Elimination of Single-Use Plastics in the Environment

Single-use plastics are any items made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals that are designed to be used once and then thrown in the trash. Some examples are bottles, Styrofoam containers, straws, cutlery, shopping bags, and plastic packaging. More than half of non-fiber plastic comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items. Three hundred million tons of plastic are produced each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items. Single-use plastics also constitute approximately half of global plastic waste generation. These plastic items don’t biodegrade. They don’t break down; they just break up. The result is microplastics, which are smaller plastic particles. When sampled, 100% of Pennsylvania waterways were found to contain microplastics.

For birds, microplastics can be particularly dangerous. When eaten, they can easily accumulate inside the body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages. Birds often mistake shredded plastic bags for food, filling their stomachs with toxic debris. Studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of tested seabirds. Terrestrial birds that live closely with humans are exposed to significant plastic waste. In urban areas, where nesting material is scarce, birds have been found to use plastic debris in building nests. Nestlings can eat this plastic waste that may be coated in toxic chemicals, or become entangled in it.

Plastic production contributes to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The process of drilling for plastic’s source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring. This is compounded by the clearing of forests and wetlands for drilling, landscapes that would have typically stored excess carbon. Polluting “cracker plants”, where components of natural gas are broken down to produce plastic pellets, use large amounts of energy generated by burning fossil fuels. The manufacture of single-use plastics is also an equity issue. Plastic resin, the feedstock for single-use and other plastics, is produced in petrochemical factories. In the United States, the majority of these factories are built in low-income communities and communities of color.

The key to reducing plastic pollution is curbing consumption. Banning single-use plastic products is a more useful strategy for reducing plastic use and pollution than recycling, which is ineffective. Only 5–6% of plastic waste was recycled in the U.S. in 2021. Most types of plastic packaging are economically impossible to recycle now and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Companies in the U.S. and around the world must urgently phase out single-use plastics by replacing their packaging with reuse and refill systems, and offering packaging-free products.

Programs, policies and legislation are all needed to address bird illnesses and deaths caused by single-use plastic. The personal actions of consumers, and collective community actions, can lead to this problem being addressed at the local, state and federal level.