Tag: factcheck
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Is it true that bioplastics are a sustainable alternative to plastics since they degrade quickly in nature?
This claim is certainly false. Some of these so-called “bioplastics” are biobased (made from renewable resources) but not actually biodegradable. Other materials known as “bioplastics” are biodegradable but require very specific conditions to disappear quickly – conditions that are not often found in nature. If biodegradable plastics end up in the wrong place, then they…
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Is it true that we consume up to a credit card’s worth of plastic every week?
This claim is certainly false. It misrepresents the state of scientific research. While it’s true that plastics have been found in the human body and that microplastics can be ingested or inhaled, the average quantity of plastic which enters the human body is unclear. Scientific estimates still differ widely, but there is no doubt that…
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Is it true that most plastic waste is recycled, so using a lot of plastic is not a problem?
This claim is certainly false, and very far from reality. Only a small percentage of plastic waste is recycled and turned into material for new products. The majority of plastic waste is landfilled, incinerated (burnt), or ends up in the environment. This is one of the reasons why the current level of plastics consumption is…
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Is it true that there’s a solid island of plastic in the ocean, visible from space?
This claim is certainly false. There are no “plastic islands” in the ocean which are the size of continents or even countries. While there’s no doubt that plastic pollutes the oceans – just as it does rivers, lakes, the soil, and the air – plastic on the ocean’s surface is not concentrated enough to form…
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Is it true that 80 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from land, and 20 percent from the sea?
This claim is uncertain. We could find no credible scientific source to back it up. The percentage of land- and sea-based plastic inputs into the ocean has not yet been calculated on a global level and therefore remains unknown. Scientific studies show that the ratio of land- versus ocean-based plastics can differ widely depending on…
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Is it true that 90 percent of the plastic in the oceans comes from 10 rivers in Asia and Africa?
You may read this claim frequently, but it is probably false. Such claims misquote the results of research published in 2017. In that study, scientists estimated how much plastic enters the sea from rivers around the world. Ten of these river systems carried most of the plastic, but plastic also reaches the sea in other…
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Is it true that microplastics are present in drinking water?
This is true – microplastics have indeed been identified in drinking water. But knowledge of the scope and the impacts on human health is scarce. More research is needed to fully understand both the occurrence of micro- and nanoplastics in drinking water and their impacts on human health.
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Is it true that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the ocean?
This claim is highly speculative, and probably false. We do not know how much plastic is currently in the ocean, and there is no scientific estimate of how much plastic will be in the ocean by 2050. It is also unclear how many fish will inhabit the ocean by 2050.