Ever since the plastics boom in the 1960s, plastic has replaced glass in packaging, the metal in cars, and the cotton in our clothes. [...] From the extraction of fossil resources such as coal, oil and gas and the refinement and conversion of these resources into petrochemicals, through to the manufacturing of plastics and their use and disposal, plastics emit greenhouse gas emissions from cradle to grave. [...] European Elections / Plastics and EU 2 What does it mean for Europeans? Extreme weather events such as the regular droughts in Southern Europe and the resulting worsening of water stress in these regions are one of the symptoms of devastating effects of climate change Europeans are already experiencing today. [...] Further impacts related to climate change affecting future generations of Europeans include alterations to water and food systems, as well as changes in the environmental suitability for infectious diseases - the French panic during the summer around the presence of bedbugs in the Paris metro could become less than anecdotal in the coming years. [...] “To mitigate the climate, environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution, we must turn off the tap and eliminate plastic pollution at its source, not only cutting down its use at an individual level but cutting down its overall production.” (UNDP) Resources to go further Plastic and Climate: the hidden costs of a plastic planet - CIEL (2019) Plastics and the Environment - Geneva Environment.
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