Plastic Menace & Impacts on Climate Change – A study on Sri Lanka

Plastic has become an indispensable element for industries such as cosmetics, clothing, agriculture, technology, and transport. Durability, cost effectiveness and ease of handling has meant that many form an instant liking to consume plastic-based products.

However, use of plastic is turning out to be one of the major environmental issues in Sri Lanka. With more than 5 million kilograms of plastic waste generated on a daily basis, Sri Lanka’s per capita daily contribution on plastic is nearly 0.5 kg. More details about this can be read from here. Archived.

Let’s take a look at the major ways in which increased plastic consumption could contribute to climate change.

Production and Extraction: Even though many aren’t aware, plastics are generated from fossil fuels. Around 6% of oil consumption is allocated for plastic production currently and is expected to rise with time to as much as 20% by 2050. Therefore, the production and extraction process of plastic results in emittance of large amounts of greenhouse gases.

Consumption and End of the Life of Plastic: After consumption, most people discard plastic components, yet only 9% of such plastics are being recycled globally and the remaining part goes to natural environments such as oceans etc. South Asia has a significantly high portion of such plastic waste dumped openly. When those plastic products are exposed to the sunlight, greenhouse gases like ethane and methane are emitted. Polyethylene, the most common plastic product, contributes to the highest emission of greenhouse gases.

Plastic products also cause enormous ocean pollution and impact plankton, who are responsible for breaking down carbon dioxide emissions from anthropogenic activities. Injecting microplastics would eventually pave the way for the death of these planktons. More details about this can be read from here | Archived.

Furthermore, burning plastic components in open fires, emit Black Carbon. Black Carbon is causing heavily towards the greenhouse effect, and it is estimated that per unit of mass, black carbon has a warming impact on climate that is 460-1,500 times stronger than Carbon Dioxide. 

From the above details, it`s clear that plastic waste contributes significantly towards global warming. Our aim should be to minimize plastic usage which would result in lessening the effects of greenhouse gas emission, as a result of plastic waste.

Before the COVID19 pandemic, Sri Lanka was among the 5^th largest plastic polluters in the world, even without being one of the largest consumers of plastic as well. This is a fact which most Sri Lankans are not aware of.

Therefore, we carried out an investigation about misconceptions of the plastic crisis currently shared as social narrations and on social media platforms. We got expert views and facts based on real life scenarios with the support of Hemantha Vithanage, Executive Director/ Senior Environmental Scientist at Centre for Environmental Justice.

Plastic pollutants are generally divided into two categories such as mega / macro plastics and micro plastics. Mega plastics are plastic products larger than 20mm, including plastic cups, bags, or vehicle parts. Gradual exposure to UV-light, chemical interactions with water, and collision with other debris result in degradation of mega plastics to form microplastics. More on this can be read here. Archived

Claim: Awareness about the plastic crisis is very low among Sri Lankans. 

Fact: While most are aware of the issues due to plastic use, little or no action is taken.

Almost all plastic is derived from materials like ethylene and propylene which make hydrocarbon fuels (coal, natural gas, and crude oil), salt, sand, and several other possible constituents. The process of extracting and transporting these fuels, then manufacturing plastic creates billions of tons of greenhouse gases. For example, 4% of the world’s annual petroleum production is diverted to making plastic, and another 4% gets burned in the refining process. More details can read via Archived

Senior Environmental Scientist, Hemantha Vithanage explains, Sri Lankans are mostly aware of the topic of harmful effects of plastic usage, but when comparing the durability and cost friendliness and ease of use of plastic products, people tend to use them more frequently. Also, people are not concerned with single use plastic and simply burn plastic items used daily like sachet products, bags, bottles etc. 

Also Read : Single-use Plastic Ban in India: A Reality Check

Burning plastics releases a cocktail of poisonous chemicals that damage the health of the planet, and the people get exposed to the polluted air. Black carbon is one such serious pollutant. More details can be reach from here. Archived.  

Claim: Hotel Sector is the main sector responsible for dumping of plastic waste. 

Fact:  Hotel sector contributes to plastic waste, but industrial sector contributes much more to the plastic crisis. 

Even though hotels dispose a significant portion of plastic waste on a daily basis other industry such as healthcare, motor, apparel, and healthcare sectors release very large amounts of plastic per day.

For example with regards to the apparel sector, General Manager at MAS Active, Nimesh Amalean said Sri Lanka imports 1500 metric tons of plastic polymer a month and 30 percent of that is re-exported and 680 ton finds its way into the landfills and more facts can be reach from here. Archived. 

When considering healthcare sector, some main contributing factors for improper waste disposal in private and public hospitals are 

(i) the negligence of outsourced workers and companies 

(ii) the rising charges from outsourced companies. 

More information can be gathered from here. Archived. 

Sunlight and heat cause the plastic to release powerful greenhouse gases, leading to an alarming feedback loop. As the planet gets hotter, the plastic breaks down into more methane and ethylene, increasing the rate of emission of greenhouse gasses hence impacting climate change, and so perpetuating the cycle.

