Plastic is the most common material in the modern economy, and our everyday lives are unthinkable without it. Unfortunately, what makes it so useful, such as its durability, light weight and low cost, also makes it problematic when it used only once and thrown away.
Plastics pollution in the oceans is well-known. Less known is the impact of chemical additives, some harmful to health and the environment.
Momentum is building in the search for systemic solutions that create an effective after-use plastics economy, reduce leakage of plastics into natural systems, and decouple plastics from fossil feedstocks.
Holger Schmid