“Plastic production accounts for much larger carbon footprint than previously thought”

What is the news? 

A study conducted by ETH Zurich (a public research university) has shown that the impact of plastic on climate and health is greater than previously thought due to the increased use of coal.  

Some findings of report are:  

1) Plastic production accounted for the 96 percent of the Particulate matter health footprint.  

Health Footprint is the amount of health resources that are consumed due to a particular reason/substance. 

2) Global carbon footprint of plastic doubled since 1995, accounting for 4.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

3) Developing countries like China, Indonesia and South Africa, were among the major producers of plastic and thus suffered from 75 percent of particulate matter-related health impacts. 

4) Study also showed that about half of this emission comes from coal used during the production of plastic. 

5) Fine particulate air pollution from plastic production caused approximately 2.2 million disability-adjusted life years (DALY). 

DALY is a measure of overall disease burden, expressed as the number of years lost due to ill-health, disability or early death. 

What is the impact of plastic production on health? 

When coal is burned during plastic production, it produces particulate matter that accumulate in the air. Particulate pollution is a mixture of soot, smoke, and tiny particles formed in the atmosphere from sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ammonia (NH3). 

It is highly harmful and can cause asthma, bronchitis and cardiovascular disease. 

Source-– This post is based on the article “Plastic production accounts for much larger carbon footprint than previously thought” published in live mint on 14th Dec 2021.