Our food system has a plastic problem. Macro- and micro-plastic pollution is contaminating aquatic and agricultural ecosystems—threatening food security. Plastics are entering food chains, threatening both animal and human health. Meanwhile, as diets increasingly include more packaged ultra-processed and fast foods, the food system itself is generating more and more plastic pollution. Takeout food and beverage containers have become a dominant source of aquatic global litter. Of the $75 billion in estimated annual environmental damage due to plastics, food and beverage companies are the largest culprit, responsible for 23% of the cost.

To curb these problems, policies that limit a particularly dangerous trend—the rise in single-use plastic production and distribution—and encourage more nutritious and ecological alternatives to throwaway items must be a central component of a healthy and resilient food system.

Plastics play an important role in many industries, from medicine to construction. But more than one third of annual plastic production is, by definition, expendable: Cheap, single-use plastics that are used once and then thrown away. 

The encouraging trend of decarbonizing electrical grids and transportation systems has fossil fuel companies in a scramble to find new market opportunities. They are counting on single-use plastics—fulfilling editor Lloyd Stouffer’s 1956 prediction that the “future of plastics is in the trash can.” Virgin fossil fuel based feedstocks, particularly fracked natural gas, are the source of 98% of single-use plastics. Seventy nine percent of disposable plastics end up in landfills or in our natural environments; 12% are burned. Only 9% of plastic waste ever produced has been recycled. At current growth rates, plastics will account for 20% of fossil fuel demand by 2050 (up from approximately 6% in 2016) and contribute 15% of the annual global GHG emissions budget (rising from 1.7 Gt of CO2 equivalent in 2015 to 6.5GtCO2e) by 2050.

Single-use plastic waste items—especially bags, bottles, wrappers, food containers, and cutlery—have become invasive species in rivers, seashores, seafloors, and open waters. A recent global database of litter indicates that such consumer waste is the single biggest category. On average globally, there is a piece of plastic waste per every meter of shoreline, plus 18,000 pieces of floating plastic litter per each square kilometer of ocean.

This problem won’t be solved by campaigns to change consumer littering habits or to encourage recycling; the issues are systemic. For example, wealthy countries that produce the most plastic waste per capita often export much of it to poorer countries, which have even weaker recycling infrastructure if any at all. Since markets do not incentivize recycling, most plastic waste continues to be dumped or burned.

Plastic waste pollution of aquatic and agricultural systems threatens food security. Oceans and marine life (and those dependent on fisheries) bear much of this brunt, with an estimated negative annual impact of $13 billion on ocean ecosystems. Marine life suffers from ingesting plastic (where it also enters the human food chain), or by being entrapped or suffocated. Ruminant livestock regularly ingest plastic waste, posing a growing threat to human health, particularly in low-income countries. Slaughterhouses around world have reported finding plastics inside livestock; the prevalence is particularly high among African countries. Indigestible plastics lead to many adverse health effects, including low milk yield, reduced weight gain, reduced draft ability, and other comorbid diseases and mortality, costing some farmers millions of dollars annually in lost productivity. As with seafood, these chemicals enter the human food chain through milk and meat products.

Humans ingest or inhale around 50,000 microscopic plastic particles a year; the health effects of chronic plastic exposure are not fully known, but the evidence so far indicates it likely has negativeimpacts, particularly on human endocrine and immune systems. 

For communities living near plastic production facilities (and other kinds of petrochemical plants) the health risks are clear: Higher rates of cancer and other serious health problems. These risks disproportionately impact vulnerable populations. In the U.S., that often means African American communities, like those within the hub of industrial plants in Louisiana nicknamed “Cancer Alley.”

To counter the destructive impact of plastics on livelihoods, public health, and nature, more than 127 countries have instituted some form of regulation on single-use plastics, according to a report from UN Environment (graphic). However, many of these laws only partially regulate and/or contain exceptions. Only one country, Cape Verde, puts any limits on plastic production. Under this patchwork and laissez-faire system, companies continue producing an estimated five trillion plastic bags each year.

IFPRI’s mission is to end hunger and malnutrition, and to sustainably reduce poverty. Given the food security risks posed by plastic production and pollution, and the unfortunate trend of low income countries becoming dumping grounds for plastic trash from wealthy countries, solving the plastic crisis and eliminating its impacts on food systems globally is integral to achieving that mission. We also recognize the connection between the rise of packaged, cheap processed foods and the accompanying spike in global obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases. Along with our partners, we must advocate for policies to reduce plastic waste, including:

• Regulatory bans, restricting production and distribution on unneeded plastic items like bags.
• Consumer incentives to encourage reusable alternatives.
• Replacing necessary plastic containers with more bio-degradable materials.
• Policies that hold producing or profiting companies accountable for plastic in their supply chains, such as circular-economy regulations.
• Incentives for building better food environments that regulate marketing of unhealthy packaged food products and encourage healthier and more sustainable food choices via taxes and subsidies.

IFPRI’s Sustainability Task Force has spearheaded efforts to reduce our own reliance on and use of plastics. Our offices in Rwanda, Senegal, India, and Washington have all removed disposable plastic cups from communal kitchen areas and replaced single-use items, carry-out bags and other commonly used items with durable and reusable alternatives. The Sustainability Task Force encourages the use of reusable alternatives or participation in initiatives like Plastic Free July. These efforts may be small, but nonetheless are important steps, galvanizing our staff and local communities to participate in larger plastic reduction and regulation efforts, aiming to achieve a world free of plastic pollution.

Julie Kurtz is a Research Analyst with IFPRI’s Markets, Trade, and Institutions Division and Chair of the IFPRI Sustainability Task Force; Drew Sample is IFPRI’s Manager of Media Engagement.