There could be more plastic than fish in the sea in the future

If plastic pollution persists we may find ourselves living in a world of plastic like Barbie and that is not fantastic.

Like many innovations, the invention of plastic was considered revolutionary with the way in which it transformed how products were manufactured, packaged or transported. But in recent times, plastic has become like kryptonite to the planet as 99 per cent of plastic is made from fossil fuels and its overuse and poor waste management have led to ecological damage and a planetary crisis.

According to Surfers Against Sewage, the amount of plastics choking the oceans is exceeding 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces. This is an equivalent of 46,000 pieces per every square mile of ocean, with a further estimation that each day eight million new pieces of plastic are discarded into the oceans.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warns how increasing plastic waste is killing sea life and if it continues to double in the next 15 years, there may well be more plastic than fish in the sea (by weight) by 2050. The organisation also highlights how 90 per cent of seabirds and 50 per cent of marine turtles have eaten plastic and how sea life is choking on or getting tangled in plastic waste resulting in a slow painful death. Furthermore, there is plastic rubbish littered worldwide from the ocean depth and surface, to beaches and even in the Arctic.

According to new research from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, scientists have suggested that as plastic pollution has been found in the fossil record, the plastic layers may be used to mark the start of the geological epoch of the Anthropocene and become known as the period of the Plastic Age following the Bronze and Iron Ages.

If we are what we eat, how much plastic are we ingesting? Plastic is not biodegradable and breaks down into smaller pieces, microplastics. Therefore we are breathing, eating and drinking microplastics that have been released everywhere, including into the food chain. A study by WWF International found that people on average could be ingesting approximately five grams of plastic every week, which is 250 grams a year. Globally, the greatest source of plastic ingestion is through bottled or tap water.

However, unless industries find alternatives to using plastics, plastic is useful in making computers, mobile phones and even equipment that saves lives. But improvements need to be made in recycling and the disposal of plastic waste.

Additionally, on 14 January 2023, the UK Government announced the introduction of a ban on various single-use plastics in England effective from October 2023. The Environment Secretary, Thérèse Coffey, also spoke on the matter, saying: "We all know the absolutely devastating impacts that plastic can have on our environment and wildlife."

Having listened to the public, this ban will maintain the ongoing "vital work to protect the environment for future generations."

Also adding that the bans on microbeads, restrictions on the use of straws, stirrers and cotton buds and carrier bag charges have succeeded in cutting sales by over 97 per cent in the main supermarkets.

Furthermore, to address the global problem of plastic waste, two entrepreneurs from Cornwall, have recycled the equivalent of 500 million plastic straws into sustainable driveways across the UK and Channel Islands.

Tom Stringer and Johnny Pearce, Co-Directors of Oltco, sustainable resin-bound driveway specialists, 2019 came up with the solution Recycle Bound. The innovative resin-bound solution is a mixture of stone and aggregates with recycled waste plastic of drink bottles, food packaging and straws taken from a plastic recycling point. The equivalent of 3,000 plastic straws is used in each square metre. So for instance, on a standard 70 square metre drive, the recycling process would consist of the equivalent of 210,000 plastic straws.

Co-director Johnny Pearce expressed how "incredibly proud" he and Tom are of reaching the milestone after four years. He added: "We won't be stopping here as the number of plastic straws that are recycled in our Recycle Bound installations increases every day. Here's to the next 500 million."

Finally, what is the future of combatting plastic waste?

In 2016, a team of scientists from the Kyoto Institute of Technology, Kyoto University and Keio University discovered a plastic-eating enzyme found in a waste dump that is able to break down polyethene terephthalate (PET), a plastic pollutant that represents almost 20 per cent of global plastic waste. The enzyme, PETase, can break down PET into building blocks and be recreated into new plastics.

However, plastic-eating bacteria may only work small scale, be expensive and have an environmental impact.

Another solution is that scientists are also trying to develop new bioplastics, which are made from natural and renewable sources such as plant crops, wood and sugar which are biodegradable.