By Robin Hicks

Copyright eco-business

Speaking at the ReThink sustainability conference on Thursday, Dr Chris DeArmitt, who has published books to “dispel myths” about plastics, said that the material is not toxic, alternatives are more harmful to the climate, bans on plastic bags cause increases in waste, and the amount of plastic waste entering the ocean has been grossly inflated.

His first time in Hong Kong, DeArmitt was representing the Hong Kong Plastics Manufacturers Association (HKPMA), a plastic industry lobby group, on a panel titled Building Effective Collaborations for Circular Supply Chains.

His presentation prompted a strong reaction from an ocean protection non-profit representative in the audience, who appealed to attendees to “do your research” and said that DeArmitt’s views contradict those of many other scientists.

Dana Winograd, executive director of environmental charity Plastic Free Seas, who describes DeArmitt as a “plastic problem denier”, took particular issue with his claim that plastics are non-toxic and pose little environmental threat.

DeArmitt has referred to studies that find that microplastics – particles less than 5 millimetres that break down in the environment – make up only a tiny fraction of the materials that exist in dust, and are no more toxic than clay or cellulose. He has also cited a 2024 paper by the United States Food and Drug Adminstration that finds that the microplastics found in food are not toxic.

The scientist, who has written that non-governmental organisations are lying about plastic pollution to attract funding, has also claimed that microplastics are having a “negligible” impact on marine ecosystems, citing a 2020 study in Nature.

However, numerous recent studies point to the harm that microplastics are causing people and wildlife, Winograd said after the panel. “We can’t give a platform to misinformation.”

Speaking to Eco-Business on the sidelines of the event, Luc des Vallières, director of partnerships at non-profit Plastic Odyssey, said that DeArmitt’s non-toxicity claim was an “oversimplification”.

While plastic polymers can be inert, the additives in them, such as phthalates and flame retardants, are toxic and can cause a variety of health issues including reproductive problems and cancers, he said.

Studies have also shown that microplastics can make seabirds more vulnerable to infections, cause inflammation in animal cells, altered metabolic function in fish, and neurological abnormalities in mice.

Lifecycle analysis

In his presentation at ReThink, DeArmitt said that lifecycle analysis has shown that if plastics are replaced with alternatives, greenhouse gas emissions and waste increase “90 per cent of the time”.

“Paper is almost always worse than plastic. Metal, glass and aluminum are always worse, according to life cycle studies,” he said. “All consumers think we should be using glass, paper and metal, and the science says that we should be using plastic. This is a problem. When we mislead consumers, they end up wasting money on things that make things worse, generate more waste and create more problems,” he said.

Approached by Eco-Business over this claim, DeArmitt pointed to the paper, Replacing Plastics with Alternatives Is Worse for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Most Cases, published last year.

Winograd said that the analysis does not consider the impact of plastic when it enters the environment. “We cannot simply look at carbon emissions in isolation when making choices about the materials we use,” she said.

The cited study’s authors have also stated that the “significant and unacceptable impact of plastics on marine ecosystems with potential impacts on human and ecological health” should not be overlooked.

More plastic than fish?

In the panel discussion, DeArmitt said that a landmark 2015 study by Jenna Jambeck that estimated the amount of plastic entering the ocean was inaccurate.

Jambeck’s data was used by non-profit Ellen MacArthur Foundation to estimate that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean by weight than fish, a claim that has since been questioned by other scientists.

DeArmitt said Jambeck’s estimate that about 10 million tonnes of plastic are entering the oceans every year via rivers was “not true”, and the actual amount is more like 6,000 tonnes a year, based on a 2021 study.

The notion that the amount of plastic waste entering the environment is an emergency is “not really the case,” he told his audience in Hong Kong.

Des Vallières countered that DeArmitt has “cherry-picked” one study showing much lower plastic pollution volumes from rivers. He said that while more recent research, such as the OECD’s 2023 study, had estimated lower figures than Jambeck’s, her work had ”rang the alarm” on the amount of plastic entering the ocean.

Subsequent research on plastic pollution has not nullified the threat to marine ecosystems from huge observed volumes of plastic accumulating on coastlines and ocean gyres worldwide, he said.

“The exact number can be debated, but it’s definitely not trivial. There is too much plastic entering our oceans, period,” he said.

Question the claims

Winograd questioned why DeArmitt was chosen to speak on a panel on collaboration and circular economy, when his views did not align with the discussion theme. She also asked why DeArmitt was given the opportunity to present a full deck to push his narrative, while the other panel participants were not.

ReThink founder Chris Brown told Eco-Business in a statement that the event aims to provide a platform for open dialogue by drawing from diverse perspectives, recognising that “some viewpoints” – such as those presented by Chris DeArmitt – “may spark challenging conversations”.

He claims to be one of the world’s leading experts on plastics and environmental science with an ambition to “correct widespread myths” on plastics and their impact through his consultancy Phantom Plastics and non-profit Plastics Research Council.

Active on social media, the Briton says he spent 1,000 hours a year for five years reading 5,000 scientific studies to compile his books that challenge “untruths” on plastics, and is motivated by his daughters, who he says were “lied to at school” about the environmental impact of plastics.

DeArmitt told Eco-Business that while his research and books are distributed for free, he is paid to speak at events.

He said he does not do any lobby work, “just shares the science”.