In recent years, plastic pollution has become a major global concern. A recent study has found that plastic not only exacerbates climate change, ocean acidification, and biodiversity loss, but also has a comprehensive impact on the overall environment of the Earth. This forces us to re-examine the threat of plastic to humans and nature.
On December 20, 2024, the journal One Earth published a study by a research team from Spain, Sweden, the United States, and Denmark, revealing the profound threat that plastic pollution poses to the Earth system. This paper, titled 'Plastic Pollution Exacerbates All Planetary Boundaries', comprehensively examines how plastic pollution, from resource extraction to production, to release and environmental deposition, has complex and widespread impacts on multiple Earth system processes.
The study points out that the harm of plastic pollution is not limited to the surface problems of environmental waste, but penetrates deeper into the core operating mechanisms of the Earth system. Scientists have discovered through the "Planetary Boundaries" framework that plastic pollution has crossed multiple safety boundaries of the Earth system, including climate change, biodiversity loss, and unsustainable use of freshwater and land resources. The planetary boundary theory emphasizes that when human activities exceed these boundaries, ecosystems may undergo irreversible catastrophic changes, and plastic pollution is becoming an important driving force behind these changes.
The lifecycle of plastics comes with environmental costs from the very beginning. Its raw material extraction and production process are highly dependent on fossil fuels, which not only exacerbates greenhouse gas emissions, but also locks in the world's long-term dependence on carbon resources. During the usage phase, chemical additives added to plastic products may pose potential threats to human health and living organisms. And ultimately, when these plastic products are discarded, especially with poor management, a large amount of waste enters the environment and gradually decomposes into microplastics (less than 5 millimeters) and nanoplastics (typically between 1 and 1000 nanometers). These tiny particles not only erode ecosystems, but also penetrate into the human body through the food chain, potentially affecting health.
In addition, plastic pollution has been pointed out to be closely related to issues of social equity and environmental justice. Some developed countries have been exporting plastic waste to developing countries for a long time, and this "waste colonialism" phenomenon has worsened the already fragile ecological environment and exacerbated global social inequality. This indicates that plastic pollution is not only an environmental crisis, but also a deep-seated social problem.
Although the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is actively promoting negotiations for a global plastic treaty, the research team points out that the current governance model still appears fragmented and inadequate. The lack of unified international regulations, lack of policy coordination, and excessive reliance on commercial solutions make it difficult to effectively curb plastic pollution. As mentioned in the paper, "Managing plastic pollution requires breaking through existing frameworks, viewing it as a cross disciplinary global issue, and adopting systematic solutions
Every year, over 500 million tons of plastic are produced globally, but only 9% is recycled. The production of plastic is large, but the recycling rate is extremely low, resulting in the presence of plastic waste from Mount Everest to the deepest part of the ocean - the Mariana Trench.
![Plastic Pollution Has Surpassed The 'Planetary Boundary' 1]()
According to the theory of 'planetary boundaries', each component of the Earth system has its own safe operating range, and once these limits are exceeded, irreversible changes in the ecosystem will occur. At present, six planetary boundaries, including climate change and biodiversity loss, have been breached globally, and plastic pollution, as a "new substance," has also been recognized by the scientific community as an important driving factor beyond safety limits.
The multiple hazards of plastic pollution to the environment
Research has shown that the problems caused by plastic pollution run through the entire process from production to disposal. The main author of the article, Dr. Patricia Gomez, mentioned that "plastic is often seen as something convenient and easy to handle, but in reality it is not. Plastic contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are harmful to the environment and human health, such as certain hormone affecting components and difficult to decompose 'permanent chemicals'." These hazards are comprehensive. Plastic pollution not only directly damages the environment, but also indirectly exacerbates climate change, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, and overuse of land and water resources through chain reactions. Unfortunately, both scientific research and policy-making currently only view the plastic issue as a matter of "waste management" and overlook its profound impact.
Why is the plastic problem so complicated?
The research team found through sorting through a large amount of data that the impact of plastic pollution is actually interrelated. For example, plastic production emits greenhouse gases, exacerbating climate change; Discarded plastics entering the ocean not only pose a threat to marine life, but may also release harmful chemicals that affect the entire ecosystem. Plastic is not just a convenient item in our daily lives, "said Dr. Sarah Cornell, another member of the research team." It is threatening the stability of the Earth's environment in a complex and covert way. "Although the harm of plastic pollution is already clear, the scientific community still faces many challenges in accurately assessing its impact due to inconsistent statistical data and research methods. However, even so, the existing evidence is sufficient to make us aware of the enormous threat that plastics pose to the global environment.
Controlling plastic pollution should start from the source
As the international plastic treaty negotiations come to a close, the research team calls on everyone to break out of the mindset of "waste management" and shift towards a governance model for the entire plastic chain. The meaning is not only to pay attention to the disposal of plastic waste, but also to start from the entire process of plastic production, use, and disposal. They believe that this approach can not only make plastic governance more comprehensive, but also integrate the solution to plastic pollution into the overall planning of climate protection, biodiversity conservation, and resource conservation.
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The systematic principle of controlling variables in the impact pathway of plastic pollution. This figure illustrates the three main stages in the impact pathway of plastic pollution: production and use, environmental release and fate, and Earth system effects (including cumulative or cascading biophysical impacts). The arrows indicate the interrelationships between the proposed control variables. This diagram aims to clarify from a systematic perspective which variables are key control points throughout the entire lifecycle of plastic pollution.
Another member of the research team, Dr. Almros, emphasized, "When solving the plastic problem, we must recognize its complexity and work simultaneously from multiple aspects to ensure both safety and sustainability, in order to truly protect the future of humanity and the planet
Plastic pollution, as a type of "Novel Entities", is a typical representative of industrial civilization products, and its impact has long exceeded the scope of human control. It can be said that plastic pollution is no longer just a problem of "garbage classification", it affects all aspects of the Earth's ecosystem. To solve this problem, we cannot treat the head and feet, but must start from the source and manage the entire chain, in order to leave a clean and sustainable earth for future generations.