Exploring the impact of plastic waste on our environment and innovative strategies for reduction and recycling
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the amount of garbage that people produce. People require easily disposable products, such as soda cans or bottles of water, but the accumulation of these products has led to increasing amounts of plastic pollution around the world. As plastic is composed of major toxic pollutants, it has the potential to cause great harm to the environment in the form of air, water, and land pollution.
Plastic pollution is caused when plastic gathers in an area and begins to negatively impact the natural environment, creating problems for plants, wildlife, and even the human population. Often, this includes killing plant life and posing dangers to local animals. Plastic is an incredibly useful material, but it is also made from toxic compounds known to cause illness, and because it is meant for durability, it is not biodegradable.
Facts about plastic pollution:
• Every year, the world uses 500 billion plastic bags.
• Each year, at least 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans, the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute.
• In the last decade, we produced more plastic than in the whole last century.
• 50 percent of the plastic we use is single-use or disposable.
• We buy 1 million plastic bottles every minute.
• Plastic makes up 10% of all the waste we generate.
When we go shopping, we should not forget to carry a paper or cloth bag. Also, try to avoid bringing plastic bags home and purchasing items with too much packaging. This way, we can help contribute to reducing plastic pollution, whose ill effects are irreversible.
The major contributors to plastic pollution include:
Trash: Plastic is everywhere, even in items we may not expect it to be. Milk cartons are lined with plastic, water bottles are handed out everywhere, and some products may even contain tiny plastic beads. Every time one of these items gets thrown away or washed down a sink, the toxic pollutants have more chance to enter the environment and cause harm. Trash dumps and landfills are major problems, as they allow pollutants to enter the ground and affect wildlife and groundwater for years to come.
Overused: As plastic is less expensive, it is one of the most widely available and overused items in the world today. When disposed of, it does not decompose easily and pollutes the land or air nearby when burned in the open air.
Fishing nets: Commercial fishing is an economic necessity for many parts of the world, and tons of people eat fish for their daily survival. However, this industry has contributed to the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans in several ways. The nets used for certain large-scale trawling operations are usually made of plastic. First, these nets spend long times submerged in water, leaking toxins, but they also often get broken up or lost, remaining wherever they fall. This not only kills and harms local wildlife but also ensures that pollutants enter the water and fish in the area.
Disposal: This may sound a bit confusing, but because plastic is meant to last, it is nearly impossible to break down. Burning plastic is incredibly toxic and can lead to harmful atmospheric conditions and deadly illnesses. Therefore, if it is in a landfill, it will never stop releasing toxins in that area.
Even recycling doesn’t cut down on plastic, as it essentially uses the existing plastic, albeit in a new form. The process of recycling plastic can also lead to plastic irritants being released in several ways.
Effects: It seems rather obvious that this amount of material that isn’t meant to break down can wreak havoc on natural environments, leading to long-term issues for plants, animals, and people. Some of the major long-term effects of plastic pollution are:
Upsetting the Food Chain: Because it comes in sizes large and small, polluting plastics even affect the world’s tiniest organisms such as plankton. When these organisms become poisoned due to plastic ingestion, it causes problems for the larger animals that depend on them for food. This can cause a whole slew of problems, each step further along the food chain. Plus, it means that plastics are present in the fish that many people eat every day.
Groundwater Pollution: Water conservation is already a concern in places ranging from California to parts of India, but the world’s water is in great danger because of leaking plastics and waste. If you’ve ever seen a garbage dump, imagine what happens every time it rains—then imagine that being in your drinking water. Groundwater and reservoirs are susceptible to leaking environmental toxins.
Most of the litter and pollution affecting the world’s oceans also derives from plastics. This has had terrible consequences for many marine species, which can lead to consequences for those that eat fish and marine life for nutrients—including people.
Land Pollution: When plastic is dumped in landfills, it interacts with water and forms hazardous chemicals. When these chemicals seep underground, they degrade the water quality. Wind carries and deposits plastic from one place to another, increasing land litter. It can also get stuck on poles, traffic lights, trees, fences, towers, etc., and animals that come into the vicinity might suffocate to death.
