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Surging plastic use is fed by coal power — with deadly results

Coal-fired power plants are satisfying the world’s voracious appetite for plastic, but their emissions are causing a wave of disease and deaths.
Shelves of cleaning products in plastic bottles for sale

The growing demand for plastic is being fed by coal-fired plastic production, especially in Asian countries. Credit: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group/Getty

Plastic production has soared in countries that rely heavily on coal for energy, leading to a rise in carbon emissions and particle pollution — which, in turn, has led to a steep increase in illness and death1.

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Nature 600, 362 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-03613-0

References

  1. Cabernard, L., Pfister, S., Oberschelp, C. & Hellweg, S. Nature Sustain. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00807-2 (2021).

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