taiwan, which was once overflowing with so much trash that it spurred public protest and the nickname "Garbage Island," companies now either manage their own waste or subsidize government-run infrastructure. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the country now reports recycling rates above 50 percent.

Some companies are taking initiative on their own. McDonald's swapped its plastic straws for paper at its United Kingdom and Ireland restaurants. Disney is eliminating single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all its theme parks, resorts and properties. And Starbucks, which uses an estimated one billion plastic straws per year, is phasing them out in favor of paper ones. These actions are a response to calls for change and shifting consumer habits.

Avoiding Single-Use Plastics

Individual choices-and the collective shifts they bring about-add up quickly. Making just one simple swap, like purchasing a reusable water bottle, can spare the environment hundreds of plastic bottles each year. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good.

Always pack a reusable bag when shopping. (And yes-reusable totes are better for the environment than plastics, recent media claims aside.)

Cook more often, to reduce your use of plastic-heavy takeout containers.

Buy in bulk. Avoid individually packaged goods, like snack packs.

Though buying online sometimes has a lower carbon footprint than shopping in a store (s kip the express delivery option, if you can), online shipments are still chock-full of plastic. Your best bet to reduce your footprint and plastic waste? Walk, bike, or take public transit to buy in-person.

Avoid plastic wrap altogether by storing leftovers in reusable containers. Try reusable and compostable beeswax wrap for an easy and decorative option.

Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. Pack it alongside reusable cutlery (like wood, bamboo, or metal chopsticks) for sustainable eating on the go.

Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags.

Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your city's newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors.

Let companies that make your favorite products know that you care about the packaging. Tweet, call, or send letters to these companies to ask them to switch to more durable, recyclable, compostable, renewable, and/or recycled-content packaging with less fossil fuel-derived plastic.

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Jump to Section A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. These modern conveniences are so ubiquitous-and so quickly thrown out-that they hardly register in our minds.