Plastic Pollution

Shae Johnson
Mr. Toole
May 14, 2017
 Table of Contents

Definition--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2

Significance-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4

Background-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5

Expert------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6

Role of control-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7

Logic of Evil---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------9

Case Studies---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

China--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------12

Great Pacific Garbage Patch-----------------------------------------------------------------15

Sweden-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------19

International Organizations---------------------------------------------------------------------------22

Canadian Connection----------------------------------------------------------------------------------23

Solutions------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------25

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 Plastic Pollution
Definition
Plastic is a human made material used universally for just about anything. Overtime,
products have been replaced by plastic for economical reasons, like handles, grocery bags, food
and product packaging. Plastic is not biodegradable and will stay on and in Earth for up to 1000
years. Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic products in the environment that adversely
affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, or humans. The production of plastic, nonetheless, affects and
pollutes the planet's atmospheric layers: Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere and Ionosphere.
The production of these plastic materials are creating further air pollution, not including the other
factories, companies, and people that pollute the air daily on their own. Once the plastic is
produced and ready to be sold, people purchase and use the product, then throw it away. The
thought of recycling is theoretically a good solution to further harm on the earth, but
unfortunately there are not enough companies willing to use recycled plastic. The majority of
the recycled plastic is used for shopping bags and grocery bags. Apart from the people that do
recycle, there is a large portion of people that do not recycle what so ever, which means the
plastic goes straight to a landfill or ocean, only to be piled up. Also according to Jos G.B
Derraik, professor in Ecology and apart of Department of Public Health, says that the most
detrimental are plastic pellets found in oceans, In the oceans, the threat to marine life comes in
various forms, such as overexploitation and harvesting, dumping of waste, pollution, alien
species, land reclamation, dredging and global climate change. (Jose G.B. Derraik, 2002)
China produces almost one third of the world's plastic volume, Europe produces around
20%, and Canada produces about 2% of the total world plastic volume (Plastics-The facts, 2014).
The majority of the plastic being produced is used for packaging, which means that is thrown out
within being used for about a week. The ecological footprint that plastic makes on our planet will
undoubtedly be felt for hundreds of years to come.
Sweden is a European country that has established an ecological way to recycle their
plastic, and less than 1% of Swedens plastic ends up in a landfill. The issue with landfills is that
it is an accumulation of waste in one area. The chemicals and waste can contaminate soil and
water in the surrounding area, so if less than 1% of Sweden's non-biodegradable products are put

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into landfills, that improves the agricultural growth, and the health of the population, not only the
Earth.
Plastic pollution can not only cause detriment on the planet, wildlife, and humans, but
can affect the economic health. The pollution of plastic can contribute to air pollution, water
pollution, and land pollution.

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Significance
Plastic not only affects human health, but affects the health of the environment and
wildlife that lives upon it. Industries and factories in China used to have no laws on pollution that
is emitted, and considering that China now manufactures nearly a quarter on global
manufacturing. The objects being being manufactured consist of phones, air conditioners,
clothing, and supplies; all of these products require packaging, which on top of the plastic
already being used in the product itself, is about double the amount of plastic, and its then
thrown away. The toll that plastic takes upon the environment is detrimental and irreversible. Not
only is there just chemicals used in plastic, but about 4% of the worlds oil production is a
feedstock for plastic. According to the trade association PlasticsEurope, world plastic production
grew from some 1.5 million tons in 1950 to an estimated 275 million tons in 2010; some 4
million to 12 million tons is discarded into the oceans annually by countries with ocean
coastlines (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Since the ocean is downstream from nearly every terrestrial location, it is the receiving
body for much of the plastic waste generated on land. Between 4.8 million and 12.7 million
tonnes (between 5.3 million and 14 million tons) of debris end up in the worlds oceans every
year, and much of it is improperly discarded plastic litter. The first oceanographic study to
examine the amount of near-surface plastic debris in the worlds oceans was published in 2014.
It estimated that at least 5.25 trillion individual plastic particles weighing roughly 244,000 tonnes
(269,000 tons) were floating on or near the surface. Plastic pollution was first noticed in the
ocean by scientists carrying out plankton studies in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and oceans
and beaches still receive most of the attention of those studying and working to abate plastic
pollution.

