Plastic is everywhere & becoming more prevalent (use has increased 20x in the last 50 years) because of it\'s useful properties, and globally only 14% is recycled. The plastic industry consumes 20% of the total oil production and 15% of the annual carbon budget. A large percentage of this is single used packaging. 30% of plastic packaging cannot be reused or recycled given it\'s primary purpose (think food wrappers, chip bags, food containers) these need to be fundamentally redesigned. Some packaging & products should be properly redesigned for reuse (think shampoo/conditioner bottles). If done properly this could amount to 3 million tonnes of plastic saved decrease transportation costs more then 85% and consequently decrease GHG emissions by 80%. Resuable bags & drink bottles is a must (the stats on this was shocking... if you\'re interested it\'s on page 21). Businesses need to think about industrial and transportation packaging too. Most plastic is viable for recycling, but recycling programs need to get more effective, and universal to cut down on confusion & plastics should be designed with their recycleability in mind. Apparently including things like inks, glues, color, and other additives makes things more difficult to recycle. We need to close the plastic economy stream. Plastic should not be something made to simply be discarded, but it cannot be discounted entirely because it does have many amazing properties and uses.

Marine Debris Literature