Senior Environmental Scientist Hemantha Vithanage explains that Sri Lanka produces 7000MT of solid waste per day and nearly there are 300 garbage dumps around the country, surprisingly the major pollutant in those is plastic. But most of the dumping waste is mismanaged specially in the Western Province, which gives harmful effects to rivers, wetlands and finally ends up with ocean pollution.

He explains there are many areas to be concerned about when building waste management plants, but due to the informal decision-making a lot of these are overlooked. Mr. Vithanage also explains that improper garbage dumps have impacted the wildlife also as seen in the below video, in which a number of elephants have perished after consuming non-degradable plastic along with other material contained in these mismanaged garbage dumps.  

Claim: Fishing is the major source of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Fact: Fishing cannot be considered as the main source of plastic pollution in the oceans.

The Netflix documentary “Seaspiracy” had suggested that half of the plastic pollution comes from fishing, however, in fact, the fishing industry is estimated to be responsible for only about 20-30% plastic pollutants in the form of fishing nets, ropes, and fleets.  Another study by BBC dismissing these claims can be seen here

Alarmingly, at least 14 million tons of discarded plastic also enters our oceans each year, and plastic pollution of the seas is tipped to double by 2030.  As much as 70-80% of the world’s ocean plastics enter the ocean via rivers and coastlines. The main sources of land-based plastic pollutants found in the ocean originate from urban and stormwater runoff, sewer overflows, littering, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial activities, tire abrasion, construction, and illegal dumping etc. More on this here

Therefore, it is clear that industrial fishing does significant damage to the environment but stopping fishing will not have a significant impact on limiting plastic pollution. 

A study from the UN Environment Program shows that, a high share of the world’s marine litter and plastic pollution has its origin in Asia and Sri Lanka contributes to as much as 5% share of the global total as seen here.

As Senior Environmental Scientist Hemantha Vithanage explains, contrary to the popular beliefs, experts are contributing in the form of researching, providing suggestions, making awareness among the public and taking legal actions against plastic pollutants etc.

But Mr. Vithanage also added that Sri Lanka has a poor legal provision against plastic waste management, with over 400 companies engaged in plastic processing currently in Sri Lanka.

However, the industrial sector is the main party contributing towards the production of plastic waste, therefore extended producer responsibility (EPR) is required from all the stakeholders  responsible for generating plastic waste to take ownership in minimizing the use of plastic packaging and recycling. This solution is essential for controlling the rapidly escalating plastic waste issue in the country. 

Senior Environmental Scientist Hemantha Vithanage added that experts are willing to contribute against the plastic crisis in Sri Lanka but taking policy decisions related to plastic handled by government institutes driven by political affiliations as well as topmost production corporations of the country.

However, on a positive note, Sri Lankan private sector has requested to volunteer for an act of EPR drive, yet this would also mean that some could opt out of the system and continue to act irresponsibly towards the plastic waste issue. Therefore, Mr. Vithanage suggests that ERP in plastic shouldn’t be on a volunteer basis, rather should be legalized as a mandatory process, for all stakeholders concerned with producing and dealing with plastic related products. 

There is an urgent need for an integrated and collaborative approach within the plastic value chain in order to implement a sustainable framework, ensuring effective and effective plastic waste management. 

The Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka has taken certain steps to mitigate the plastic crisis in Sri Lanka as well through the National Action Plan on Plastic Waste Management 2021-2030 , by identifying the sources of generating plastic waste and suggesting corrective action plans to minimize the damage caused by these sources.

Claims :  Awareness programs are limited in Sri Lanka and it is the best solution to stop the plastic crisis.

Fact : There are awareness programs conducted from government as well as NGOs, but they alone aren’t going to solve the plastic crisis

Senior Environmental Scientist at Centre for Environmental Justice, Hemantha Vithanage explains there are many awareness programs conducted by government Sri Lanka as well Non-profit organizations.

Nearly 1million students including college & universities directly participate on these programs plus a significant amount join with media platforms. “If public attitudes don’t change, these programs are useless. That is the reason why this problem persists.” Mr. Vithanage adds.  

He also stated that the environmental law in Sri Lanka should be more powerful and strictly enforced against those who increasingly continue to use plastic.

When we take a look at the reason for using single-use plastics, easy availability (nearly 40%) and lack of alternative products (25%) can be seen as the main reasons. For the latter, unlike in other countries, bags for life and other alternatives are rarely available in Sri Lanka; plus, there is no tax/charges for using plastic bags in grocery stores, which could be one reason that plastic bags continue to be used in these outlets.  More details can be read from here. Archived. 

Plastic-free lifestyle is simple. A good starting point is to live a week as you normally would, making note of every single-use plastic item that you use. Then the following week, pick the top five and make a concentrated effort to eliminate or reduce these items from your daily life. More things can be reached from here. Archived. 

Senior Environmental Scientist, Hemantha Vithanage explains that a powerful communication platform and attitude change should arise in order for one to get out of an excessive plastic usage mindset.

Plastic free July challenge is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution and even though living a completely plastic-free life might be a challenging task at present is definitely a timely initiative everyone should be determined to undertake which will have a significant impact on climate change as well as the entire ecosystem.