Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Recently, awareness has been placed on research and hazards of production, use and discarding procedures of plastics. The United States produces approximately 136 billion kilograms (300 billion pounds) of plastic each year. Each American discards an average of 680 kilograms (three quarters of a ton) of garbage a year.27 In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that Americans created almost 14 billion kilograms (14 million tons) of plastics in the municipal solid waste stream.28 Within that amount, plastics constitute almost 11.7% of our waste. Realistically, we don't think about how much plastic we use because we are more concerned about the convenience.
The disposal of many plastics has caused much controversy. PVC is one of the most troubling because of the proliferation and disposal. The United States produces approximately 4.5 billion kilograms (10 billion pounds) of PVC resin annually. Sixty percent of that that amount is used in construction. Because of the difficulty to recycle PVC, it is often incinerated and dioxins are released in the air. Dioxins are well known carcinogens and have shown to be dangerous at very low amounts.29 They also affect the immune system, reproduction, and child development much more significantly than previously thought.30 Another concern is DEHP, which is added to PVC to increase its durability and strength. It does not evaporate easily, binds strongly and remains in the area in which it rests. Landfills are filled with PVC and DEHP, being the loyal hazard, moves just far enough to slowly leach into our water.31 Okay, so there's a problem with PVC, but what about all those other plastics? And besides, we can always recycle the other plastics, RIGHT?!?
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