It seems the world is being smothered by microplastics. Our oceans are full of them. Fish are ingesting them. Our clothes are shedding them. And here in Mexico, the ubiquitous leaf blower stirs up clouds of plastic particles for us to breathe. A little of it enters our bodies every time we eat or drink from plastic containers.
Didn’t they invent biodegradable bags—and paper cups and plates—to solve this?
Well, here’s the harsh truth: those “paper” cups are actually lined or coated with plastic. Neither they nor the plates are recyclable, and when they break down, what you’re left with is—you guessed it—microplastic.
The same goes for so-called “biodegradable” bags. A 2017 study found no degradation after a full year of submersion in seawater at 25°C. And according to a 2021 report from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, only one percent of these bags will degrade after 100 years in a landfill.
What’s more, these bags only biodegrade in specialized industrial facilities—and currently, Mexico doesn’t have a single one. In all of Latin America, there’s only one such facility, located in Chile.
And what do those bags eventually become? Microplastic.
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