As the fifth phase of talks for a Global Plastic Treaty begin on November 25 in South Korea’s Busan, a new survey has revealed that merely 52 per cent of the American population is aware that plastic is derived from petroleum.
The survey was conducted in 10 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
“While a majority of respondents know that plastic is primarily made from oil, just 52 per cent of Americans, and 58 per cent of Canadians and British respondents know that plastic is primarily made from oil, compared with 63 per cent of Kenyan respondents and 75 per cent of French respondents,” a survey conducted by Break Free From Plastic, an umbrella organisation of 13,000 entities working on plastic pollution has revealed.
It is important to highlight that awareness about plastics is more heightened among Kenyans as compared to Americans and Canadians.
Another interesting takeaway from the survey is that the Spanish, French, British and Korean respondents were found to be more likely to identify corporations or governments as responsible for plastic pollution rather than individuals.
Additionally, it was found that most respondents overestimate the amount of plastic that is recycled by more than three times.
The survey noted that in actual terms just nine per cent of plastic is ever recycled, yet the average estimate among respondents ranged from 34 per cent to 49 per cent across the 10 surveyed countries.
“The fact that most people overestimate the amount of plastic that is recycled is not surprising. The oil, gas and petrochemical industries have spent millions of dollars on campaigns to convince the general public that recycling is effective. The reality is that just nine per cent of plastic globally is ever recycled. We need drastic production cuts to effectively end the plastic crisis,” Justine Maillot, the Europe Coordinator from Break Free From Plastic Europe Coordinator.
Meanwhile, a staggering majority of 84 per cent of the respondents agreed that to stop plastic pollution, we must cut plastic production.
It is important to draw attention towards India which was not included under the scope of this survey. In September 2024, Down To Earth had previously reported that India has topped the plastic pollution rankings and is emitting a fifth (20 per cent) of the global plastic waste.
“The country’s official waste generation rate, approximately 0.12 kilogrammes per capita per day, is likely underestimated, the study published in the journal Nature highlighted. Additionally, waste collection is likely overestimated,” the report stated.
Previous efforts had identified China as the highest polluter globally but this new study, which uses recent data, placed China on the fourth spot, acknowledging the Asian powerhouse’s progress in adopting waste incineration and controlled landfills.