'In our food, our water, even our blood' — and the world still can't quit plastic

Choices for a better future — Earth, What Are You Saying? (Pick)

With daily life already demanding so much, the fight against climate change can feel distant and abstract. A relentless stream of grim headlines and a reality that refuses to budge can easily prompt the thought: "What difference does anything I do make?"

Yet small, environment-conscious acts — however modest they may seem — can accumulate into meaningful change. No grand gestures are required. What matters is understanding the situation clearly and finding what each of us can do.

Where does the planet stand today? And what better choices are available to us? Here is the grounded, real-world story of Earth that you need to know.

Marine plastic debris washed ashore at Kamilo Beach, Hawaii. [Provided by Gyres Institute]

"It's harder to find a place where it isn't used."

There is one material that pervades modern life more widely and in more forms than any other — and is simultaneously regarded as one of the most harmful substances humanity has ever invented.

That material is plastic. Invented roughly 200 years ago, plastic is now used so broadly that listing every application has become nearly impossible.

Its greatest advantage is cost: it is cheap. It can be molded into any shape or color, and it is light and resistant to breaking.

Because it is derived from fossil fuels such as petroleum and natural gas, mass production has never posed a problem.

Steam billows from the smokestacks of the Seo-Incheon Combined Cycle Power Plant in Seo-gu, Incheon. [Lim Se-jun]

Plastic was, in every sense, a gift to humanity. But it did not take long for that gift to become a curse.

Humanity soon recognized the enormous carbon emissions and environmental damage that plastic causes.

Microplastics — particles produced as plastic breaks down — have now been detected not only throughout the natural world but inside the human body itself, and the health consequences are steadily coming to light.

PET bottles pile up at a plastic waste collection point in an apartment complex. [Joo So-hyun]

From humanity's 'blessing' to its curse — how plastic conquered the world

True to its etymology, plastic is a polymer material that can be shaped into any form under heat and pressure. It is cheap, light, shatter-resistant and non-conductive, and it can be produced in any color. Every industry that makes physical goods has been virtually destined to rely on it.

Plastic first appeared in the 19th century. An American company offered a $10,000 prize to anyone who could develop a substitute for expensive elephant ivory, and the challenge led to the discovery of a plastic derived from cotton fiber that could mimic natural materials.

It was nothing short of a revolution in manufacturing history. For the first time, industries that had depended entirely on natural materials — wood, metal, stone, ivory — had access to a human-made alternative. In simple terms, producers could now make goods without being constrained by the limits of finite natural resources.

A coastline blanketed in plastic waste. [Provided by Greenpeace]

Plastic was even celebrated as a potential savior of the natural world, on the theory that it would reduce the need to harvest natural materials for manufactured goods. Against that backdrop, the plastic industry expanded explosively through World War II, driven by its widespread use in military equipment.

Most plastics are derived from fossil fuels — natural gas and petroleum — giving the fossil fuel industry yet another outlet for its endless output. It is little wonder that plastic blanketed the world within mere decades of its invention.

Plastic's fall from grace — from humanity's blessing to a recognized problem — is itself not a recent development. After Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" reshaped public thinking about environmental pollution in the 1960s, plastic waste emerged as a new flashpoint. Images of plastic-strewn coastlines shifted public consciousness.

A model of a suffocating whale installed in Manila, the Philippines. [Provided by Greenpeace]

The central problem is that plastic is produced without pause yet never fully decomposes. Humanity has long imagined a future Earth buried under mountains of plastic waste — and while negative perceptions of plastic have grown, they have not been enough to stop its use.

As has been true for most of human history, movements that ask people to sacrifice present convenience to protect future generations have struggled to gain traction.

According to an OECD report on plastics published in 2022, global plastic production stood at roughly 2 million metric tons in 1950, rising to 234 million metric tons by 2000. By 2019, output had reached 460 million metric tons — doubling in just 20 years. Over the same period, plastic waste grew from 156 million to 353 million metric tons.

Microplastic fragments found on a beach. [Getty Images Bank]

Recycling alone cannot stop the contamination

Some point to recycling as the answer. But recycling addresses pollution that has already occurred — it does not solve the underlying problem. Plastic is far more complex to recycle than paper, metal or glass. Recycling systems differ by material composition, and the presence of various composite materials makes clean recycling difficult.

Once recycled, plastic typically loses strength, clarity and hygiene standards, making it unsuitable for its original use and relegating it to lower-grade products. Ultimately, it still ends up discarded and polluting the planet. In practice, the share of plastic that is genuinely recycled remains vanishingly small.

According to the OECD report, only 9 percent of global plastic waste was ultimately recycled in 2019. Another 19 percent was incinerated and 50 percent went to landfill. The remaining 22 percent was estimated to have ended up in unmanaged dump sites or discarded directly into the ocean or on land.

The plastic waste problem extends well beyond the unsightly accumulation of rubbish. Discarded plastic breaks down slowly over hundreds of years, fragmenting into ever-smaller, harder-to-detect particles that spread to every corner of the globe. Plastic has now been found in virtually every ecosystem on Earth, from Antarctic tundra to tropical coral reefs.

