The 1950s oversaw the beginnings of the mass production of synthetic plastics. The material proved inexpensive, durable and lightweight… a capital dream!
The downside.
Plastic can take up to 1000 years to completely decompose. In the meantime this pollutes our environment and harms wildlife (Ogura, 2021) As a result, millions of plastic is entering our oceans and water systems DAILY, currently ranging from 4-23 million metric tonnes per year. (2021)
The flawed recycling system.
The millions of plastic wastes produced is supposedly solved by the recycling system. HOWEVER, the system relies on exporting waste to other parts of the world with no sufficient checks to assess whether materials can be recycled or not. (Office, 2018) The problem cannot be solved if those from the top do not follow through with and monitor their initiatives.