ASK any housewife and she’ll tell you that plastics have become an essential and inevitable part of life,
There are plastic chairs, tables, food containers, bags, hangers, utensils, bowls, and cups. And they all seem to serve a purpose.
Plastic zip-lock bags allow food to remain fresh for long periods of time, plastics used on the body of planes and other vehicles make travel lighter and energy-efficient, plastics are used in packaging of emergency medical supplies and in an endless list of things we have come to use daily – from household items and computers to ATM cards and mobile phones.
Plastics have challenged traditional materials for a long time. They have usurped the place of steel used in vehicles, paper in food wrappings and packaging, glass in bottles and wood in furniture.
Though plastic polymer (chemical compounds in which molecules are bonded together in long, repeating) was first discovered in 1860s it did not become a household name until the early 20th century. This was in 1907, when Leo Baekeland invented Bakelite, the world’s first fully synthetic plastic. It was a good insulator, durable, heat-resistant and well suited for mass production.
Chemists discovered that waste products from oil companies could be used to make building blocks (monomers) of polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate or PET, which is used in plastic bottles.
A New York Times in a report written in 1867 said because of a reward of a few shillings per head being offered by the authorities in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) “3,500 elephants were dispatched in less than three years by the natives”.
The NYT warned then that elephants were in grave danger of being “numbered with extinct species” because of humans’ insatiable demand for the ivory in their tusks.
Ivory, at the time, was used for a wide range of items, from buttonhooks to boxes, piano keys to combs.
So the invention and use of plastics, in some way, spared the life of our trees and endangered elephants that were often slaughtered in large numbers for ivory, preventing their numbers from dwindling in the wild.
Up until this time in history, plastics were used largely in the manufacture of durable goods and was relatively manageable.
So when and how did plastics become a problem?
According to National Geographic’s June 2018 issue, the “dark side of plastics” emerged because plastics became cheap to mass produce and factories started producing things that people didn’t intend to keep for long.
In other words, factories started making products such as plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic plates and other plastic items that were meant to be used only once before being thrown away.
Life became easier, for sure. People didn’t have to wash plastic utensils but disposed them in the bin. But over time, the world’s plastic and waste problem emerged and spiralled out of control.
Global statistics show that between the 1970s and the 1990s, the generation of plastic waste more than tripled, reflecting a similar rise in plastic production.
We are now living at a time when we are mass -producing disposable plastics at such a phenomenal rate that the world’s waste management systems are finding hard to keep up.
Scientists believe the rate of plastic production has grown faster than that of any other material on earth.
They say if historic growth trends continue, the world production of primary plastic is forecasted to reach 1.1 billion tonnes by 2050.
According to UN statistics, today about 400 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year around the globe.
Approximately 36 per cent of all plastics produced are used in packaging, including single-use plastic products for food and beverage containers, approximately 85 per cent of which ends up in landfills or as unregulated waste. Only a small portion gets to be recycled.
Despite efforts made to address plastic waste, it is estimated that 75 to 199 million tonnes of plastic is currently found in our oceans.
If we don’t change how we produce, use and dispose plastic, the amount of plastic waste entering aquatic ecosystems could nearly triple to a projected 23 to 37 million tonnes per year by 2040, which is 15 years away.
In an Op-Ed released in January this year, the United Nations Development Programme noted that Fiji faced significant challenges from plastic pollution.
It pointed out that the country’s plastic crisis threatened key industries like tourism and fisheries, damages marine ecosystems, pollutes beaches, and destabilises livelihoods.
“Plastic pollution compounds the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, undermining the self-determination of island nations,” it said.
Projections indicate ocean plastics could double from 152 million tonnes in 2020 to 300 million tonnes by 2040. Coastal communities bear the brunt of mounting plastic waste, while fishing communities are forced to venture further to find resources in once-abundant waters.
Despite the threats imposed by plastics, Fiji remains hopeful.
It is wonderful to see that the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is leading efforts to combat plastic pollution and remains committed to a vision embedded in its National Development Plan (2025-2029) which hopes to make Fiji a global sustainability leader.
Among other things, this includes strengthening legislation, incentivizing sustainable practices, fostering engagement and exploring non-plastic substitutes.
Fiji’s advocacy for an international treaty on plastics underscores its determination to drive global change and mitigate the crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. But we cannot depend solely on international negotiations to address our waste problems.
As negotiations progress, Pacific nations, including Fiji, must ensure their voices are heard. Despite contributing minimally to global plastic production, the Pacific bears a disproportionate burden from its impacts.
Speaking at a workshop on National Capacity Building for Plastic Pollution in the Pacific Island Countries in Nadi last month, SPREP director general, Sefanaia Nawadra, said the issue needed to be addressed in a holistic and integrated approach.
“It needs to be addressed within the whole context of waste, within the whole context of sustainable consumption and production,” he said.
“Addressing the nexus with things like climate change, ocean, looking at trade, looking at health in the environment, trying to identify approaches that help us to really change behaviour.”
The fight against plastic pollution cannot succeed through fragmented efforts.
According to the outcome of the recent National Plastics Symposium, Fiji’s plastics problem demands “a whole-of-society approach uniting governments, industry, academia, civil society, and international partners. The symposium emphasised the importance of inclusivity and collaboration, reflecting the heart and passion of the Pacific people’s commitment to solving the plastics crisis”.
Individuals like Pacific Recycling Foundation founder Amitesh Deo, need to be thanked and given support, for his advocacy efforts on sustainable waste management.
At the individual level, let’s review the way we use plastics in our daily lives and homes. Any small action would be a huge leap in the move to save Fiji, our planet and our ocean. The time to act is now!
Until we meet on this same page, same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!!
