Emissions from plastics to surpass coal as major climate change contributor by 2030, finds a report
October 22, 2021 | Gaon Connection
A study shows that production of plastics in the United States is on track to contribute more greenhouse gas emissions, which lead to climate change, than coal plants by 2030. The researchers have found that the US plastics industry, as of 2020, is releasing at least 232 million tonnes of greenhouse gases each year. This is the equivalent of 116 average-sized (500-megawatt) coal-fired power plants.
Titled ‘The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change’, the report was released yesterday on October 21 by Beyond Plastics, a nationwide project based at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont (USA), which is working to end plastic pollution.
The study warns that the emissions from the plastics industry are growing quickly. In 2020, the plastics industry’s reported emissions increased by 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions over 2019.
The report concluded that the US plastics industry’s contribution to climate change is on track to exceed that of coal-fired power by 2030.
“The scale of the plastics industry’s greenhouse gas emissions is staggering, but it’s equally concerning that few people in government or in the business community are even talking about it,” Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics, was quoted as saying in the press statement dated October 21.
“That must change quickly if we hope to remain within the 1.5° C global temperature increase scientists have pinpointed as critical to avoiding the most devastating impacts of climate change,” Enck added.