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Background
The first plastic was based on a synthetic polymer which was made from phenol and
formaldehyde, the first viable and cheap synthesis methods invented in 1907, by Leo Hendrik
Baekeland, a Belgian-born American living in New York state. In the time of the first and second
world war, plastic was used for weapons and other supplies.
In 1937 a group of plastics processors and material suppliers held the first meeting of
The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI). Those farsighted pioneers believed plastics
would become an important industry. The original objectives were to create a trade
association that would provide leadership for the advancement of the industry and
promote cooperation among the members. (Glenn Beall, 2009).
Through this practice, plastic was proven to be a durable and justified material. After the
second world war, it became prominent that plastic was a reasonable substitute for the other
expensive materials. Plastics can implement natural disasters, the floods in Bangladesh in 1988
and 1998 were made more severe because of plastic bags clogging the sewer drains, and there
are now 200 areas declared dead zones where no living organisms live (Ocean Crusaders,
2010). The accumulation of plastic is a result of improper recycling methods, and unnecessary
use.
Majority of the plastic that is found in oceans is from drains in cities. Trash is thrown on
the streets, and the rain water picks it up and carries it to the ocean. Plastic is also there because
of ships that cross oceans and dump waste into the water. This has been happening since the
second world war. After the weapons and supplies were unusable, people did not know how to
deal with the excess plastic. Unfortunately plastic does not breakdown and go back into the the
planet, it simply is broken up into smaller pieces, which is virtually worse than large visible
pieces.
Some resolutions that have been done before are beach and yard garbage pick ups,
marine education, and advocacy. Everyone is encouraged to do what they can and pick up after
themselves and even others. Earth day is April 22nd, which is a good day of environmental
awareness across the globe.

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Expert
Frederick Vom Saal is a Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences, he accepted the
Environmental Health Hero Award, CleanMed Association in 2010, and Millennium Award -
Indian Institute for Sustainable Future in 2001. Frederick Vom Saal has written many papers and
has done lots of research on Bisphenol A, and the seems to somewhat reveal how BPA is not at
all safe. I am in the process of setting up an interview with Mr. Vom Saal, and I hope to include
the information in my final copy.
BPA is an endocrine disrupting chemical that has been demonstrated to alter signaling
mechanisms involving estrogen, androgen and thyroid hormones, said by Fredrick Vom Saal,
one of his most known studies was done on BPA, and the affect it has on developing organs on
primates.
I contacted the professor to ask questions about his personal take on plastic pollution and
how it will affect the future.
Shae Johnson: Good evening Mr. Vom Saal, my name is Shae Johnson and I am a student
in Barrie Ontario, Canada (close to Toronto!). I had watched a Vice documentary series on The
Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I am doing a case study on plastic and its affects on our planet, and
I was wondering if I could get your input and thoughts on North Americas plastic situation (our
means of recycling and production). I would also like to know how America deals with their
recycling of plastic and what you think we should do to improve our preservation of the Earth.
Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you!

Fredrick Vom Saal: Dear Shae, the situation with recycling is pretty bad, as any statistic will
show you, and the plastic waste being put into landfill is leaching high levels of plastic
monomers and plasticizers into the environment. Our regulatory agencies will do nothing.
Hopefully Canada is more progressive than the USA.

His response was less optimistic than I had anticipated, but he did respond with some
information and comparison to the United States and Canada.

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Role of Control
In every country that is colonized and has an infrastructure, there is plastic production. Of
course, plastic was a human made material, completely synthetic. Unfortunately, even if no one
has not touched one piece of plastic in their life, they will still feel the affect plastic has on them,
the environment and the wildlife. Unfortunately, the ocean and marine life feels the affects of our
synthetic laziness. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also know as the Pacific Trash Vortex or
gyre, is located in the central North Pacific Ocean and is larger than the state of Texas. There are
also garbage patches in the Indian and Atlantic ocean. The patches are defined as containing a
higher amount of plastic as compared to surrounding oceans. To date, five patches in total have
been discovered.
Plastics are transported and converge in the ocean where currents meet. This means that
huge plastic islands are made as a result. SES (Sea Education Society) scientists studied plastics
in the Atlantic and calculated there are 580,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer (Gianna
Andrews). As plastic (for example styrofoam) is floating through the ocean, it breaks down into
polystyrene parts, and float to the bottom of the ocean. These small pieces will be ingested by
fish that people eat, and it has contaminated the water people will drink. It is also unfortunate
that humans have let their life depend on plastic and its simple yet unnecessary material. It was
proven before it was invented that people could survive and thrive without it.

