Plastic production includes many stages. Extracted fossil fuel inputs are first refined and cracked to form the building blocks of plastic. For example, ethylene is made from crude oil and propylene is made from natural gas. These chemicals are then modified to produce resins: an often sticky substance used to create plastic products. The manufacturing process can be varied according to the necessary characteristics of the output plastic desired.

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Plastic, which is a petroleum product, contributes to global warming throughout various stages of its life cycle. While each stage indirectly creates emissions by requiring energy-intensive infrastructure and different modes of transportation, extraction and combustion are particularly potent sources of carbon dioxide emissions.

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Plastic recycling is energy-intensive, logistically challenging, ineffective, and counterproductive. In short, the process generates lower grades of plastic that are not as malleable or versatile and it increases environmental, social, and financial injustices borne by marginalized groups at home and overseas.

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At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year! Floating plastic debris are currently the most abundant form of marine debris—threatening food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributing to climate change. Plastic waste makes up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments and has been sampled from the shores of every continent.

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The best way to tackle the issue of plastic use is to reduce and ideally  ovoid plastic in as many cases as possible while upcycling or recycling what we already have produced.

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The text above is an excerpt from an amazing and in-depth plastic overview article by Debris Free Oceans.Learn more about what plastics are in the full article by Debris Free Oceans here.

https://debrisfreeoceans.org/plastics