Trapped in a Plastic Tide: The Devastating Impact of Food Packaging and the Fight for Change

When Did The Plastic Problem Begin?

Plastics are light, strong, and shapeable synthetic materials that use polymers as their primary building blocks. They are a relatively recent invention, but they have become some of the most widely used materials on the planet. Plastics are extremely versatile and have helped to revolutionize sectors as diverse as healthcare, aerospace, and food preservation.

Modern mass production, use, and disposal of plastics are linked to extensive pollution, chemical contamination, rising greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), and various negative health outcomes. Despite these risks, the extensive use of polymers in almost every industry makes a global shift away from plastics uniquely challenging.

Widespread plastic use has led to what Environmental Health Sciences founder and Chief Scientist Dr Pete Myers has called an “over-reliance” on the material, per Reuters. However, opportunities for future innovation and adaptation could help to mitigate the impact of plastic waste, and redirect humanity’s reliance on synthetic polymers to sustainable alternatives.

The Rise Of Plastic Food Packaging

Bakelite, the first modern synthetic plastic, was produced in 1907, but the plastic boom didn’t begin in earnest until the 1950s. Tupperware was first launched in 1949, and polyethylene bags, polystyrene foam cups, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) drink bottles followed shortly afterward. In 1976, plastic became the most-used material in the world.

Plastic-based packaging provides a hygienic barrier for physical damage, moisture, microbes, and UV light. This makes it ideal for food storage, and the expansion of plastic packaging into the food and beverage sector notably improved food safety.

Annual plastic production has since increased by nearly 230 percent, reaching 460 million tonnes in 2019. Just nine percent of this is recycled. Fifty percent of it ends up in landfills and up to two percent in the ocean. Food producers are notably the largest consumers of plastic packaging materials, dapproximately 36 percent of all produced plastics are used in packaging such as single-use food and beverage containers.

Plastic Waste Pollution And Microplastics

Plastics can take up to 500 years to “decompose,” but even then they do not disappear entirely. Instead, plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces, joining the other microplastics - fragments less than five milimeters long - that permeate the air, water, soil, plants, wildlife, and even humans. Microplastics clog waterways, interfere with plant growth, and circulate toxic chemicals.

As these tiny plastic particles infiltrate food chains, they spread to other ecosystems causing further disruption, injury, and death. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that around 100,000 marine mammals are killed by plastics per year. The number of deaths amongst fish and other aquatic animals remains unknown, but is most likely high.

A study from September 2024 found that even if all new plastic production ceased overnight, the degradation of existing waste would still double plastic pollution by 2040. A separate study published in November documents a “disproportionate” rise in small “legacy” fragments in the North Pacific Garbage Patch over the last seven years.

Globally, food and drink packaging makes up 88 percent of coastline litter, and just 10 different plastic products - including common single-use items like coffee cup lids - account for 75 percent of ocean rubbish, per Business Waste Management. 

However, even with an appropriate plan for end-of-life plastic waste, the entire life cycle of plastic products would remain high-impact. Over 99 percent of all plastics are made from fossil fuel-derived chemicals, and plastic production and disposal account for three percent of global emissions. That's approximately 1.8 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalents.

Health Concerns Linked To Plastic Use

While it is still unclear what ubiquitous exposure to plastics will do to humans, a growing body of evidence directly links plastic pollution to negative health outcomes. Even without other forms of direct exposure, the average person comes into contact with microplastics almost constantly through food, water, air, and rain.

A WWF study found that the average person ingests about 5 grams of plastic per week, the rough equivalent of a credit card. Microplastics have now been found in people’s brains, lung tissue, kidneys, blood, and according to this recent study, even in placenta.

Speaking to the Guardian, study lead Professor Matthew Campen of the University of New Mexico said “If we are seeing effects on placentas, then all mammalian life on this planet could be impacted. That’s not good.” He added that the growing presence of plastic particles in human tissue could also be behind the increasing number of people with inflammatory bowel disease, cases of colon cancer in people under 50, and declining sperm counts.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) confirms that several of the chemicals used in plastic production are carcinogenic, with the potential to cause developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune disorders. A new study published in October describes the “alarming” link between microplastics and cancer risk.

Innovation, Adaptation, And Solutions To The Plastic Problem

A variety of companies are working on or with alternatives to traditional plastic packaging, including for food and drink. Bioplastics, for example, are often biodegradable and produced without reliance on fossil fuels. A recent report by Appleyard Lees found that patent filings for bioplastics exceeded 600 for the first time in 2022, an increase of 10 percent from 2021.

Cornstarch-derived Polylactic Acid (PLA) is transparent and can be used for biodegradable straws and beverage containers, while starch-based plastics work well for trays, bags, and products with a short shelf life. Improving performance of existing materials and synthesizing new polymers are key ways in which the bioplastics sector is working to scale up.

London-based company Notpla uses compostable and plant-based ingredients like seaweed to replace synthetic plastic containers, cutlery, and dry food sachets. Notpla estimates that its products have eliminated around 16 million single-use plastics in the last decade.

Biotechnology also represents a possible partial solution to existing plastic waste. In August, a study reported that four strains of fungi can thrive off certain plastic polymers, degrading them safely in the environment. Similarly, plastic-eating bacteria can alsohelp free soil, water, and plants of contamination, prompting additional interest in “bioremediation” for plastic pollution.

“We should definitely try to release as little plastic as possible into the environment,” said Hans-Peter Grossart, a co-author of the study on plastic-eating fungi, per Reuters. “Plastic is made from fossil carbon and if the mushrooms break it down, it’s no different to us burning oil or gas and releasing CO2 into the atmosphere.”

Legislation And The Need For A Global Plastic Treaty

There is increasing global awareness of the need for a move away from single-use and towars a circular economy, with reduced production and consumption in favor of greater efficiency. This requires an updated approach to plastic recycling, which the industry considers “not technically or economically viable at scale." It also requires far more thoughtful production methods and quotas.

An analysis published the evening before this month’s UN plastic treaty talks began in Busan, South Korea, confirmed that global production must be cut to mitigate plastic pollution. It also laid out several possible avenues that a global plastic treaty could explore.

While technological innovation and bioremediation are promising avenues for reducing plastic waste, legislative intervention, ironclad corporate commitments, and increasing consumer awareness are also essential parts of the global fight against plastic waste.

“It is a very hard problem that will require a suite of very ambitious policies to solve. Without a production cap, the problem gets harder to solve and the ambition required for other policies goes up,” said lead author Samuel Pottinger of the University of California, Berkeley, per the Guardian. “This research truly laid bare to us the immensity of the global challenge of mismanaged plastic waste.”