If You Think The Plastic Problem Is Overstated Just Look At The Picture That Accompanies This Posting

Plastic pollution in extremis can be seen in the picture shown here. Three boats ply a river in Indonesia surrounded by a floating sea of discarded plastic. How much of this is produced locally versus how much is “traded” from the Global North may not be described in this picture that graced an article in The Guardian, but we know it is a lot.

This is the plastic waste we can see. What we can’t see are degraded plastics forming nano-sized particles that can be found in the soil, water and air, and the forever chemicals, the per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS), that are still being used in plastic consumer products and packaging, even though plastic manufacturers have known about the health risks since the 1970s.

A United Nations Global Trade Update published in August 2025, estimated that 5 million tons of waste plastic annually gets shipped from Australia, Canada, the U.S., U.K., France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Mexico and Japan to Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam. These 5 million tons that end up in the Global South represent approximately 10% of the total waste plastic produced annually and are largely ineffectively dealt with within countries where it is manufactured. Principal methods for managing plastic waste include recycling, disposal in landfills, and incineration.

The exporting of plastic waste by plastic-producing countries has been labelled “waste colonialism,” where Global North countries are using Global South countries as dumping grounds for their plastic garbage, a practice that reinforces the historic imbalance of power and inequality between former colonial powers and colonies, all done in the name of global trade.

The plastic waste disposal operations in these Global South countries are no more effective than those practiced in the Global North. Much of the waste gets mishandled in transit, adding to plastic pollution falling into the ocean and at arrival ports. It joins the domestic sources of plastic pollution already produced by Global South countries. As plastic degrades on land and in water, it releases chemicals including PFAS, chlorinated dioxins, furans, heavy metals, and micro and nanoplastic particles.

The State of Plastic Today

The plastics industry was valued at US$1.1 trillion in 2023. Production was 436 million tons, with 98% of plastic produced from fossil fuels. Concerns about plastic pollution have created an opportunity for manufacturers of non-plastic material substitutes using biodegradable substitutes such as bamboo, paper, natural fibres, seaweed and other recyclable materials. This plastic substitute industry in 2023 was valued at $485 billion and was growing 5.6% annually. Unlike plastic derived from fossil fuels, however, some of these biodegradable substitutes faced tariffs averaging 14.4% unlike their fossil-fuel derived competition.

China is the world’s leading producer of plastic today. It accounts for almost a third of the material produced annually. It should, therefore, be no surprise that China is also the world’s largest producer of plastic waste. At one time, China was a plastic waste importer, but since 2018, it has banned the practice. Since 2020, China has been implementing domestic controls to curb plastic waste. Single-use plastics are being phased out this year for all cities, hotels and companies in the transportation and delivery sector. China has implemented nationally, plastic litter cleanup projects focused on water bodies, tourist sites, and agricultural regions.

The United States is second to China when it comes to producing plastic and first when it comes to producing plastic waste. Under the Joe Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a national strategy focused on plastic production and waste. It prioritized improvements to recycling standards and the materials being used to make plastic, including the PFAS used in plastic packaging and products where they are used as additives and coatings for stain and grease-resistance.

The PFAS Problem

The presence of PFAS has been a known problem since the 1970s, based on internal documents produced by plastics manufacturers such as DuPont and 3M. PFAS like PFOA (C8) were a known chemical toxin right from the outset, but were in continuous use into the 1990s. Because PFAS don’t easily degrade, they accumulate in the environment, where they get absorbed by animals and plants.

In humans, PFAS have been associated with many medical conditions including: higher risk of kidney and testicular cancers, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes in women, lower fertility, preeclampsia in pregnancy, developmental delays in children, thyroid complications, weaker immune systems, less effective vaccine response, ulcerative colitis and inflammatory bowel disease, liver damage, metabolic disruptions, osteoporosis, and more.

Yet, PFAS are not banned from plastic production in the U.S. and many other countries. Some U.S. states have enacted phase-out regulations for PFAS in food packaging by 2032. In Canada, PFAS have yet to be banned. Instead, the country has identified more than 163 PFAS, requiring manufacturers of firefighting foams, cosmetics, textiles, food packaging and other consumer goods to report their usage.

The European Union has proposed a ban beginning in August 2026 on PFAS used in food packaging. Individual EU members, Denmark and France, have proposed restrictions on their use in consumer goods. Norway, not an EU member, has banned PFOA since 2014 but has not restricted other PFAS. New Zealand has restricted PFAS in cosmetics and other consumer products.

The Plastic Problem Perpetuated

Last week, I wrote about the six failed attempts to date to draft and pass a legally-binding global treaty governing the use of plastic, including the management of hazardous chemicals still being used and waste. The impasse has been between the major fossil fuel-producing countries and the countries most impacted by plastic waste and pollution. No one, as of yet, has a tried-and-true method for the safe disposal of the forever chemicals, or for large-scale environmental cleanups that could address what is depicted at the top of this posting.