As Long As We Use Plastic, We Can't Stop Using Fossil Fuels
'Just Stop Plastic' Will Be The Next Campaign
The narrative continues. Fossil fuels - oil and gas - are driving the climate emergency, and the world must move rapidly to clean, renewable energy to slow down global warming and protect life across the planet.
But that’s not even half the story.
Of course we need to be powered by renewables. The greed and corruption of certain politicians is making that reality more difficult to achieve.
But plastic is becoming as big a barrier to an unpolluted world as energy.
We can’t ‘Just Stop Oil’ and then live happily ever after - we need a support plan. Renewables provide that solution for energy, batteries can provide a solution for fuel, but the search for reliable, workable, inexpensive alternatives to plastic is in its infancy.
Disturbingly, the future of fossil fuels depends increasingly on the future of plastics. Fossil fuel giant BP predicts that plastics will account for as much as 95% of oil demand growth between now and 2040.
More than 99% of plastic is produced from fossil fuels. In the United States, gas is the main source; elsewhere, it is oil.
Science Advances Magazine describes: “The vast majority of monomers used to make plastics, such as ethylene and propylene, are derived from fossil hydrocarbons. None of the commonly used plastics are biodegradable.”
The world’s top seven plastic producing companies, by volume, are fossil fuel companies. It is clearly in their interests to churn out more plastic as the world slowly moves away from fossil fuels as a source of energy and enabler of transport.
So What Damage is Caused by Plastics?
About 90% of emissions from plastics come from its production. In 2015, emissions from extraction and transport for plastic production in the US were about 10 million metric tons of CO2.
Plastic production is currently estimated to be responsible for 5% of global emissions, but that figure is expected to rise rapidly in line with planned output.
Plastics are also central to the biodiversity crisis - the declining health of nature, forever intertwined with the climate emergency.
Plastic pollution harms ecosystems, animal and plant species, and is particularly invasive through the smallest particles - microplastics.
These literally get everywhere.
We’ve Got Plastic on the Brain
Researchers at the University of Mexico have just released a concerning report from a study which discovered microplastics in human brains.
Higher levels of microplastics - which contain dangerous toxins - were found in the brains of people with dementia, suggesting a troublesome link.
This report comes on the back of studies finding microplastics in many human organs. And in 99% of seafood samples. And in the placentas of unborn babies. And many, many more examples.
It’s not easy to avoid plastic. Friends of the Earth revealed its presence in everything from chewing gum to tea bags, to wet wipes to the sticky part of envelopes.
It exists in most clothing - polyester, nylon, elastane and the like - and even when clothes contain recycled plastic, these all create more microplastics.
In retaliation, I teamed up with sustainable fashion provider Teemill to launch my own range of plastic-free T-shirts.
You can read in my article below about the advances being made to remove plastic from clothing, using materials such as hemp, bamboo, tencel, lyocell, modal, even seaweed.
'Vegan' Clothes Are Killing Wildlife
Making clothes out of recycled plastic might have seemed a good idea as the fashion industry sought to become more sustainable. But it's harming the environment. It's harming animals. Humans, too.
Pollution vs Production
Plastic pollution is a danger to the health of many lifeforms on this planet. Pollution is, of course, directly linked to production. You won’t be surprised to know that the fossil fuel giants don’t see it that way.
In December 2024, after two years of negotiations, 170 nations met in South Korea to reach a landmark agreement on tackling plastic pollution.
They failed.
Most nations had seen the direction of travel, and attempted to put the brakes on the bigger problem of plastic production, not just pollution.
The oil states weren’t playing ball, of course. Kuwait’s negotiators said: “The objective of this treaty is to end plastic pollution, not plastic itself. Plastic has brought immense benefit to societies worldwide."
Exxon’s head of product solutions, Karen McKee, meanwhile told the FT: “The issue is pollution. The issue is not plastic. A limit on plastic production will not serve us in terms of pollution and the environment.”
Plastic Isn’t So Fantastic
Plastic is a menace that needs to be reined in. So we need to question the narrative, the story we are told, even by many environmentalists, that ceasing the use of fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy will tackle emissions and help us restore a healthy natural balance.
In reality, oil and gas will be demanded more and more to satisfy our craving for plastics.
According to the Maximize Market Research report, the plastic market was worth 507 billion US dollars in 2023, and is expected to reach USD 714 billion in 2030.
Packaging materials, automotive components and construction plastics are leading the demand, while fewer than 10% of all plastics ever produced have been recycled.
I, for one, try to limit the amount of plastic I buy and use. But the big picture feels like an overwhelming issue to tackle.
Great article Mark, and a much better way to counter the ‘just stop’ rhetoric. As some say, it’s a polycrisis.
So what do we do about this? I’m allergic to foods that are packaged the typical clear, brittle plastic that many foods are now packaged in, so I’m all in on boycotting plastic. But it’s a struggle to find peanut butter, olive oil, cooking oils, berries, etc. that are not packaged in plastic.