The Plastic Pollution Coalition mission is to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impact on
humans, animals, and the environment. PPC was founded in 2009 as a platform to
amplify a common message through strategic planning and communication. Our more
than 500 member organizations and a growing coalition of individuals seek to increase
understanding of the plastic pollution problem and to find sustainable solutions. We aim
to empower more people and organizations to take action to stop plastic pollution and to
live plastic-free. (Plastic Pollution Coalition)

The Plastic Pollution Coalition is an organization that strives to accomplish a plastic free
world. Their website consists of different ways to avoid plastic in your day-to-day living, facts

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about plastic pollution and the affects, an opportunity to donate to the cause, and how you can
join their organization.

In Canada, laws on pollution are pretty strict. The municipal, federal, and provincial rules
are listed below:

Municipal governments establish collection, recycling, composting and disposal

programs within their jurisdictions.
Provincial and territorial governments establish measures and criteria for licensing
hazardous-waste generators, carriers, and treatment facilities, in addition to controlling
movements of waste within their jurisdictions.
The federal government regulates transboundary movements of hazardous waste and
hazardous recyclable material, in addition to negotiating international agreements related
to chemicals and waste.

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Logic of Evil
Good and bad are used to define not only people but the morals they follow. This can also
be applied to the actions we do unintentionally, or things that we do naturally. For example,
humans naturally make waste, daily waste products exit our bodies, we must eat so inevitably we
produce waste. Fortunately the human needs we attend to are naturally biodegradable; but the
synthetic material we have created are purely out of laziness. No one intends to harm another
person or the earth, but it is purely out of selfishness and ignorance that we hurt.
As a global population and society, we strive to advance ourselves by whatever means
possible, and as fast as possible. In humanitys defence, when plastic was first brought into
society and became popular, it was an versatile innovation and could be universally and the
recipe was simple and can be made around the world. Once the global community also became
more industrialized, with new machines being able to create the plastic chemicals, it was made
by the tonne. No one had anticipated the blow up of plastic in every form, and they were not
expecting the repercussions that plastic has brought with it. Now, the amount of plastic created is
irreversible, and finally people are noticing it, and realizing they cannot do much about it except
restrict their current and future consumption. Now there are biodegradable plastics and
bioplastics being made out of materials such as corn starch and raw petrochemical (Woodford,
Chris Bioplastics 2008/2016).
Though plastic has a large amount of bad qualities and repercussions, there are still many
uses that plastic can be used for, and get the job done effectively. Plastic is also a cheap
alternative, which can keep costs of products that are usually expensive, at lower prices. Plastic
is also lightweight, which can furthermore affect the price of shipping of products; in the last
decade, the average weight of a package is 28% less. The malleable material is also extremely
durable and does not wear or breakdown easily, transportation means like cars and plane can be a
good example of plastic because it is much more lightweight than metals and less expensive.
Plastic used for medical purposes is beneficial to countries that do not have proper health care or
potable water. Places like Rwanda and Iraq uses plastic bins to carry potable water in, and
medical treatment like syringes, IV bags, and bottles to put medicine in, all can be lightly sent
over, which can make more room for more supplies.

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 Plastic can also keep items sterile, such as surgical tools and syringes. Plastic containers
can also keep other dangerous chemicals like bleach, ammonia, and other caustic cleaners. An
example of a plastic, house-used item is plastic installation. In 1987 the United Nations defined
sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs (United Nations 1987). Insulation is used to maintain the
temperature of a house or building, and a good insulation can keep a house cool or warm for a
longer period of time thus using less energy to create a temperature in the building. Plastic
insulation can improve the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce CO2 emissions and has
been shown to be effective on a broad range of sustainability factors. Plastic insulation is a very
effective contributor for sustainability in construction (Green Building Solutions, 2010).

