TheCarbon emissions assessment of Australian plastics consumption report found that,under current trends,emissions from Australia’s plastics to more than double by 2050 to 42.5 million tonnes a year.
AMCS plastics campaign manager Shane Cucow said the findings revealed “runaway plastic use” was a significant contributor to climate change,as well as killing millions of animals that swallow or get tangled in plastic pollution.
“The findings are shockingly clear,” Cucow said. “Now we have clear evidence it is also fuelling global warming,which is endangering our entire marine ecosystem.”
Australia produces 13 per cent of the plastic it consumes and imports the remaining 87 per cent. The report calculated the emissions generated by production within Australia and overseas. Under the rules of the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change,Australia is responsible only for the emissions generated by local production.
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But Australians areheavy plastics users,generating more single-use plastic waste per person than any other country except Singapore and the report argues that “Australia has an obligation to consider the greenhouse impacts of all of the plastics we import,consume and dispose of”.
State and federal governments have agreed to reform packaging rules by 2025,to make companies that put plastic products on the market responsible for the waste generated.