‘Sacrifice Zones’: Plastic Production is Decimating These 5 Communities Around the World

A growing awareness of — and anxiety over — the plastic pollution crisis has prompted many attempts at solutions: educational campaigns, global movements, bans and phase-outs (of bottles, bags and straws), and the rise of new products like shampoo bars, all of which try to tackle the problem of where plastic goes when we toss it.

But what about the effects of plastic before it ends up discarded?

“Plastic affects human health at literally every single stage of its life cycle,” says Beyond Plastics Communications Director Melissa Valliant. “Mostly we hear about plastic pollution with post-consumer use… But production greatly affects human health, and it typically affects low-income communities and communities of color even more so than the rest of the population. That is because the plastic production facilities are typically built in those environmental justice areas — and it’s intentional, as they know these communities have fewer resources and less power to fight back.”