Loading

It’s showing up nearly everywhere these days, from 36,000 feet below the ocean’s surface in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point on Earth, to 29,000 feet above sea level on Mt. Everest, the highest peak.

It litters our landscapes, contaminates our soil, overflows our landfills, and is accumulating at alarming rates in our rivers and oceans.

And it’s not just our environment and the animals that live there that are at risk.

Humans face growing risks, too.

Microplastics and nanoplastics—specks of plastic so small they can be invisible to the eye—are in our air, our drinking water, our food. With every breath we take or every bite we eat, we’re taking them into our bodies.

Recent research suggests the average person consumes up to a credit card’s worth of plastic this way each week. Over time, all this plastic can build up in our bodies and pose health threats we’re only beginning to understand, though there’s already a growing body of evidence linking this long-term exposure to neurodevelopmental and reproductive disorders, obesity, cancer and other ills.

Video: Plastic Pollution: A Global Issue

Earth’s climate is also feeling the heat.

That’s because up to 99% of all plastic is made using crude oil, natural gas, or other fossil fuel-derived products. When manufacturers burn these fossil fuels to make the plastic, they emit roughly 400 million tons of climate-warming greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere each year. That’s more than is emitted annually by all sources in the United Kingdom.

And yet, we keep producing and using more plastic every year while only recycling about 9% of it.

We’re on an unsustainable course. But it’s not too late to find a better way forward.

And that, said Zoie Diana, is where Duke University’s Plastic Pollution Working Group (PPWG) comes in.

Blazing a New Path

Diana, who recently earned her PhD in marine science and conservation from Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, co-founded the interdisciplinary working group in 2017 with faculty members Meagan Dunphy-Daly, John Virdin, Dan Rittschof, Michelle Nowlin and Jason Somarelli, who hold appointments at the Nicholas School, the Duke Law School, the Duke School of Medicine and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability.

“It struck us that the best way to tackle an issue as complex and multi-faceted as plastic pollution was to bring together interdisciplinary teams of scholars who could pool their expertise to shed new light on the problem, identify new avenues for exploration, and work toward new and more equitable solutions,” Diana said. “There was no existing group at Duke doing that, so we started our own.”

Today, the group has more than 50 members from 12 Duke schools and academic units, including doctoral, masters and undergraduate students who work side by side with faculty and postdocs on research, policy analysis and educational outreach projects.

Members come from a broad range of fields, including environmental toxicology, business, medicine, public policy, engineering, law, bioinformatics, marine conservation, environmental justice, history, chemistry, resource and environmental management, and the arts. In many cases, they’ve never worked together before.

Video: Plastic Solutions: A Global Response

Initial funding for the group came from a Pre-Catalyst Grant from the Nicholas Institute. Current funding comes from an Intellectual Community Planning Grant from Duke Interdisciplinary Studies.

In addition to creating a space where scholars from diverse disciplines can come together to brainstorm and collaborate, the PPWG team organizes seminars, panel discussions and other educational outreach events that are open to the broader campus community.

“There’s a high level of concern about finding a sustainable alternative to single-use plastics and about plastic pollution in general. So, it’s important that we get accurate and timely information out so people understand what’s being done about the problem, what still needs to be done, and how they can get involved,” said Dunphy-Daly, associate dean for experiential education and undergraduate research at the Nicholas School.

There’s sometimes a misperception on issues like plastic pollution that you need to be a scientist, an engineer, or a policy expert to help move the needle in the right direction, Dunphy-Daly said. But one current project by a PPWG member leverages the storytelling expertise of Master of Fine Arts student Laura Asherman to help engage the public in the effort to reduce plastic use—in this case by creating a film about microplastics. Called “The Dumpster Dive”, told from the viewpoint of cockroaches who are elated that microplastics may turn out to be the silver bullet that finally eradicates their species’ archnemesis—humans—from Earth. The film, which features PPWG members Anna Lewis and Imari Walker-Franklin, premiered April 7 at Duke’s Nasher Museum of Art.

“That’s the beauty of having an interdisciplinary focus,” Diana said. “You can tap into all kinds of expertise and achieve things you might not have been able to achieve otherwise.”

Video: The Future of Plastic Research

Moving the Needle

Although it’s still far too soon to assess PPWG’s long-term impacts, its members—faculty and students alike—have achieved some impressive accomplishments so far.

Over the last two years, working group sub-teams have published five peer-reviewed papers that are helping shed light on the causes and consequences of plastic pollution and on potential solutions for it. Individual members of the group have contributed to additional papers, as well.

Topics have included emerging technologies to prevent and collect marine plastic debris; the role bioengineering could play in forging a plastic-free future; the impact nanoplastics have on aquatic animals and ecosystems at nearly every level of biological function; and a new framework for estimating the costs of marine plastic pollution interventions.

Other topics covered are the impacts (or lack therein) of voluntary corporate pledges to reduce plastic use; the inequitable distribution of plastic benefits and burdens on global and local economies and public health; and the effectiveness (or lack therein) of different global policies aimed at curbing single-use plastics and pollution.

