It’s worth noting also that it’s not really the consumer plastic waste that’s the big problem. The Atlantic garbage barge in the 1970s made people panicked about a lack of landfill capacity, but the truth of the barge was more a political dispute more than anything else and we have the ability to keep handling solid waste for ages (composting is still important in that it will reduce methane emissions from landfills, but it’s not important in terms of reducing landfill use).
The bigger issue is that small pieces of plastic from the manufacturing process end up as environmental waste. I did some volunteer cleanup a dozen years ago near Ballona Creek and the amount of tiny pieces (bean-sized and smaller) of plastic and styrofoam along the creek was just mind-blowing. If you find yourself near any plastic manufacturing facility, you’ll see lots of tiny bits of plastic all over the place. Sawdust and metal shavings get dispersed similarly, but they tend to have less of an environmental impact.
The bigger issue is that small pieces of plastic from the manufacturing process end up as environmental waste. I did some volunteer cleanup a dozen years ago near Ballona Creek and the amount of tiny pieces (bean-sized and smaller) of plastic and styrofoam along the creek was just mind-blowing. If you find yourself near any plastic manufacturing facility, you’ll see lots of tiny bits of plastic all over the place. Sawdust and metal shavings get dispersed similarly, but they tend to have less of an environmental impact.