When plastic is the only available cooking or heating fuel
Imagine having a little food to prepare–but no proper fuel, like wood, coal or propane, with which to cook it. This is the dilemma of millions of people in the “global south”. They have turned to burning plastic bottles, bags, PVC–anything cheaper than the pricey fuels that are out of their reach.
Many of the people who burn plastic for cooking or heating are surrounded by plastic trash, because they are outside trash pickup areas. Burning it actually serves the dual purpose of temporarily “cleaning up” their living space and providing fuel. This fuel actually has a high calorie value, which is the amount of heat released when burning it compared to other fuel like wood, but this comes with a price.
Of course, it smells. The smells are the dangerous chemicals and toxins released by burning. The toxins don’t just “waft away” with the smoke, either. Sometimes it’s used in small, poorly ventilated homes where the occupants are children and elderly, who are especially impacted by the fumes. PVC is also known to emit dioxins and furans—compounds known for their persistence in the environment and ability to accumulate in the food chain. The toxic chemicals were detected in soil and livestock products near burn sites, showing that it becomes a long-term problem. (Plastic Trash Is Now Household Fuel in the World’s Poorest Cities Where Firewood and Gas Are Out of Reach.)
Besides being used for cooking, plastic is sometimes burned for heating, pest control, and just to get the fire started. Fuel stacking is another common practice in which plastic is mixed with wood or charcoal in the same fire to keep the fire going for longer periods.
In our article about incinerators, we highlighted how an incinerator in Detroit burned garbage for 3 decades and ended up polluting many square miles of neighborhoods and schools, even with “emissions controls” such as filters and scrubbers in place. Imagine plastic fires burning in many homes and alleys of the poorest regions of cities–not by choice out of survival of the residents. It’s the new normal for many people.
As you can imagine, burning plastic is not openly discussed because of bans on its practice, or the shame of its necessity. Plastic burning does not happen because people do not know it is dangerous. It happens because safer options are out of reach. (Plastic waste has become a household fuel in the world’s poorest cities) When local bans are applied, it only drives the practice into homes, where the residents eat and sleep.
According to researchers, people who need to burn plastic for survival will only be relieved when cooking and heating fuels are affordable and safe, and sanitation is provided for their neighborhoods. It’s a problem that could happen anywhere that natural disaster or war or overwhelmed public services exist. If it comes to the necessity of burning plastic for cooking and warmth, many more people around us will be doing it, so that it’s not even a choice to breathe or not breathe the fumes. It shows that we should not take the ability to cook and heat and dispose of waste cleanly, for granted!
Photo by Amirreza Marand on Unsplash