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Case Studies

China
China has a population of 1.357 billion people and is the third largest country behind
Canada. The capital is Beijing and is ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of China.
China produces around one third of the world's plastic, though China is the third largest country
in area, the majority of the land is used for manufacturing goods for wealthy countries such as
the US, Europe, and Canada. China alone produces almost a quarter of the global manufacturing
(The Economist - Made In China). An example of objects manufactured in China are
air-conditioners, in which 80% of the worlds supply is produced there. As a simple box that
creates a more comfortable, cool environment for families everywhere, it is encased in a large,
protective, plastic square. The principal preoccupation of authorities in chemical and
petrochemical manufacturing is to expand the output of chemical fertilizers, plastics, and
synthetic fibres. The growth of this industry has placed China among the worlds leading
producers of nitrogenous fertilizers. China has a big history with plastic. Throughout its rise to
economic prominence, China has manufactured and exported a huge amount of plastic products
to eventually become the worlds largest plastic producer in 2013. More recently, Chinas
domestic consumption of plastics has skyrocketed as well.
As a result of this production and poor internal management, China is also leading the
world in terms of plastic waste, specifically the amount of plastic debris contributed to our
oceans already China is responsible for an estimated 28% of the plastic swept into our
waterways. With another 300 million urban residents expected by 2025 and growing rates of
consumption, it is vital that China acts to more efficiently deal with its plastic waste. (Plastic
Waste In China May 2017.)
China and the international recycling industry do not have a close relationship. Tied to
Chinas plastic exports is the repurposed (recycled) plastics market. As the Chinese economy
grows, its demand for repurposed plastic does also. For the past few decades China was buying
as much repurposed plastic as possible, especially from the United States. In fact, scrap used to
be Americas top export to China with plastic scrap exports reaching $11.3 billion in 2011.

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 This stopped, however, in 2013 when China started the Green Fence Initiative; it
significantly tightened restrictions on importing repurposed materials and other scrap for
processing, as well as increased inspections. In the past, China would accept any standard of
repurposed material and anything that couldnt efficiently be processed would end up in Chinese
landfills. Although profitable, this practice resulted in mountains of waste developing within
China, posing both environmental and health risks.
Some of the health risks imposed by plastic cannot be seen by the naked eye. Plastic is in
countless of the foods we ingest on a regular basis, of what we import from places like China. for
example, Tilapia is a fish known as a bottom feeder. The Tilapia fish eats and survives off of
the ocean floor, so when small resin pellets and other plastic debris is ingested in the fish, they
are then cultivated then sold to us to eat. Now this is not necessarily the company or the farmers
fault. The ocean is naturally polluted by us, we are feeding our marine life synthetics, and
walking all the way up the food chain, we are feeding ourselves synthetics. Another popular
topic in china right now is artificial rice. It is essentially made from potatoes and plastic, and it
would then be subbed in for the actual rice grain.
A Chinese Restaurant Association official said that eating three bowls of this fake rice
would be like eating one plastic bag. Due to the seriousness of the matter, he added that
there would be an investigation of factories alleged to be producing the rice, (Very
Vietnam, 2011).
The United States now faces a huge surplus of plastics, as China will only accept the least
contaminated of materials. As it stands, even with a seemingly endless supply of usable plastics,
domestic American recycling firms are losing money processing the materials that they would
normally send overseas. This means much more plastic waste in American landfills until the
proper investments are made in recycling infrastructure, but for China it means lower levels of
non-domestic waste entering the system (figure 1). Some of Chinas provinces and companies,
however, are now moving into business operations that foster the growth of the circular
economy, which means designing products that can be taken apart, re-blended, or recycled, so
that waste is not an end result. This is complemented by the fact that the China Petroleum and
Chemical Industry Federation (CPCIF) recently signed on to the World Plastics Council, which

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also has a goal of reducing plastic waste in the environment. "Plastics are essential to achieving a
sustainable society, because they reduce waste, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions, all
while improving the quality of modern life, said CPCIF Chairman Li Shousheng. The issue is
that many companies do not yet know how to obtain good quality recycled content for their
supply chains, nor do the municipalities necessarily have the systems in place to provide it. Now
enter Western buyers into this equation the brands from afar who have moved much of their
sourcing to China and Asia, often trying to sell to those growing populations. These new
countries and markets, however, have not had the capacity to recycle or handle the waste that is
created along the way. Even Hong Kong, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, has not figured
out how to efficiently recover its resources. A win-win situation can now be created, however, as
Western brands begin to face greater challenges and demands of sustainability in their own
markets, and want to move up the value chain of brand reputation while giving back to the
communities and populations they serve.

