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Plastic use in consumer goods causes US$75 billion in damages a year
May 12, 2016
Plastic use in consumer goods causes US$75 billion in damages a year
By Lynda Hong
Thursday 12 May 2016
Plastic is widely used to wrap and protect consumer goods, but the use of petrochemical-based plastic is costing society an estimated US$75 billion of environmental damages every year.
By switching to just two readily-available sustainable plastics, environmental costs can be reduced by about US$3.5 billion, with the potential for more savings if the private sector and business work together to seek sustainable plastic alternatives.
According to a discussion paper published last week by the London-headquartered environmental data consultancy Trucost, this cost is largely derived from petrochemical-based plastic causing climate change and pollution, in particular, marine pollution.
The paper titled ‘Scaling “Sustainable Plastics: Solutions to Drive Plastics towards a Circular Economy’ said waste plastic has been undervalued in the economy because the environmental cost has not been properly valuated.
Read more at Eco-Business.
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