Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasingproduction of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plasticpollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems areoften inefficient or nonexistent. But the developed world, especially in countries with low recyclingrates, also has trouble properly collecting discarded plastics.Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old. Production and development ofthousands of new plastic products accelerated after World War II, so transforming the modern age thatlife without plastics would be unrecognizable today. Plastics revolutionized medicine with life-savingdevices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved liveswith helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water. The conveniences plastics offer,however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today, single-use plasticsaccount for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bagsand food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment forhundreds of years.Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations.That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around theworld. Once at sea, sunlight, wind, and wave action break down plastic waste into small particles, oftenless than one-fifth of an inch across. These so-called microplastics are spread throughout the watercolumn and have been found in every corner of the globe, from Mount Everest, the highest peak, to theMariana Trench, the deepest trough. Microplastics are breaking down further into smaller and smallerpieces. Plastic microfibers, meanwhile, have been found in municipal drinking water systems anddrifting through the air. Millions of animals are killed by plastics every year, from birds to fish to othermarine organisms. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected byplastics. Microplastics have been found in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, andmussels destined for our dinner plates.Once in the ocean, it is difficult to retrieve plastic waste. Mechanical systems, such as Mr. TrashWheel, a litter interceptor in Maryland’s Baltimore Harbor, can be effective at picking up large pieces ofplastic, such as foam cups and food containers, from inland waters. But once plastics break down intomicroplastics and drift throughout the water column in the open ocean, they are virtually impossible torecover. The solution is to prevent plastic waste from entering rivers and seas in the first place. Thiscould be accomplished with improved waste management systems and recycling, better product designthat takes into account the short life of disposable packaging, and reduction in manufacturing ofunnecessary single-use plastics.
78 Which of the following statements is NOT true?
(A) Developed countries with low recycling rates have problem collecting throwaway plastics.
(B) Production of many different new plastic products sped up very fast after World War II.
(C) The largest quantity of plastic goods that are produced every year is for single-use.
(D) Microplastics can be found everywhere, from the highest mountain to the deepest trench.