In today's era, plastic occupies an important position due to its unique characteristics. The urban solid plastic waste produced by human beings every year is equivalent to the weight of 523 trillion plastic straws. Connecting these straws first, the length can circle the earth 2.8 million times.

The life cycle of plastic doesn't end when it's thrown away, it can last for thousands of years. World plastic production has nearly doubled over the past 20 years and is estimated to more than triple by 2050. The ensuing plastic pollution has also brought countless harmful effects to human beings and become a major global problem.

The negative impact of plastic during its life cycle has brought huge costs to governments and society, which is far greater than the market price of plastic. Some negative impacts, such as the management of plastic waste, have direct economic costs; others translate into indirect costs by harming the environment and human health, increasing social and government expenditures.

In general, the costs of plastics not yet reflected in market prices include: costs from greenhouse gas emissions; health costs; waste management costs; and costs from improper disposal.

Problems with plastics throughout their life cycle include:

1. Every stage of the plastic life cycle releases a lot of greenhouse gases

Studies have shown that 91% of the greenhouse gases emitted in the life cycle of plastics come from the production process, which means that plastics have already brought huge costs to society before they become waste. Most of the greenhouse gas emissions occur before the plastic is used and during the extraction and production of raw materials.

Waste management also brings greenhouse gas emissions, whether incineration or landfill, will directly or indirectly lead to the generation of greenhouse gases. According to previous studies to estimate cycle emissions, the amount of greenhouse gas emitted by plastics at the end of its life cycle is lower than that of other stages, mainly from incineration. However, whether it is landfilled or incinerated, it will lead to an increase in the demand for virgin plastic, which will lead to further greenhouse gas emissions.

Improper disposal of plastic waste can lead to a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and the illegal disposal of plastics in the environment will also cause greenhouse gas emissions, because plastics will continue to release greenhouse gases during the degradation process.

2. Some developing countries are bearing disproportionately the cost of waste management.

Although the international community has taken action to limit the export of plastic waste, some high-income countries are still exporting their plastic waste to low-income countries.

On the other hand, insufficient processing capacity of the formal recycling system provides opportunities for illegal waste disposal. In emerging Asian importing countries, illegal recyclers have profited by avoiding the cost of waste disposal permits and reducing costs by not using environmentally friendly disposal methods.

3. Marine plastic pollution will reduce the ocean's carbon sequestration capacity and exacerbate the climate crisis.

The ocean is a powerful carbon sink and plays an important role in removing carbon dioxide from the air. According to statistics, the ocean can absorb 25% of carbon dioxide emissions. A series of biological processes take place in the ocean that captures carbon on the surface and sends it to the seafloor, where it is removed from the air.

However, plastics can limit the ocean's carbon sink function. Both laboratory and field experiments have shown that zooplankton are ingesting large amounts of microplastics. Laboratory tests have also shown that ingesting microplastics can have an effect on the feeding speed of zooplankton. Experiments with exposure to microplastics have also shown that this can have adverse effects on zooplankton growth and reproduction, and these effects can greatly reduce the ocean's ability to sequester carbon.

4. There are other negative impacts of plastics during their production, consumption and disposal that are not yet fully understood.

The currently quantifiable costs of plastic over its life cycle are enormous, but even more shocking is the tip of the iceberg. Lack of data, insufficient research, and flawed assessment methods mean that the negative impacts of plastics have not yet been fully quantified. It can be said that there are still many known unknowns when it comes to the life cycle cost of plastics. The production, incineration and open burning of plastics pose a huge threat to human health. There is growing evidence that humans are being exposed to microplastics, but whether ingesting microplastics can negatively impact human health remains unknown.

Countries around the world have also taken necessary actions to address the plastic crisis, but current measures have not yet reached the scale that can bring about systemic change, and related regulatory measures are inconsistent and scattered, failing to touch the root causes of plastic pollution problems .

Some important organizations have proposed ways to develop a circular economy of plastics to deal with the crisis, trying to control plastics in a closed economic loop and prevent them from leaking into the environment. This approach can effectively reduce the negative impact of plastic, including reducing the amount of plastic entering the ocean every year by 80% and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25%. However, such a system-wide overhaul requires strong financial and technical support, which hinders the government from taking further action.

At the same time, because the market price of plastics does not fully reflect the life-cycle costs of plastics, there is no feedback loop on the adverse impacts of plastics. The result is that society as a whole lacks sufficient momentum to drive the systemic changes needed to tackle the reality of plastic pollution. In addition, the lack of data also limits the government's awareness and decision-making ability on the plastic crisis. When tackling plastic pollution, government responses do not cover the entire life cycle of plastics, but only a certain stage of the life cycle, or a narrow range of problems, such as restricting the use of single-use plastic bags.

The plastic problem is trans-sectoral, and truly global action is required to effectively address the plastic crisis. Now is a critical time for governments to act to ensure that all actors in the plastic system are accountable for the costs of plastic.