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Breaking our plastics habit is easier said than done
There are alternative sources of energy for coal, gas and oil, but there are few substitutes for polymers
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A mountain of waste polymers is likely to be one of the most lasting monuments of the 21st century, says the writer.
PHOTO: AFP
David Fickling
Could our unshakeable addiction to plastics be broken?
That’s certainly the hope of activists. The US – birthplace of the modern polymers industry, and the biggest producer of its key feedstocks, oil and gas – has joined a bloc supporting a worldwide treaty capping plastics production. That could make a UN meeting in South Korea in November a turning point in the material culture of humanity. The harder challenge will be ensuring that an agreement is workable.
