Plastic pollution and “outsourcing”
A lot of plastic enters and pollutes the environment through littering, improper processing, and export overseas.
Plastic pollution “outsourcing” refers to wealthy countries exporting waste to other countries, rather than recycling, processing or manufacturing plastics domestically.
The manufacture overseas allows a country to continue to claim a greener record by exporting other pollution such as carbon emissions.
Sources: Environmental Investigation Agency, EU Parliament
Litter everywhere
Northern Ireland
As of 2019-2020, it was found by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB) that Northern Ireland used 145 million plastic bottles every year. In 2023, KNIB in their Litter Composition Report, found that 54% of litter on NI streets was plastic. In 2022 a collective including Friends of the Earth reported that Northern Ireland councils exported as much as 90,000 tonnes of recyclables abroad each year.
Republic of Ireland
The Republic of Ireland, according to An Taisce, is the EU’s biggest producer of plastic and has the fifth lowest recycling rate in the EU at 31% of plastic waste. In 2020, it produced 306,000 tonnes of plastic. Additionally the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System found as part of its 2021 report that of the 5528 surveys conducted, greater than 75% were found to have litter with cigarette related litter making up the majority at 48.4%.
Sources: KNIB, BBC NI, Belfast Live, Government of Ireland, The Guardian
Plastic problems
Plastics break down into microplastics and leach chemicals. These contaminate groundwater, decimate soil health, and impact aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
Researchers at Brunel University London found that as many as 150 chemicals could be leaching into drinks from recycled plastic bottles.
Furthermore, “forever chemicals” or PFAS, which are used in many plastics, can persist in the environment for 1000s of years with impacts not entirely clear.
Sources: EU Parliament, The Guardian, EPA
What do you think?
What alternatives to plastic have you seen being used?
Do you think plastics should be eradicated completely?
Do you actively avoid buying or using plastic?
What you can do
Plastic Free July
This month on we will be spotlighting ways of reducing your plastic consumption locally and nationally.
As well as initiatives and schemes that exist on the island of Ireland, we will be also be giving tips on recycling plastics more effectively in the coming weeks for Plastic Free July.
Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn to get all the spotlights.