For a Sustainable
Jamaica Plain
About Plastic
Production and Consumption
- Global plastic production is over 500 million tons annually.
- Single-use, plastic packaging is 40% of all plastic production.
- 5 trillion plastic bags are used globally every year, approximately 2 million per minute.
- 50 billion plastic water bottles annually are purchased every year In the U.S.
Recycling and Disposal
- Only 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled.
- 79% of all plastic waste ends up in landfills or the open environment, while 12% is incinerated.
- Many single-use items, such as plastic bags, have an average active working life of just 15 minutes before being discarded.
Oceans
- 15 million ton of plastic enter the world’s oceans each year, 80% of all marine debris.
- 73% of all litter found on beaches worldwide is plastic.
- Over 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds die annually from plastic entanglement or ingestion.
Climate and Health
- Over 99% of global plastic resin comes from fossil fuels, consuming 8% of global oil and gas production.
- Global life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions total 2 billion tons annually.
- Microplastics break down and enter human blood, organs, and placentas, carrying toxic endocrine-disrupting chemicals.
- Our World in Data – Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Plastic
- United Nations Climate Change Portal – Plastics
- Center for Sustainable Systems Plastic Waste Factsheet
Did you know?
- Massachusetts is running out of landfill space, and we are paying to send plastic waste away.
- Plastic is made of fossil fuels and chemicals. The petrochemical industry has turned to plastic to make up for the earnings that they are losing as we switch to sustainable forms of energy. So they are increasing their plastic production as fast as they can. If you made a piece of cling wrap with all the plastic that has ever been made, it could wrap the entire earth and then some
- Plastic doesn’t break up, it just breaks down into micro and nanoplastics. These small pieces have gotten into every organ of our body. Scientists are just starting to discover that these pieces of plastic and the chemicals clinging to them are doing to our health. It is linked to increasing cancer, neurodevelopmental problems, metabolic disarray, decreased fertility, and much more.
- 40 % of plastic now made is single-use, with us using it for an average of just 15 minutes.
Above is all of the cups from our 24-hour downtown JP Waste Audit. With this snapshot, we estimate that JP is using about 500,000 disposable coffee cups a year.
Our Initiatives
- Reusable To-Go – We’re working with Recirclable, a reusable to-go company. Customers check out their to-go containers for free (as long as they return them) and can return them to any participating restaurant. The more restaurants that participate, the more successful the program will be. Download the Recirclable App to start ordering.
- BYO – Bring your own coffee mugs, doggy bags, shopping bags, and veggie bags, etc. Reduce waste for the earth and reduce costs for businesses, which helps control costs for customers.
- Beer Carrier Return: Most of the four top beer carriers do not get recycled if put in regular recycling. JP Zero Waste is working with Streetcar Wine and Beer and Blanchards to collect these and get them to Ecofriendlybeer.com to get these back to the brewers. And if they can’t be reused, they will be sent to a recycling facility that just deals with this type of plastic, ensuring it will get recycled.
