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Public concern about plastic pollution has been rising. More and more of us are choosing reusable grocery bags, metal straws, and reusable water bottles. We shake our heads at images of immense plastic garbage patches in the ocean. We see reports of birds with 15% of their body weight in plastic.

While all of this is going on, companies like ExxonMobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco are ramping up production of plastic – which is mostly made from oil, gas, and their byproducts. They are doing this as a hedge against the growing possibility that the global response to climate change will reduce demand for their fuels. Plastics are part of the category called petrochemicals, which currently account for 14% of oil use. Petrochemicals are expected to drive half of oil demand growth over the next 30 years.

The World Economic Forum predicts plastic production will double in the next 20 years. The fracking boom in the United States has turned this country into a big growth area for plastic production. Natural gas prices are low which is hurting profits at fracking operations. But fracking also unearths ethane, which is a feedstock for plastic production. So plastic is becoming a kind of subsidy for fracking.

The American petroleum industry’s hub has historically been the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana as well as a stretch along the lower Mississippi River. There is a slew of new projects there. The industry is also seeking to create a new plastics corridor in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, where fracking wells are rich in ethane.

Society in general may be increasingly concerned about the impact of things like carbon emissions and plastic pollution, but the fossil fuel industry continues to focus entirely on growth and profits.

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The Plastics Pipeline: A Surge of New Production Is on the Way

Photo, posted January 10, 2015 , courtesy of Daniel Orth via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Just when we thought we knew all about the environmental threats caused by plastics, environmentalists have identified yet another problem. It is called a nurdle.

Nurdles are tiny pellets of plastic resin no bigger than a pencil eraser that manufacturers transform into packaging, plastic straws, water bottles and all the other things that are wreaking havoc on the environment.

It turns out that nurdles themselves are a problem because billions of them are lost from production and supply chains during handling, shipping and production every year, spilling or washing into waterways. There is limited information on the extent of this kind of plastic pollution and global researchers are still struggling to make an accurate assessment. A study last year estimated that 3 million to 36 million pellets escape every year from just one small industrial area in Sweden.

Eunomia, a British environmental consultancy, contends that nurdles are the second-largest source of microplastic pollution and estimated that the U.K. could be unwittingly losing billions of pellets into the environment every year.

New research is revealing the ubiquity of plastic pellets, from the bellies of fish caught in the South Pacific, to the digestive tracks of short-tailed albatross in the north and on the beaches of the Mediterranean.

A shareholder advocacy group called As You Sow has filed resolutions with Chevron, DowDupont, Exxon Mobil, and Phillips 66 asking them to disclose how many nurdles escape their production process each year and how they plan to address the issue. Several of the companies have responded with statements saying they are working to develop solutions that keep plastic out of our environment.

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There’s a Tiny Plastic Enemy Threatening the Planet’s Oceans

Photo, posted January 15, 2014, courtesy of Hillary Daniels via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

More Plastic Pollution On The Way | Earth Wise

Public concern about plastic pollution has been rising. More and more of us are choosing reusable grocery bags, metal straws, and reusable water bottles. We shake our heads at images of immense plastic garbage patches in the ocean. We see reports of birds with 15% of their body weight in plastic.

Web Links

The Threat From Nurdles

Just when we thought we knew all about the environmental threats caused by plastics, environmentalists have identified yet another problem. It is called a nurdle.

Web Links