Revolutionary development: bacteria could make plastic more sustainable
Good news: a fully circular use of plastic may be possible thanks to fungal enzymes that break down PET within 10 days.
The plastic soup is also a planetary boundary
Amsterdam, 16 January 2019 – The oceans are under pressure due to the increase of the plastic soup. Plastic affects not just individual animals, but also penetrates food chains. An important question is whether the plastic soup has a critical limit. The Stockholm Resilience Centre has indicated nine planetary boundaries for the Earth, among which climate change, loss of biodiversity, ocean acidification, and chemical pollution. When these planetary boundaries are exceeded, ecological restoration is almost impossible. Plastic pollution is not yet in this list.
Scientists have recently argued that plastic soup should also be one of the planetary boundaries. At least two of the three criteria for the planetary boundary of chemical pollution are also valid for the plastic soup: plastic in the environment is irreversible (it is not or hardly possible to clean up, particularly the microplastics) and plastic is present everywhere (and the concentration increases). The third criterion is the disruptive effect on marine ecosystems, or even wider: the effect on System Earth. To date, the question how the plastic soup affects this system, remains unanswered. To that end, it first needs to be determined how exactly this effect can be established. But, according to the researchers, plastic pollution certainly has all kinds of ecological consequences and hence there is every reason to believe that plastic also has or will have a negative effect on System Earth.
The researchers have also a pragmatic reason to include the plastic soup in the widely accepted framework of the planetary boundaries. It will then presumably be easier to reach agreement on the international approach; curbing the plastic soup internationally has not been successful yet.
More news
Read more
Scientists respond to the decision to designate BPA as a substance of very high concern
After years of legal proceedings, the plastics industry finally has to concede: BPA will be added to the list of highly hazardous substances. It is a great victory for the environment. Three scientists respond.
Chemical cocktails in plastic are becoming an increasing health problem internationally
Plastic is an important source of toxic chemical pollution, show two recent studies. For this reason, recycling plastic is not the right strategy.
Wonder plastic PEF will not yet help solve the plastic soup
Is PEF really the wonder plastic that the world is desperate for? Will it help solve the plastic soup?
