Plastic was first invented in 1907 however its use only took off around 1950. In the 50 years since we have accumulated more than 9.2 billion tons of it. What is concerning about this figure is of that amount, an incredible 6.9 billion tons of that became waste.
In the 1980's, billions of bottles of water were being sold on the concept that it is both safer and healthier than tap water. This projected sales to an unprecedented scale and by 2016, bottled water sales even surpassed that of soft drinks. It was only then that the looming plastic crisis was becoming such a pressing environmental issue.
Where we are today
The issue is not slowing down, in fact it is escalating in production. Today we produce almost 330m tons a year. In the early 2000's plastic production rose in that single decade than it has done the previous 40 years. The reason for this incredible amount of use is simple, cost.
To make matters worse, waste facilities were too slow to cope with the surge of plastics, not to mention the great amount of different types of plastics which needed sorting through. This makes for an incredibly time and labour intensive task ultimately bringing the production cost of plastic up. Consequently, recycled plastic becomes a less attractive product to large companies with recycled plastic costing up to $72 more per ton than virgin plastic.
So what's the solution?
The solution to the problem we face can be as simple as avoiding the purchase of non-recycled plastic goods. Companies putting profit before the planet are following the bottom figure, so when this affects profits they listen. There is not a single plastic item you can own today which does not have an environmental alternative.
So start today, make the change and be Forever Green.