Everyday Plastic Emits Greenhouse Gases

The plastic we use daily, from plastic bottles to packaging, emits greenhouse gases when exposed to sunlight, a new study shows, reinforcing global concerns about the impact of plastic on the world’s oceans.

Plastic pollution has gained increased attention from ecologists due to the obvious rise in pollution – it is known that a giant island of plastic waste is floating in the Pacific Ocean, larger than previously thought.

Scientists have now discovered that common plastic emits a potent greenhouse gas, methane, and over time, ethylene, contributing to global warming.

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A study published in the journal PLOS ONE showed that plastics are “a negligible subject of global methane emissions,” due to the small amount of production. However, Jonathan Nichols, an associate professor at Columbia University, notes that the latest findings are “indeed significant.”

– We cannot solve the problem of greenhouse gases until we define each of its segments, Nichols told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Methane emissions, mostly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, are a major driver of global warming.

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A previous study showed that more than 9 billion tons of plastic have been produced since 1950, with most of that plastic ending up discarded in landfills or in the environment.

Scientists have repeatedly warned that exposure to certain plastic chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA), harms health.

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Scientists found in March that the floating plastic island in the Pacific Ocean is even 16 times larger than previously thought and warned that it threatens the stability of the food chain.