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in between western North America and Japan,
and it is comprised of the Western garbage patch closer to Japan, and the Eastern garbage patch,
between Hawaii and California. The Patch is made from floating debris that cannot be broken up
and degrade back into the earth, which are synthetics and polymers. The two patches are linked
together by the North Pacific Convergence Zone, just under Hawaii. This is where warm from
the South Pacific and cold from the Arctic water meet. The Patch was found in 1997 by captain
Charles Moore who was competing in a yacht race between Hawaii and California, when him
and his crew noticed floating plastic surrounding his boat. The entire patch is held together by
the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. A gyre is a system of ocean currents that move in a circular
motion from the Earth's winds pattern, and the planet rotation.
Aside from the visualization of a floating plastic island, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
is, for the most part, made up small bits of plastic known as microplastics. These microplastics
formed by large pieces of plastic continuously breaking down into tinier and tinier pieces by the
sun, which is know as photodegradation. Thousands of tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans
every year and break down into smaller pieces over time. Some wind up in the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch, a vortex formed by ocean and wind currents. The garbage patch cannot be seen
by satellite. Most of the plastic pieces are confetti-sized flecks spread across thousands of
kilometres of ocean and are hard to see with the naked eye. A similar plastic trash patch was
recently discovered in the Atlantic between Bermuda and Portugal's Azores islands, and new
research suggests that both patches could be much larger than first thought. Some experts believe
the plastic fragments, which can be impossible for fish to distinguish from plankton, are
dangerous in part because they sponge up potentially harmful chemicals circulating in the ocean.
Not only is the water itself polluted by these plastics, but the seafloor has accumulated
about 70% of the total marine debris. It is unknown exactly how much plastic makes up the
Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and about 80% of the debris comes from land-based activities from
Asia and North America. The remaining 20% of debris is from boaters, large cargo ships, and

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offshore oil rigs. Majority if the 20% is, surprisingly, around 750,000 tons of fishing nets. In
each square mile, there is around 1.9 million bits of plastic.
The Garbage Patch is simply made up of plastic because of its low cost, malleability, and
durability. Because plastic is such an affordable and multi-purpose material, our oceans are
littered with it. Marine life is incredibly affected as well, the animals can get trapped in the
debris, and ingest it. For example, the Loggerhead Sea turtles mistake floating plastic bags for
jellies, their favourite food, and the Albatrosses can mistake resin pellets for fish eggs, which
they feed to their babies who then die of starvation or ruptured organs. Not only large marine life
is being affected, the plastic blocks the sunlight from reaching plankton and algae, resulting in
undergrowth and death. Both algae and plankton are the most common autotrophs or producers
in the marine food web (Natural Geographic Society, 2014). A documentary called Midway:
Message from the Gyre, encompases the affects the plastic has to all marine life focusing on
seabirds. During a seagoing expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of
Oceanography found that a marine insect that skims the ocean surface is laying its eggs on top of
plastic bits instead of natural flotsam like wood and seashells. Though plastic debris is giving the
insects places to lay eggs, scientists are concerned about the man made material establishing a
role in their habitat. This is something that shouldn't be in the ocean and it's changing this small
aspect of the ocean ecology, said Scripps graduate student Miriam Goldstein. The finding was
published online in Biology Letters, a journal of Britain's Royal Society. Goldstein led a group of
researchers who travelled 1,600 kilometres off the California coast in August 2009 to document
the impacts of the garbage on sea life. For three weeks, they collected marine specimens and
water samples at varying depths, and deployed mesh nets to capture plastic particles.The team
previously found that nearly 10 per cent of fish studied during the trip had ingested plastic. The
voyage was partly sponsored by the University of California and National Science Foundation.
Now there are two other major plastic Islands, one found in the Indian ocean, and one
in the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, not only do the toxins in plastic effect the ocean, but acting like
sponges, they soak up other toxins from outside sources before entering the ocean. As these
chemicals are ingested by animals in the ocean, this is not good for humans. We as humans
ingest contaminated fish and mammals. There are different types of ways that plastic is

