A new study on machine learning published in Science offers solutions for reduce plastic waste by more than 90% and also achieve a one-third reduction in plastic-related emissions. This work also predicts that, if no action is taken, global plastic waste could double by 2050.
Plastic, a very current subject, since Negotiations on a UN treaty are currently taking place Ongoing, these findings provide a crucial blueprint for tackling the plastic crisis.
Plastic crisis
Plastic production has been increasing for decades, leading to a increasing generation of plastic waste and poor environmental management, the study therefore proposes various solutions.
World leaders have the ability to virtually end plastic pollution by 2050 through a United Nations (UN) international treaty. will be completed at a final meeting in BusanRepublic of Korea, which will take place from November 25 to December 1.
End pollution
According to the researchers, if policymakers implemented only four policies or solutions that work throughout the entire life cycle of plastics (from production to use and disposal), we could reduce plastic pollution by 91%.
“This study demonstrates the progress made not only in the quantification of multiples problems which surround plastics, but also in the IDENTIFIER And assessment of possible solutions,” concluded industrial ecologist Roland Geyer, professor at UCSB’s Bren School of Environmental Sciences and Management and co-author of the study.
No more plastic
“One of the most exciting discoveries of this research was that it is possible to almost completely end plastic pollution with this treaty” said co-author Douglas McCauley, professor of marine ecology at UCSB and director of the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory (BOSL) on campus.
“The problem has become so big that I wasn’t sure when we started investigation to know if a kind of treated could make a dent,” McCauley says.
A serious global problem
According to the UN, “the high and increasing levels of plastic pollution “They represent a serious environmental problem on a global scale, which negatively affects the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable development.”
Plastic pollution is also associated with various environmental impacts. health human (such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and reproductive health issues) and has created significant environmental justice issues for the world’s most vulnerable communities.
Inadequate management
Only in 2021, humanity inadequate management of 68 million tonnes of plastic wastethe equivalent of 380,000 747 planes.
Forecasts suggest that between 2010 and 2050, there will be enough waste to cover Manhattan in a mountain of plastic. ten times higher than the Empire State Building.
Meanwhile, with this overwhelming data, an opportunity to address this problem presents itself, as 190 delegates gather in Busan to finalize a historic, legally binding international treaty on plastic pollution.
Bad management and solutions
The UCSB paper, titled Pathways to reduce global mismanagement of plastic waste and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050is an evolution of the team’s ongoing efforts to provide the resources needed to finalize an ambitious treaty in these negotiations.
The search is linked to an online control panel, open source and powered by artificial intelligencethat allows treaty negotiators to create their own forecastsbased on innovative regionalized data.
The tool allows decision makers to mix and match possible interventionsand even customize and modify the structure of specific policies, to see what impact they have on plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Return to the stage 2020
For the authors of the study, there is four solutions or policies “high impact” derived from the California University study. They conclude that New products should be made with 40% post-consumer recycled plastic..
Furthermore, they indicate that it is necessary limit the production of new plastic to 2020 levels, when annual global plastic consumption reached 547 Mt, of which 86% was virgin plastic and 14% recycled.
They emphasize that the solution involves a A $100 billion investment in recycling infrastructure which would reduce mismanaged plastic waste by 2050 increased formal collection and recycling.
Who consumes the most
China was the largest consumer of plastics, with 36% of consumption, followed by the majority world with 28%, the European Union with 18% and North America with 18%. Globally, plastic consumption was dominated by packaging (32%), followed by construction (17%) and textile (16%).
The third solution is to invest significantly in expanding infrastructure waste managementparticularly in low-income parts of the world. And finally, scientists emphasize that it is necessary to implement a small tax on plastic packaging.
Four solutions
In summary, according to the authors of the study,Four actions to solve the plastic problem on the planet is summarized in:
- Require new products to be made with 40% plastic recycling post-consumer
- Limit the production of pnew elastic at 2020 levels
- Invest significantly in the expansion of waste management infrastructure
- Taxes to plastic containers
