"Plastic will emit more greenhouse gases than coal within 10 years"

A bleak outlook suggests that the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by plastics could exceed that of coal-fired power generation within 10 years, pouring cold water into the climate change response.

In the report 'New Coal' published on the 21st (local time), the US environmental group Beyond Plastics made this analysis by examining the status of plastic manufacturing and greenhouse gas emissions in the US.

The report estimated that as of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry's greenhouse gas emissions were at least 232 million tonnes per year.

This is a figure calculated by considering the entire product life cycle, from drilling for oil or natural gas to supply to manufacturing facilities and incineration of waste.

The report pointed out that such emissions are equivalent to the average emissions of 116 coal-fired power plants with an average size of 500 megawatts (MW).

In the U.S., at least 42 plastics plants have started or are preparing to start operations since 2019.

The report estimates that when these facilities are fully operational, emissions will be 55 million tons, equivalent to adding 27 average coal-fired power plants.

He also diagnosed that the level at which the US plastics industry promotes climate change is on the way to surpass that of coal-fired power generation by 2030.

"The volume of emissions is shocking," said Judith Enk, president of Beyond Plastics, an organization that warns against the dangers of plastics and campaigns against the use of plastics. "He said.

He predicted that if the plastics industry's greenhouse gas emissions increase according to the trend, the benefits of phasing out coal power plants and switching to renewable energy will be fundamentally undermined.

The report defined plastic as a 'new coal', citing that it will become a major cause of global warming.

In particular, the report emphasized that the problem of greenhouse gas emissions is more serious when looking at the process of dealing with plastic waste.

The recyclability of plastics has long been recognized as an advantage, but it is pointed out that the actual recycling rate is only 9%.

In addition, it was diagnosed that the recycling method proposed so far is not much different from incineration, which emits greenhouse gases and harmful gases.