15
dangerous for humans. Direct toxicity from plastics comes from lead, cadmium, and mercury.
These toxins have also been found in many fish in the ocean, which is very dangerous for
humans. Diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) contained in some plastics, is a toxic carcinogen. Other
toxins in plastics are directly linked to cancers, birth defects, immune system problems, and
childhood developmental issues (Ecology Center - the Problem with Plastics).
Rolf Halden, associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and Arizona
State University has studied plastics adverse effects on humans and has thus far concluded that
an exact outline of health effects of plastics on humans is almost impossible to determine. This is
due to the fact that the problem of plastic contamination in humans is globally spread; there are
almost no unexposed subjects. That being said, it is evident that the chemicals are not healthy for
humans. Rolf Haldens perspective on a solution or prevention is staggering the petroleum
supply, due to environmental worry, 8% of the worlds oil is used to manufacture plastic (Impact
of plastics on human health and ecosystems, 2010).
As to prevent contaminating your body with the chemicals and harmful effects from
plastic, it is best not to base your diet off of fish, as that most fish are already contaminated. To
ensure that the plastic patches in the ocean do not grow, the global population must ensure that
their trash is being recycled properly. The first solution is biodegradable plastic. Imagine you
have something with the properties of plastic but does not have the long lasting property. By the
time some accidental piece is lost in nature reaches a gyre, it is completely decomposed in solely
organic materials. All efforts that consider manual or semi-manual collecting trash are good
because of their positive spirit. However, the undo the high volume of plastic trash every year,
something not to labor and capital intensive is needed.
The Ocean Cleanup is an idea on how to attempt to get rid of the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch. Instead of going after the plastic using boats and nets, The Ocean Cleanup will deploy
long floating barriers, using the natural movement of the ocean currents to passively concentrate
the plastic itself. It works as practically all of the current will flow underneath the barriers
preventing any by-catch of sea-life, whilst the lighter-than-water plastic objects will be collected
in front of the floating barriers (Magicseaweed-Ocean cleanup, 2012).

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Sweden
Sweden has a total population of 9.593 million and the capital is Stockholm. It has a
parliamentary democracy. The scandinavian country is located in Europe, and apart of the
European Union.
More than 99 per cent of all household waste is recycled in Sweden. This means that the
country has gone through something of a recycling revolution in the last decades, considering
that only 38 per cent of household waste was recycled in 1975.
Today, recycling stations are as a rule no more than 300 metres from any residential area.
Most Swedes separate all recyclable waste in their homes and deposit it in special containers in
their block of flats or drop it off at a recycling station. Few other nations deposit less in dumps.
Weine Wiqvist, CEO of the Swedish Waste Management and Recycling Association (Avfall
Sverige), still thinks Swedes can do more, considering that about half of all household waste is
burnt, that is, turned into energy. He explains that reusing materials or products means using less
energy to create a product, than burning one and making another from scratch.
We are trying to move up the refuse ladder, as we say, from burning to material
recycling, by promoting recycling and working with authorities, he says. Meanwhile, Swedish
households keep separating their newspapers, plastic, metal, glass, electric appliances, light bulbs
and batteries. Many municipalities also encourage consumers to separate food waste. And all of
this is reused, recycled or composted. Newspapers are turned into paper mass, bottles are reused
or melted into new items, plastic containers become plastic raw material; food is composted and
becomes soil or biogas through a complex chemical process. Garbage trucks are often run on
recycled electricity or biogas. Wasted water is purified to the extent of being potable. Special
rubbish trucks go around cities and pick up electronics and hazardous waste such as chemicals.
Pharmacists accept leftover medicine. Swedes take their larger waste, such as a used TV or
broken furniture, to recycling centres on the outskirts of the cities.
The 50 per cent of the household waste that is burnt to produce energy at incineration
plants. Waste is a relatively cheap fuel and Sweden has, over time, developed a large capacity
and skill in efficient and profitable waste treatment. In 2014, Sweden even imported 2.7 million
tonnes of waste from other countries. The remaining ashes constitute 15 per cent of the weight

