Commentary: We’re losing the race against plastic, but there’s a solution

Within 15 years, a garbage truck’s worth of plastic could be entering our environment every second. Not every minute. Every second.

Plastic is everywhere in modern life and has essential, lifesaving uses, but the proliferation of plastic has also made it one of the great environmental challenges of our time. Plastic pollutes our land, air and water; costs governments billions each year to manage; and is putting human health at increasing risk.

On the current trajectory, the consequences of plastic pollution are far worse than we understood even five years ago. The latest findings by the Pew Charitable Trusts are sobering, but they also chart a clear path forward using solutions that already exist.

The world already creates more plastic than can be effectively managed. And it is on pace