Ongoing research by PPWG members suggests the flow of innovative studies will not dry up anytime soon. Jason Somarelli, assistant professor of medicine, and his team are working to develop new enzymes and microbial systems to degrade plastic. Marc Deshusses, professor of civil and environmental engineering, is working to create sustainable processes to convert non-recyclable plastic waste into energy. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

“I like to think of the Plastic Pollution Working Group as an incubator for new ideas and new approaches,” said Diana, whose doctoral dissertation was on multisector mitigation of single-use plastic pollution. “It’s been extremely rewarding to bring these brilliant minds from different disciplinary backgrounds together around this issue.”

DID YOU KNOW?

About 8% of the world’s oil production is used to make plastic. That figure is projected to rise to 20% by 2050.

Source: World Economic Forum

DID YOU KNOW?

Plastics contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that have been linked to infertility, obesity, diabetes, and prostate or breast cancer, among other human health concerns.

Source: UN Environmental Programme/Geneva Environment Network

DID YOU KNOW?

At the current rate of pollution, plastic debris will outweigh all the fish in the oceans by 2050.

Source: Center for Biological Diversity

DID YOU KNOW?

Plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found worldwide, from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

Source: International Union of Concerned Scientists

DID YOU KNOW?

Plastic pollution is estimated to cost the tourism, fisheries and shipping sectors at least $8 billion in lost revenues each year.

Source: Ocean Conservancy

DID YOU KNOW?

Scientists estimate there are between 15 to 50 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans. That’s enough to circle the Earth more than 1000 times.

Source: Center for Biological Diversity

DID YOU KNOW?

U.S. shoppers use almost one plastic bag per resident every day. Shoppers in Denmark use an average of just four plastic bags a year.

Source: University of Southern Maine

DID YOU KNOW?

18 billion pounds of plastic waste flows into Earth’s oceans every year. That’s enough to bury every foot of coastline worldwide under five grocery bags of plastic trash.

Source: University of Georgia, Image: NOAA

DID YOU KNOW?

Being exposed to the chemicals in plastics has been shown to affect health at all levels of biological organization, from molecules and cells to entire ecosystems.

Source: Morrison et al, 2022

DID YOU KNOW?

20 companies are the source of more than half of the world’s single-use plastic waste.

Source: Charles & Killman, 2023

DID YOU KNOW?

More than 2,400 chemicals used to make plastic are toxic, persistent or bioaccumulate—meaning they build up in living bodies over time—according to European Union criteria.

Source: Wiesinger et al, 2021

DID YOU KNOW?

The production of single-use plastic increased by 6 million metric tons from 2019 to 2021.

Source: Charles & Killman, 2023

DID YOU KNOW?

Making plastic causes 400 million tons of climate-warming greenhouse gases to be emitted into Earth’s atmosphere each year. That’s more than the United Kingdom emits.

Source: Calil et al, 2021

DID YOU KNOW?

Humans could produce nearly 53 million metric tons of plastic pollution each year by 2030.

Source: Borrelle et al, 2020

how yOU CAN HELP REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastic pollution is a complex problem and much of what needs to be done to abate it requires action in corporate and policy spheres which is beyond the control of most individuals.
You can still make a difference! Be a good role model for those around you by following these 12 common-sense tips.
Chances are, you’re already doing more than a few.

12 WAYS YOU CAN HELP REDUCE PLASTIC POLLUTION

tip 1: Recycle the plastic you use at home and work. Be sure to check which plastics are accepted for recycling in your area.
tip 2: Do a recycling audit. Track all the plastics you toss in your bin for a week and find a sustainable alternative for as many of them as you can. For example, if there’s a lot of plastic coffee cups in there, buy a reusable one.
tip 3: Avoid single-use plastics. This can be more difficult than it sounds, but even a flawed attempt will make you more aware of how ubiquitous plastics have become in our everyday lives.
tip 4 (as part of tip #3): Stop using plastic straws. Carry and use your own washable metal straw instead. // Use reusable shopping bags. // When ordering takeout, tell them to hold the plastic utensils and to pack your food in paper or bio-based containers rather than plastic ones. // Stop buying drinks in single-use plastic bottles and start using a reusable bottle instead. // Use reusable snack bags and food storage bags. // Pick one day to track all the single-use plastic you used. Can you find ways to reduce it?
tip 5: Check labels and/or do some research to identify products made from materials like wood, glass or natural fibers versus non-sustainable plastic.
tip 6: Take part in a neighborhood or beach clean-up, or help organize one!
tip 7: Talk to friends and family about the importance of reducing their plastic use.
tip 8: Repurpose and reuse the plastic products you already own or look for secondhand selections if you have no option but to buy one that’s new to you.
tip 9: Say no to products that contain plastic microbeads. In countries where they aren’t already banned, microbeads are still commonly found in beauty, health and cleaning products.
tip 10: Look for products with minimal packaging. Farmers markets and low-waste shops can be good places to start.
tip 11: Let government know where you stand. Agencies and elected officials at the local, state and federal levels can play pivotal roles in passing—or derailing—laws and regulations aimed at reducing plastic pollution. Let them know that you’re watching to see what their stance on the issue is, too.
tip 12: Hold corporations accountable. More and more businesses are voluntarily pledging to reduce their plastic footprints. Double-checking these claims to gauge if they’re real or just for show is one way that concerned individuals and advocacy groups can help hold the companies’ feet to the fire.
Created By
Duke Environment
Appreciate