17
before burning. From the ashes, metals are separated and recycled, and the rest, such as porcelain
and tile, which do not burn, is sifted to extract gravel that is used in road construction. About one
per cent still remains and is deposited in rubbish dumps. The smoke from incineration plants
consists of 99.9 per cent non-toxic carbon dioxide and water, but is still filtered through dry
filters and water.
The dry filters are deposited. The sludge from the dirty filter water is used to refill
abandoned mines. In Sweden, burning waste to produce energy is uncontroversial, but in other
countries like the US it is a much debated topic. Hans Wrdhe at the Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency (Naturvrdsverket) considers proposing a higher levy on waste collection.
Together with government agencies and corporations, Wrdhe has developed an action plan for
waste prevention, including how to encourage producers to make products that last longer. The
agency also considers proposing a tax deduction for some repairs. Government-sponsored ads
on how to avoid food waste might also help, he says. And less toxic substances used in
production would mean fewer products that require expensive treatment.
Sweden recovers more energy from each tonne of waste than any other country. Our
waste management systems are being developed continuously, and are the result of long-term,
persevering work, in particular on the part of municipalities and their companies in cooperation
with private players. It has required risk-taking to develop new technologies and taken courage
to make large, but essential, investments in infrastructure.
Sweden's vision of 'zero waste' by 2020 permeates all levels of its waste management and the
collection of source-separated food waste.
Sweden is a great example of what a large group of people can do to change the world,
and to show that change is not in the slightest impossible.

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International Organizations
Plastic Pollution Coalition
The Plastic Pollution Coalition mission is to stop plastic pollution and its toxic impact on
humans, animals, and the environment. PPC was founded in 2009 as a platform to amplify a
common message through strategic planning and communication. Our more than 500 member
organizations and a growing coalition of individuals seek to increase understanding of the plastic
pollution problem and to find sustainable solutions. We aim to empower more people and
organizations to take action to stop plastic pollution and to live plastic-free.
The website includes numerous ways people can take action, many facts on the plastic
pollution problem, and some history of the organization and plastic
Save Our Shores
The goal of the Plastic Pollution Initiative is to reduce the amount of trash and debris,
particularly plastic pollution, reaching the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and the
ocean. We work to achieve this by providing the community with opportunities to participate in
plastic pollution prevention and removal. Through the Plastic Pollution Initiative, we help
individuals make the connection between their lifestyle choices and the collective community
impacts of plastic and trash on our oceans (save our shores, 2016).
On this website it provides various ways that plastic clean ups, and garbage pick ups that
anyone can part-take in. Also includes a plastic breakdown and history, and the detrimental
effects it has on the planet.
United Nations and Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Marine plastic pollution poses a direct threat to the balance of marine ecosystems and
human health. Plastic has direct and indirect negative impacts on biodiversity, and as plastic
waste enters the food chain through unsuspecting channels such as micro-particles, an
environmental issue transforms into a major challenge to human health and livelihood. It has
therefore become essential to better understand the causes and effects of marine plastic pollution,
in order to take effective action towards reducing its impacts. Preserving ocean health means
preserving human well-being. The UN is also advocating National Oceans day.

