Plastic Pollution Study Ignores Impact of ‘Waste Colonialism,’ Says Break Free From Plastics

A new study on plastic pollution from University of Leeds researchers in the United Kingdom used artificial intelligence to model waste management in more than 50,000 municipalities around the world. Among other findings, the researchers found that more than two-thirds of global plastic pollution comes from uncollected waste and that over 50% of all plastic pollution was burned in homes, on streets, and in dumpsites with no environmental considerations. The study published in Nature, "A local-to-global emissions inventory of macroplastic pollution," also revealed that macro-plastic pollution — defined as plastic objects larger than 5 mm (about 3/16 of an inch) — is especially rampant in the Global South, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the annual 57 million tons of plastic pollution. Despite high plastic consumption, macro-plastic pollution is a comparatively small issue in the Global North, according to the researchers, because of comprehensive waste management systems. And that raised the hackles of activist organization Break Free From Plastics, which accused the study of perpetuating misleading narratives and ignoring the impact of “waste colonialism.”

The world’s plastic pollution hotspots

Mapping and quantifying plastic waste material flows is necessary to establish a baseline “to inform Plastics Treaty obligations,” note the researchers, referencing negotiations currently underway by the United Nations to establish a legally binding global treaty to prevent plastic pollution. They combined modeling of emission mechanisms with measurable activity data to identify so-called emission hotspots across 50,702 municipalities worldwide. This can help to determine the most effective means to prevent plastic pollution in various geographies.

Related:White House Sets Path to Circular Economy

Uncollected waste is the largest contributor to plastic pollution in the Global South, while littering accounts for 49% of all debris emissions in the Global North. Littering note the researchers in the Nature article, “is largely driven by the decisions of individuals” while the “1.5 billion individuals whose waste is uncollected in the Global South have little choice but to self-manage it.”

The study also takes into account the open burning of plastic waste, which is not “specifically considered in most plastic pollution models,” according to the researchers. “Our results indicate [open burning] contributes to 57% of all plastic waste emitted, resulting in widespread risk to human health and the environment,” they write.

Related:Global Plastics Treaty Talks: Yawning Gap Between Lofty Goals and Practical Effects

India, Nigeria, and Indonesia are biggest polluters

Based on their methodology, India is the biggest polluter, accounting for about one-fifth of the total global amount, followed by Nigeria and Indonesia. China has traditionally topped this list for many years, but now ranks as fourth thanks to improvements in collecting and processing waste.

Sub-Saharan Africa currently has low levels of plastic pollution, but has the potential to become the world’s largest source of plastic pollution in the coming decades as populations rapidly grow in countries that lack effective waste management, according to the researchers. Sub-Saharan Africa produces an annual average of 12 kg of plastic pollution per capita, the equivalent of 400 plastic bottles. By comparison, the United Kingdom has the per-capita equivalent of less than three plastic bottles per person per year. Another striking example cited by the researchers: Mogadishu, Somalia, has 680 times more median plastic emissions than Hamburg, Germany.

Study neglects role of high-income countries, says NGO

In its critique of the research, Break Free From Plastics calls out the exclusion of “pollution caused by plastic production . . . [neglecting] to recognize that many of the listed countries are major importers of plastic waste from high-income nations,” which it characterizes as “waste colonialism.” Citing data from the Basel Action Network, an NGO dedicated to promoting global environmental health, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and other less industrialized nations are among the top destinations for plastic waste generated in the Global North. (China was in that cohort until late 2017, when it banned the importation of most plastic waste.) “These same countries then get blamed in the study for being top plastic polluters,” writes Break Free From Plastics.

The Leeds researchers acknowledge data gaps in their study, and have deliberately excluded plastic waste exports, which they say have decreased considerably since 2017 (which coincides with China’s ban on plastic waste imports). “Although this might affect some individual country results, the overall effect would be negligible in comparison with other sources,” they write.

Break Free From Plastics considers the acknowledgment “insufficient,” noting that “evidence shows that Global North countries, including the UK, house companies driving plastic production and pollution, while also being top plastic waste exporters.” The first point, of course, is the NGO’s meat and potatoes — equating production with pollution — while it offers only one piece of data to bolster the second point: “In 2023, the UK exported 568 million kg/yr of plastic waste. An increase compared to 2020, which is the data year used in this study.”

Eventually, Break Free From Plastic gets to its core message in a press release that was ostensibly drafted to contest the research published in Nature: “There are no effective solutions to handle or recycle collected or recovered plastic waste. Plastic production reduction is the only effective way to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.”

Those folks know how to stay on message — I'll give them that — and it's a message that will be fiercely debated at the fifth — and final — session of the UN's Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee at the end of November. That's when stakeholders will meet in South Korea and try to hammer out the contours of a global treaty to prevent plastic pollution. We can only hope that common sense prevails.