Not thinking it through – unintended consequences

In a bid to rid the world’s rubbish dumps of plastic, a way was found to make the substance biodegradable. This was hailed as ‘a good idea’ and rigorously, vigorously advertised and implemented.

Unfortunately, in the process of degrading, plastic gives off methane which contributes more effectively to global warming than carbon dioxide. Some dumps harvest the methane and utilise it but most don’t, so instead of methane being put to good use – for example, in heating buildings – it is contributing to the ever-growing problem of the thinning of the ozone layer.