Some Plastics Should be Classified as Hazardous, Scientists Say

One year ago, Westborough Middle School brought more than 70 students and parents to Pacifica and under the direction of the Pacifica Beach Coalition, they cleaned the entire Pacifica State Beach, collecting 200 pounds of trash, most of it plastic, such as light weight plastic wrappers, straws, and bottle tops.

Since then — and every year — Americans have spent $520 million to clean up plastic litter washing up on West Coast beaches and shorelines, according to a recent LA Times article that Pacifica Beach Coalition’s president Lynn Adams would like to share with Pacifica residents.

Why? Because the article points to a possible solution to the plastic problem on our local beaches. According to the LA Times article, less than half of the 280 million metric tons of plastic produced each year ends up in the landfill. The rest of it ends up littering the landscape and slipping into our rivers and oceans. So since much of the focus has been on how to stop the river of trash from entering the ocean, a team of 10 scientists has come up with an idea of how to make that happen: reclassify the most harmful plastic waste as hazardous material.

That simple adjustment, the article explains, could trigger sweeping changes in how environmental agencies clean up plastic waste, spur innovation in polymer research and replace problematic plastics with safer ones.

The article explains that the way the United States, Europe, Japan and other nations view plastic is outdated, ignoring scientific evidence in recent years that plastic debris is laden with highly toxic pollutants.

"We feel," the scientists write in the article, "that the physical dangers of plastic debris are well enough established, and the suggestions of chemical dangers sufficiently worrying, that the biggest producers of plastic waste — the United States, Europe and China — must act now."

Read the full report in the LA Times here.

What do you think? Should some plastics be classified as hazardous? Tell us in the comments.

Keep up with local news — follow Patch!

Sign up for Pacifica Patch’s daily newsletter
"Like” us on Facebook
"Follow” us on Twitter

 
Want to share your opinions with the Pacifica community? Start your own blog here.