To curb plastic pollution, we need to do these four things. Really!

The alarmism and hysteria about plastics is unbearable! It is being used/abused like the global warming hoax and climate change religion to impose big government!

And this ideology and indoctrination or pseudo science is spread by none other than the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Interesting also how these pseudo scientists try to link plastic pollution to climate change! Nice try!

Most of the authors of this study are affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley. Does this ring a bell?

Alert: Plastophobia is a serious disorder. Please seek immediate medical help!

Like the global warming hoax, this research also relies on what most likely are junk computer model simulations into the future.

Certainly more research is needed to find better ways to break down plastics and/or to convert them back into useful precursors. Maybe that could be e.g. incentivised as an opportunity for private businesses. I just blogged e.g. here about the catalysis of so called forever plastics (PFAS).

"Ever since the invention of plastics, humanity has been littering the planet with them. Plastic pollution has become such a huge, global issue that governments large and small have sought solutions. Now, a sophisticated model has weighed the effects of the most common proposals, finding that a combination of four strategies could reduce plastic pollution by 91% by 2050.

First, the team built a comprehensive database of the plastic lifecycle, including production, consumption, and end-of-life management, from already-available sources around the world. Then, using machine learning, they looked at how eight policy options being discussed currently might impact plastic pollution.

The single most effective option was to mandate a 40% minimum recycled content for any newly manufactured plastics,
followed by enforcing limits on new plastic production. Those two strategies plus a packaging tax and investment in waste management were the most effective combination, the team found. ...

The study arrives just as final negotiations on a global plastics treaty are about to be held in South Korea. ..."

From the abstract:

"Plastic production and plastic pollution negatively affect our environment, environmental justice, and climate change. Using detailed global and regional plastics datasets coupled with socio-economic data, we employ machine learning to predict that, without intervention, annual mismanaged plastic waste will nearly double to 121 Mt (100 - 139 Mt 95% CI) by 2050. Annual greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic system are projected to grow by 37% to 3.35 Gt CO2 equivalent (3.09 - 3.54 CO2e) over the same period. The United Nations plastic pollution treaty presents a unique opportunity to reshape these outcomes. We simulate eight candidate treaty policies and find that just four could together reduce mismanaged plastic waste by 91% (86% - 98%) and gross plastic-related greenhouse gas emissions by one third."

ScienceAdvisor

Pathways to reduce global plastic waste mismanagement and greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (open access)

Fig. 4. Projected Impacts of Potential Policies.