Plastic waste discarded on a coastline. [Getty Images Bank]

Plastic that flows into the ocean is a primary driver of global plastic contamination. Estimates suggest that roughly 0.5 percent of all plastic produced ends up as marine debris, yet the problem draws relentless attention — and for many people, "the plastic problem" conjures images of sea turtles with straws lodged in their nostrils.

But plastic is not simply an animal welfare issue. As plastic fragments spread from marine ecosystems throughout the natural world, they inevitably work their way back to humans through the food chain and other pathways.

What remains unclear, however, is the precise harm that plastic can inflict on animals — including humans — and the full extent to which it disrupts ecosystem dynamics.

Plastic waste. [Provided by Green Korea United]

Microplastics found in fetal blood — yet production keeps climbing

The scale of the problem is becoming clearer through a growing body of microplastic research. Microplastics have been detected in soil, the ocean, the air and the bloodstream of healthy adults. Studies have even suggested that microplastics absorbed by a mother can be passed on to the fetus.

In a 2022 report, the World Health Organization said the data available to assess human exposure to microplastics through food, water and air — and the potential health effects — remain severely limited. Some have used this finding to argue that microplastics are not particularly harmful.

Plastic waste discarded at a makeshift dump site 3.5 kilometers from Everest Base Camp. [Getty Images]

Interpreting that finding as evidence of safety, however, is a stretch. More precisely, the data needed to establish definitive health harm have not yet accumulated. Recent studies indicate that microplastics can penetrate various human tissues and may contribute to cardiovascular disease, inflammation and reproductive health problems.

That covers only the physical dimension of plastic pollution. The other major axis of the plastic problem is climate change driven by carbon emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of plastic amount to roughly 1.8 billion metric tons per year — about 3.4 percent of global emissions. Some 90 percent of that total arises from converting fossil fuels into new plastic products.

The trajectory shows no sign of improving. The World Economic Forum has projected that, without intervention, the global plastics industry could account for 20 percent of total oil consumption and up to 15 percent of global carbon emissions by 2050. The OECD has similarly forecast that related greenhouse gas emissions will roughly double by 2060.

Black plastic containers. [WRAP website]

A lukewarm global consensus — and South Korea is no exception

That is not to say there is no solution. In fact, the answer is straightforward: stop producing plastic. If plastic products never enter the world in the first place, there is no need to grapple with microplastic contamination from decomposition or to chase higher recycling rates.

Efforts to end plastic are underway. The problem is that global consensus has proved elusive.

Following a 2022 resolution by the UN Environment Assembly, more than 180 countries agreed to conclude a legally binding international plastics treaty by 2024. The Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) was established to that end, but meaningful agreement has remained out of reach years on.

Activists from the "Plastic Roots Solidarity" coalition stage a performance outside the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Jongno-gu, Seoul, calling on the government to join a strong plastics regulation treaty and push for a binding international agreement. [Provided by Plastic Roots Solidarity]

Hopes had run high when the fifth round of negotiations (INC-5) was held in Busan in 2024, but the talks ended without a treaty. A subsequent session — INC-5.2, held in Geneva, Switzerland in 2025 and widely seen as a last chance — also failed to produce a meaningful agreement.

The chief obstacle is resistance from oil-producing nations and countries heavily dependent on the petrochemical industry, which have rejected any cap on plastic production. These countries argue that limiting production would deal a severe blow to their economies and industries, and they have pushed instead for solutions centered on improved waste management and recycling technology.

The United States, the world's largest economy, has also explicitly opposed production limits since President Donald Trump returned to office. Ahead of INC-5.2 last year, the Trump administration sent a letter directly pressuring other countries to reject production caps. Other nations have had little choice but to fear that defying Washington's position could invite economic pressure, including tariff adjustments.

Disposable plastic waste discarded in an alley near Hongik University Station in Seoul. [Kim Gwang-woo]

The forces opposing an end to plastic are once again gaining strength — and South Korea is no exception. The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy unveiled a comprehensive plastic-free plan last December, pledging to finalize a strategy that includes a transition to a circular economy. More than six months later, the final plan has yet to be released.

Concerns are growing that the government's plastic-free agenda may be backsliding. In particular, critics point out that the government pledged to develop a plastic-free circular economy roadmap through a public deliberation process involving citizen participation — a commitment that has not been honored.

A coalition of seven environmental groups — including Greenpeace, Green Korea United, the Mapo Resource Circulation Network, the East Asian Seas Community OSEAN, the Seoul Environment Federation, the Korea Women's Environmental Network and the Korea Federation for Environmental Movement — issued a joint statement on Friday, World Environment Day, raising these concerns.

Plastic waste found on a beach. [Getty Images Bank]

"Going plastic-free is a social transformation that must change production and consumption, industry and citizens' lives together — yet the government is ignoring the most fundamental principle of policy design: citizen participation," the coalition said. "At this rate, an independent plastic-free policy is unlikely to be established and will almost certainly drift."

The groups also called for "an independent, comprehensive plan with an effective implementation roadmap and monitoring framework — centered on reducing the total volume of plastic entering the market, cutting plastic at the source, and expanding reuse — as absolutely essential for a transition to a plastic-free economy." They called on the government to disclose a timeline for releasing the final plastic-free comprehensive plan and to establish a governance structure that includes a public deliberation process for developing the plan.

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