Imagine a sea in which fish are forced to swim by pushing their way through plastic fragments of every origin and size. A sea in which diving down gives you far more chance of finding a bottle than an anchovy. A horror-film scenario? No — the harsh reality that, unfortunately, the world will be confronted with in 2050.

Plastic: a curse for birds and fish

This is explained in a report produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation together with the McKinsey Centre for Business and Environment, and presented at the 2016 Davos economic forum. According to the analysis, the ratio between the tonnes of plastic present in the oceans and those of fish — currently one to five — will already become one to three by 2025. Then, a quarter of a century later, the amount of fish in the sea will be less than the amount of plastic waste.

This will amount to an environmental catastrophe: fish will end up ingesting ever greater quantities of the small fragments present in the water, with devastating consequences for the entire food chain. Meanwhile, today already, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, up to 90 per cent of seabirds around the world have plastic residues in their gut.

What solution is there to avoid the worst?

According to the report presented in Davos, the only viable path to avoid making the oceans uninhabitable is one that involves a "complete rethink of packaging and plastic products in general", seeking alternatives to oil as the raw material for their production. Consider that, at this rate, by 2050 the industries that manufacture plastic materials will consume 20 per cent of global crude oil production.

A transition towards sustainable alternatives and towards reuse could, among other things, guarantee enormous financial savings: "The current production and consumption system, together with the widespread practice of discarding waste, also entails serious economic problems," the Ellen MacArthur Foundation stressed, explaining that "between 80 and 120 billion dollars in plastic packaging is lost every year."

France will say goodbye to plastic plates and cups

But change can also start from each of our everyday behaviours. A simple gesture such as going shopping with a reusable bag can make a decisive contribution to tackling the problem. It is no coincidence that some countries are taking steps to limit the use of "shoppers".

France is a case in point: not only has it decided to ban the distribution of plastic bags in all supermarkets from next March, but it has also ordered — with few exceptions — a halt to the sale of plates, cups and cutlery from 2020. Why not do the same in Italy too?

Opening photo: epSos.de/Wikimedia Commons