The Future Really Is In Plastics, and There’s Nothing Fishy About It
When young Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate is informed that the future is in plastics, you’re meant to laugh. Well, that was almost 50 years ago, and if you still find it funny, then you’re just going to love this: by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans. The World Economic Forum has released its report on the New Plastics Economy, and it makes for a sobering read.
If you’re reading this while nibbling on a tuna sandwich, well, enjoy it while you still can. We use twenty times more plastic than we did around the time that Mrs. Robinson was seducing Benjamin, and its use “is expected to double again in the next twenty years.” There are currently 150 million tons of plastic waste in the oceans, and within ten years it is expected that the weight ratio of plastic to fish will be three to one.
