A Dalhousie-led study has unveiled a link between plastic production and pollution.
The study, published Wednesday in Science Advances, was conducted by scientists from Dalhousie and 12 other post-secondary institutions in the U.S., Australia, the Philippines, New Zealand, Estonia, Chile, Sweden and the U.K.
Results showed that a one per cent increase in global plastic production is directly linked to a one per cent increase in global plastic pollution. On top of that, the team discovered that 56 companies produce over half of all branded plastic pollution worldwide.
The top producer was the Coca-Cola Company, producing 11 per cent of the world’s branded plastic, followed by PepsiCo with five per cent. Nestlé (three per cent), Danone (three per cent) and Altria/Philip Morris International (two per cent) followed close behind.
Tony Walker, a professor at the Dalhousie School for Resource and Environmental Studies and researcher and co-author of the study, says he’s proud to represent Dalhousie on such a global scale.
“It’s an honour,” said Walker. “It’s always a great privilege to work with such an illustrious team.”
The research data originated from a global movement called #BreakFreeFromPlastic. Since 2018, the movement has held 1,576 cleanups across 84 different countries. During these cleanups, over 200,000 volunteers collected plastic waste from public spaces and documented which companies the branded products came from.
According to Walker, the study affirmed many predictions environmental researchers already had.
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“We’ve always been involved in litter collection and characterization, and the usual suspects turn up time and time again,” said Walker. “But by proving the hypothesis and letting the data speak for itself… it speaks volumes to what we’ve all probably suspected for a long time.”
While many big companies claim to be creating recyclable materials, Walker argues that it’s not all black and white.
“Yes, we might be able to recycle a clear plastic bottle a couple of times, but beyond that the plastic properties start to degrade and become brittle, and even they become waste,” said Walker. “Only nine per cent of global plastic ever produced has ever been recycled. What happened to the other 91 per cent? It’s clearly just not happening.”
“Only nine per cent of global plastic ever produced has ever been recycled. What happened to the other 91 per cent? It’s clearly just not happening.”
- Tony Walker
Walker provides recommendations on how these big companies might mitigate their issues with plastic production and pollution.
“One recommendation we made in the article was to cap plastic production at the source,” said Walker. “So we might urge companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsico to develop and design reusable packaging. Something that can be used, washed and returned.”
The results of the study also have potential to put more pressure on government bodies, says Walker.
“Fifty per cent of the items, we couldn't get branded information from, so it’s like who produced it? We don’t know,” said Walker. “Maybe this is an opportunity for governments to require companies to basically rub a stamp saying who made the product in the first place.”
With the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee happening this week in Ottawa, co-authors and representatives from Break Free From Plastic will be on the ground to promote their findings to world leaders.
“We’ll be on the ground, making sure we amplify these results so that delegates will get to hear about them,” said Walker.
Kaitlyn MacNeill is a graduating student in the journalism program at the University of King's College. She is on a one-month internship at The Chronicle Herald.
