Plastic, Climate & Human Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet

The document outlines the systemic health and environmental costs of plastics, from fossil fuel extraction to waste management, and warns that projected production growth will consume a substantial portion of the remaining global carbon budget.

• The plastic lifecycle exposes humans to toxic risks at every stage, including the extraction of feedstocks, refining into resins, consumer use, and end-of-life disposal. Feedstock extraction via fracking involves over 170 chemicals with known impacts such as carcinogenicity, neurotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity.
• Plastic production is projected to be a primary driver of new oil production through 2050, with the American Chemistry Council forecasting investments of over 200 billion dollars in more than 340 new or expanded facilities by 2025. This expansion could triple production capacity by 2050.
• The production, use, and disposal of plastics are projected to generate over 56 gigatons of carbon emissions by 2050, which represents approximately 13% of the remaining carbon budget required to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Environmental and health risks from plastic facilities are disproportionately borne by communities of color and are exacerbated by climate-driven events, such as Hurricane Harvey, which caused catastrophic toxic releases in Houston communities.

APA

Muffett, C. (2020). Plastic, Climate & Human Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. Center for International Environmental Law. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/C-Muffett-Prepared-Testimony-COR-Subcomm-on-Envt-July-7-2020-FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Muffett, Carroll. Plastic, Climate & Human Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet. Center for International Environmental Law, 2020. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/C-Muffett-Prepared-Testimony-COR-Subcomm-on-Envt-July-7-2020-FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Muffett |first1=Carroll |title=Plastic, Climate & Human Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet |publisher=Center for International Environmental Law |date=7 July 2020 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/C-Muffett-Prepared-Testimony-COR-Subcomm-on-Envt-July-7-2020-FINAL.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{muffett2020plastic, author = {Muffett, Carroll}, title = {{Plastic, Climate \& Human Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/C-Muffett-Prepared-Testimony-COR-Subcomm-on-Envt-July-7-2020-FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }