Our ‘Ending Plastic Pollution by 2040’ policy needs a carbon price
Australia has joined with 47 other nations in the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution by 2040 and aims to end plastic pollution in Australia by 2040. It plans to do this by establishing a circular economy in which plastic products are either reused, recycled or remanufactured. It is supported by the UN and many sub-national and city governments. It is an impressive commitment.
But the policy is unlikely to succeed without a predictably rising carbon price to drive the transition to sustainably produced, degradable alternatives like bioplastics. It faces the same challenge as climate policy - that is, it is trying to reduce consumption of a product that is aggressively promoted, heavily subsidised and is expanding production. It is pushing against competing policies that support increased production.
The burning of fossil fuels continues to increase in nearly all countries, including Australia. The use of fossil fuels for plastic production is increasing even faster and is set to triple by 2060. Fossil fuel companies, together with others, have invested $180 billion between 2010 and 2017 in new plastic production facilities.
Fuels and plastics are both enormously convenient and have become embedded in the global economy and in so many human activities. Our economies are addicted to both products. And now as we transition to electric vehicles it turns out that pollution from tyres, many made from fossil fuels, is a major health problem. So, it is no surprise that consumption of fuels and plastics are increasing, despite our knowledge that they are extremely damaging to human health, and to the health of the ecosystems that all life depends on. Recent discoveries of microplastics in our food chain are particularly concerning.
Plastic products benefit from the massive subsidies to fossil fuels that make them artificially cheap and very consumable, (see Ending fossil fuel subsidies is essential for ending climate change). Most of this subsidy derives from the social costs (to health and environment) that are not included in the price we pay for fossil fuel products.
Virgin plastic is made from fossil fuels and therefore benefits directly from these subsidies. It is significantly cheaper and higher quality than recycled plastic. The serious damage being done by plastics and their greenhouse gas emissions are not reflected in the price we pay for them. Their cheapness combined with their convenience means that their rapid proliferation over only 6 decades is set to continue, unless there is serious intervention.
Whilst carbon is locked up in plastics for the thousand or so years they take to break down, CO2 emissions occur in each of the following stages of production, use and waste:
Extraction of the fossil fuel – 99% of plastics come from oil, gas or coal
Refining the fossil fuel to produce ethane and propane
Cracking – ethane and propane are heated in a furnace to produce ethylene and propylene
Polymerisation – heat and pressure are used to create the polymer chains and produce the resin pellets
Fabrication – melting the pellets, adding additives and moulding into final product
Incineration – in some countries plastic waste is routinely incinerated – it releases more CO2 than burning coal
Members of the High Ambition Coalition are making a courageous effort to reduce and recycle plastics, but while it is relatively cheap to keep producing new plastic, there will be too little incentive to reuse and recycle. Also, most plastics include many toxic additives and resins which makes them difficult to recycle.
As long as these efforts remain relatively piecemeal and don’t address the problem at source, they are unlikely to succeed and will be too little to reverse the enormous momentum that currently drives plastic production and consumption.
By tackling plastic production at its source, the oil/gas well and the refinery, a predictably rising fee on the carbon content of fossil fuels will:
steadily increase the price of virgin plastic and therefore the efficiency of its usage
end the subsidies that encourage production and consumption
discourage wasteful packaging and other frivolous uses
make it easier for consumers to make responsible choices about their use of plastics and their alternatives
encourage the reuse of plastic containers
reduce the emissions from the production process through increasingly renewable electricity
provide greater incentive for research and development into sustainably produced, compostable, degradable bioplastics, e.g. ULUU and
accelerate the transition to low- and zero-carbon plastics - e.g. a Canadian breakthrough in producing ethylene without fossil fuels
Climate dividends will price fuels and plastics appropriately and make the transition towards a zero-emissions plastic-free world more achievable and more equitably shared, within and between nations. It will make it possible for Australia to end plastic pollution before 2040 and inspire other nations in the High Ambition Coalition to do the same.
