One of the most important things I learned in a college course I took from a former Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Agency was about the false solutions the petroleum industry promotes for its plastic waste, e.g. the three green arrows. Only a small percentage of plastic is made into something new. With virgin plastic being far cheaper, one can understand why the industry has little interest in buying used plastic. About 80% of plastic in your blue bin is burnt for fuel, creating more green house gases and pollution.
By contrast, a better solution, known as End Stage Manufacturer Responsibility, requires manufacturers to have some accountability “upstream” for their forever chemical products. Eight states have passed these laws, but Ohio is not one of them. At a time when the federal government is deregulating and removing environmental safeguards it is paramount communities protect their local resources.
I have done data collection during local litter picks ups (Adopt a Highway, River Sweep, Dow Lake). Plastic is the most pervasive item found. I do count the small pieces, which are first in line to become microplastics. I see how the mowing of West State St. ballpark and other green areas chops this plastic litter into smaller and smaller pieces.
Just because you can’t easily see microplastics doesn’t mean they are not everywhere–including inside of us!
There is no shortage of recent scientific reports finding microplastics in all body parts. Correlations with modern-day afflictions from infertility, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, dementia to cancer have been noted. Science spends years duplicating studies to ensure facts, are agreed upon, but meanwhile, the plastic industry expects to triple its production. How long can we afford to do nothing to address this public health concern?
We can’t keep ignoring the power the petroleum industry holds over all of us. Profits are gained by lobbying for weak regulations, resulting in government’s impotent approach to what is a growing health crisis. We are already a day late and a dollar short! After all, we can’t vacuum microplastics from the riverbeds, oceans, and mountaintops. We can’t change the temperature of oceans covering 70% of the planet or hold back melting glaciers.
We desperately need well-paying jobs that contribute to solving the public health crisis that historic fossil fuel production and consumption have created. It is shortsighted to jump on the bandwagon for a promise of “good jobs” without considering all the ramifications. The economy and environment need not be pitted against each other; there are creative solutions to link both together for our community’s prosperity.
The CCC plant in The Plains will be dyeing nurdles (considered to be microplastics at 5mm or less). We know that these tiny building blocks of plastic often escape as they are found in the water and soil downstream from production sites. The Water’s Keeper Alliance took samples from 249 sites over a one-month period along the Ohio River and found 1.1 million nurdles. The CCC assures us this won’t happen at the Athens plant, but it is likely the companies those nurdles came from made similar statements. Bravo if CCC can keep it’s promise of containing the nurdles secure in the building, but they won’t be able to assure what happens as they leave the facility during transportation. Nor does it address the concern for the end stage of plastic, a catch 22, it lasts forever.
Only 50 years ago, virtually everyone used leaded gas and lived in houses with lead paint, and workers in these industries were unknowingly subjected to long-term exposure to lead. When it was discovered that lead exposure was affecting children’s brain development, we did the right thing, even though it was hard. We moved forward, improved public health, and the economy survived.
Instead of lead, now plastic is ubiquitous in our daily lives, and babies are born with plastic in their bodies. The reproductive system is especially sensitive to the chemicals in plastics. We have been warned by an NIH scientist that if we continue this trajectory, humans will not be able to reproduce without medical intervention, as sperm counts will be down to zero by 2050. The benefit cost ratio doesn’t look promising when you consider what the next generation is inheriting.
Janalee Stock
Retired RN
Athens ReThink Plastics