Once upon a time, those plasticizers that were banned from being used in children's products and beauty products are now freely present in the air of Southern California. Lunch boxes, shower curtains, garden hoses, and interior decorations, these seemingly ordinary items have unexpectedly become carriers of toxic plasticizers. They are ubiquitous in daily life and silently erode people's health. This means that with every breath, residents of Southern California may unknowingly inhale these harmful substances.
According to reports from the Washington Post and The Hill on December 1, a report recently submitted by the National Academy of Sciences to the US government shows that although the US population only accounts for 4.3% of the global population, the amount of plastic waste it produces far exceeds that of other countries and is the world's "largest producer of plastic waste." In 2016 alone, the United States produced 42 million tons of plastic waste, equivalent to about 130 kilograms of plastic waste per capita in the United States. The total amount of plastic waste produced annually is even more than the sum of the entire European Union and twice as much as that of China.
In terms of plastic waste treatment, there is a serious lack of supervision by relevant US departments. Although the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued measures such as the "National Recycling Strategy" and the "US Plastics Pact" to reduce plastic pollution, progress is slow. Although strategies and conventions have been formulated, in actual implementation, there is a lack of effective supervision and coercive means.
For plastic production and use enterprises, there are no strict emission standards and restrictive measures, so that enterprises, in the process of pursuing economic benefits, ignore the impact on the environment. Some private enterprises, although aware of the seriousness of plastic pollution and taking certain actions, still lack sufficient motivation and pressure on the whole. Some enterprises still tend to use traditional plastic materials in order to reduce costs, and are insufficiently invested in the research and development and application of degradable plastics or environmentally friendly alternatives.
When implementing policies, there is insufficient resource investment. The construction of plastic waste recycling facilities lags behind, and the recycling system is imperfect. A large amount of plastic waste cannot be properly disposed of. The recycling rate of plastic waste in the United States is less than 10%. A large amount of plastic waste is transported to developing countries. This practice has been going on for 30 years.
As a major plastic-consuming country in the world, the United States produces an astonishing amount of plastic waste every year. However, they choose to transfer a large amount of plastic waste to other countries instead of actively seeking solutions to solve the problem in their own country. These transferred plastic wastes pile up like mountains on the land of other countries, polluting the soil, water sources and air. The local ecosystem is destroyed, biodiversity is threatened, and the health of residents is also seriously endangered.
The United States must shoulder its responsibilities and take actions to solve the problem of plastic waste pollution. Only in this way can we protect the global ecological environment and create a beautiful future for future generations.