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Canadas Connection
There is concern that Canada's landfills are reaching capacity and it is becoming
increasingly difficult to find sites for new ones. Landfills also produce approximately 25% of
Canada's methane emissions (methane is a powerful greenhouse gas). Recycling can help reduce
the amount of waste entering landfills and help conserve natural resources.
Access to recycling programs has improved since the mid-1990s and Canadian
households are recycling larger quantities than ever before. Income and education have little
impact on recycling behaviour; households with access to recycling programs tend to use them
equally. However, differences in levels of access are apparent depending on dwelling type.
Canadians who live in single detached homes are more likely to have access to recycling services
than Canadians living in mobile homes or apartments.
In 2004, Canadian households produced 13.4 million tonnes of waste. Nearly
three-quarters (73%) of this waste was sent for disposal, according to Statistics Canada's 2004
Waste Management Survey, while the rest was recycled. Residential waste production increased
by 2.1 million tonnes (19%) between 2000 and 2004. While some of the increase was due to a
rise in population, most was a result of increases in the amount of waste generated per person.
Canadians produced 366 kg per person of residential waste in 2000; by 2004, this figure had
increased to 418 kg per person. By way of comparison, residential waste production by our
neighbours in the United States was 440 kg per person in 2001.
Recycling is becoming a more popular method of dealing with trash. Two-thirds of the
increase in waste generation between 2000 and 2004 was offset by increased recycling, while the
other third was disposed of in landfills and incinerators. Households across the country sent
nearly 3.6 million tonnes of materials for recycling in 2004, an increase of 65% compared to
2000. The average Canadian recycled 112 kg of material in 2004 compared to 71 kg in 2000.
The residential recycling ratethe amount diverted as a proportion of waste generatedalso
increased between 2000 and 2004, with 27% of residential waste going for recycling in 2004
compared to 19% in 2000.

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 While on the rise overall, recycling varies quite widely from province to province.
Ontario and Quebec recycle the largest quantities of materials, but the amounts of material
recycled per person and the recycling rate are higher in Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
By weight, organics comprise the largest portion, accounting for 22% of recycled materials from
all sources, followed by newsprint (17%) and cardboard and boxboard (17%). Materials such as
yard and food waste, paper, cardboard, metals, plastics and other materials can all be composted
or recycled, although the availability of recycling programs differs across the country.
There are activists today going to the government to ask for help to prevent any further
plastic pollution in the Great lakes.
Canada is not one of the worst countries when it comes to plastic pollution, but we do
contribute to the state we are in today as a whole. Unfortunately, not all countries have the same
access to clean water as Canada, so they do not have to luxury on choosing to look the other
direction. Along with the millions of aquatic animals, people are also feeling the affects of the
pollutants that cover the Earth.

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Solutions
As a short term solution, a basic step is developing a waste collection infrastructure and
cut down on waste leakage in transportation and landfills. Waste treatment only starts to become
truly efficient and profitable when working at scale. This entails collaboration between the
private and public sector to properly incentivize this change. As a medium term solution, the
implementation of commercially viable waste treatment processes must come next. This includes
increased recycling infrastructure to capture the more valuable sections of the plastic waste
stream. Besides recycling, using other conversion processes to turn the plastic waste into fuel,
such as through gasification, or into energy, such as through incineration, is a viable way to
really cut down on plastic waste leakage. A long term solution could be to truly reach long term,
sustainable plastic waste solutions, we must change how we use plastic and what types of plastic
we use, as well as the processes used in its treatment and recovery. This means a combination of
regulations and incentives to galvanize the private sector into real change.
Commercial fishing is an economic necessity for many parts of the world, and tons of
people eat fish for their daily survival. However, this industry has helped contribute to the
problem of plastics pollution in the oceans in several ways. The nets used for certain large-scale
trolling operations are usually made of plastic. First, these spend long times submerged in water,
leaking toxins at will, but they also often get broken up or lost, left to remain wherever they fall.
This not only kills and harms local wildlife, but also ensures that pollutants enter the water and
fish of the area.
Plastic is meant to last, it is nearly impossible to break down. Burning plastic is
incredibly toxic, and can lead to harmful atmospheric conditions and deadly illness. Therefore, if
it is in a landfill, it will never stop releasing toxins in that area. Even recycling doesnt cut down
on plastic, as it essentially uses the existing plastic, albeit in a new form. The process of
recycling plastic can also lead to plastic irritants being released in a number of ways.
Most of the impacting happening happens in our day to day living, and if the global
population changes their lives in minor ways, it would seriously impact our Earth. For example,
try avoiding to go containers and eating out at fast food restaurants. People can speak to
lawmakers and get involved with government on any level, and theyll see how many special

22
interest groups have made it so that we are dependent on plastic without needing to be.
Encourage development of items, and propose alternatives when applicable.

23
Appendix

Figure 1. US export plastic scrap, Quartz Media, 2013.

Figure 2. Plastic pollution comparison, 2010.

24
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