Opinion: We need better data about the environmental persistence of plastic goods
PNAS June 30, 2020 117 (26) 14618-14621; first published June 10, 2020; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2008009117
Collin P. Ward and Christopher M. Reddy
Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Table of Contents
Fig. 1. Review of 57 information graphics and documents that report environmental lifetimes of common plastic consumer goods.
The bars represent the range of estimates, the red circles represent the mean of estimates, and the number of estimates for each plastic good (N) is provided on the right (N = 255 in total). The recycling number corresponds to the base polymer of each good. PET = polyethylene terephthalate, PS = polystyrene, LDPE = low-density polyethylene, PA = polyamide, and PP = polypropylene. Individual lifetime estimates and additional details about the analysis are provided in Table S1 of the Supporting Information. Image credit: Natalie Reiner.
