This paper, authored by Richard C. Thompson, Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal, and Shanna H. Swan, synthesizes current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and looks to future priorities, challenges, and opportunities. Plastics have transformed everyday life, with annual production likely to exceed 300 million tons by 2010. While plastics offer societal benefits and technological advancements, concerns include waste accumulation in landfills and natural habitats, physical harm to wildlife from ingestion or entanglement, chemical leaching, and potential transfer of chemicals to wildlife and humans. The most overriding concern is that current usage is unsustainable, with around 4% of global oil production used for plastic production and a similar amount used as energy in the process. Over a third of current production is used for packaging, which is rapidly discarded. Solutions include material reduction, design for end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, and revised risk assessment approaches. These measures require combined actions from the public, industry, scientists, and policymakers. The paper also discusses the environmental and health impacts of plastic debris, the persistence of plastic waste, and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. It highlights the need for further research on the full environmental relevance of plastics in transporting contaminants and the extent to which these chemicals could be transported along food chains. The paper concludes by emphasizing the urgency of addressing these issues and the importance of adopting sustainable practices.This paper, authored by Richard C. Thompson, Charles J. Moore, Frederick S. vom Saal, and Shanna H. Swan, synthesizes current understanding of the benefits and concerns surrounding the use of plastics and looks to future priorities, challenges, and opportunities. Plastics have transformed everyday life, with annual production likely to exceed 300 million tons by 2010. While plastics offer societal benefits and technological advancements, concerns include waste accumulation in landfills and natural habitats, physical harm to wildlife from ingestion or entanglement, chemical leaching, and potential transfer of chemicals to wildlife and humans. The most overriding concern is that current usage is unsustainable, with around 4% of global oil production used for plastic production and a similar amount used as energy in the process. Over a third of current production is used for packaging, which is rapidly discarded. Solutions include material reduction, design for end-of-life recyclability, increased recycling capacity, development of bio-based feedstocks, strategies to reduce littering, and revised risk assessment approaches. These measures require combined actions from the public, industry, scientists, and policymakers. The paper also discusses the environmental and health impacts of plastic debris, the persistence of plastic waste, and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans. It highlights the need for further research on the full environmental relevance of plastics in transporting contaminants and the extent to which these chemicals could be transported along food chains. The paper concludes by emphasizing the urgency of addressing these issues and the importance of adopting sustainable practices.