Air Pollution: Burning plastic in the open air leads to environmental pollution due to the release of poisonous chemicals. The polluted air, when inhaled by humans and animals, affects their health and can cause respiratory problems.
Killing Animals: Despite countless TV ads over the years showing ducks or dolphins trapped in six-ring plastic can holders, these items are still used and discarded en masse each day. Whether because the mass of plastic has displaced animals or the related toxins have poisoned them, plastic pollution does a lot of damage to the world’s ecosystems.
Poisonous: Man artificially makes plastic by using several toxic chemicals. Therefore, the use of and exposure to plastics has been linked to several health concerns affecting people around the world. The processes of making, storing, disposing of, and just being around plastics can be extremely harmful to living things.
Expensive: It costs millions of dollars each year to clean affected areas after exposure, not to mention the loss of life to plants, animals, and people. As land becomes more valuable, just finding a place to put garbage is becoming a problem in many parts of the world. Plus, excess pollution has led to decreased tourism in affected areas, significantly impacting those economies.
SOLUTION
The reality is that the only way this problem can be addressed is by individuals and companies around the world agreeing to implement practices that reduce waste on every level. The top tips for reducing plastic waste are:
Shopping: Plastic bags were once a modern convenience but can be efficiently replaced by reusable bags, many of which fold up compactly to be portable. Just think about how many bags you typically carry out of a grocery store and multiply that by the number of times you grocery shop. That’s a lot of plastic! Carry a bag and always reuse plastic bags as much as possible if you have them.
Bottled Water: People are meant to drink lots of water each day, and plastic water bottles have become a great way to stay hydrated throughout the day. However, most of these are only recommended for single use, which means that every time someone finishes a bottle, it goes into the trash. Many companies now sell reusable water bottles as a substitute, reducing plastic waste and exposure to leaking bottles.
Containers: Plastic food containers, lids, and utensils are all easily replaced by reusable containers, which will cut down significantly on even a single meal’s waste.
Educate Businesses: Speak to local restaurants and businesses about options they can switch to for packaging, storing, and bagging items. Many companies are starting to come up with excellent low-cost replacements, such as bamboo utensils and decomposable compressed leaves in place of plastic ones.
Get Involved: Speak to lawmakers and get involved with government on any level, and you’ll see how many special interest groups have made it so that we are dependent on plastic without needing to be. Encourage the development of items and propose alternatives when applicable.
Recycling: Try to select items that come in non-plastic recycled and recyclable packaging, and do your best to properly handle items that can’t be reused. Check everything before you put it in the trash, as more and more items can be recycled these days.
Remember that because plastic doesn’t break down easily (if ever), recycling plastic means that it is still plastic, just being used for a different purpose. Therefore, you’re not actually reducing plastic amounts or exposure, even in the recycling process.
Good News: Good news has come up on social media that scientists have accidentally discovered an enzyme that consumes plastic bottles. If this proves effective, it could be a great help in reducing the plastic pollution menace.
The other news is that a company based in Indonesia has developed a biodegradable plastic alternative made from the yuca tree, which dissolves in water and is safe for animals and even human beings. It could replace the trillions of bags we waste every year. It looks and feels like plastic. Most countries are completely overrun by plastic waste, and we need these alternatives.
Many simple ways have been suggested to reduce plastic waste, such as:
Say no to straws
Use reusable produce bags
Give up chewing gum
Buy boxes, not bottles
Buy from bulk bins
Reuse glass containers
Use reusable bottles and cups
Bring your own container
Use matches instead of plastic lighters
Skip the frozen food section
Don’t use plasticware
Return reusable containers
Use cloth diapers
Don’t buy juice
Clean green
Pack a lunch the right way
Road Construction: Waste plastic is used in road construction. Plastic waste, when coated over aggregate, helps to achieve better binding of bitumen, which leads to increased bonding and increased area of contact between polymer and bitumen, besides reducing the voids. This prevents moisture absorption and oxidation of bitumen by entrapped air.
The paper was presented in IEI J&KSC on World Environment Day 2018 by Er Mohammad Ashraf Fazili FIE, Chairman IEI J&KSC
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