[rwallace]

> You would have to stop the plastic being created at it's source, and prevent it from ever being released into the environment.

Then let's do that! Sure, you can't police a fishing trawler or some guy in a Third World country throwing plastic bottles into the water, but petroleum production and refining are very big, visible, highly centralized industries. It would be entirely feasible and desirable to put a hefty tax on the production of plastic.

And basic economic theory says that's the most efficient way to do it: apply a tax to cover the negative externalities, and let the market figure out how to optimize from there.