PLASTIC POLLUTION

Plastic pollution is caused by the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment. It can be categorized in primary plastics, such as cigarette butts and bottle caps, or secondary plastics, resulting from the degradation of the primary ones. It can also be defined by its size, from micro plastics - small particles (<5 mm) of plastic dispersed in the environment - to macro plastics.

Plastic pollution can take different forms including:

• The accumulation of waste
• The accumulation of marine litter, fragments or micro particles of plastics and non- biodegradable fishing nets, which continue to trap wildlife and waste
• Waste causing the death of animals by ingestion of plastic objects
• The arrival of micro plastics and micro beads of plastics from cosmetic and body care products

Causes of Plastic pollution

1. Plain Old Trash

Plastic is everywhere, even on those items you 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 of a chance to enter the environment and do harm. Trash dumps and landfills are unfortunate major problems, as they allow pollutants to enter the ground and affect wildlife and groundwater for years to come.

2. It is overused

As plastic is less expensive, it is one of the most widely available and overused item 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.

3. 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 helped contribute to the problem of plastics pollution in the oceans in several ways. The nets used for certain large-scale trolling operations are usually made of plastic.

First, these spend long times submerged in water, leaking toxins at will, but they also often get broken up or lost, left to remain wherever they fall. This not only kills and harms local wildlife, but also ensures that pollutants enter the water and fish of the area.

4. Disposing of Plastic and Garbage

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 illness. 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 a number of ways

Effects of Plastic pollution

This pollution can have harmful effects on the land and rivers by affecting wildlife and habitat, but also on human health.

1. On the environment

This plastic debris represents a chemical pollution in several ways. They contain compounds that can be chemically transferred to organisms during ingestion. Some of these molecules are potentially toxic and can accumulate in the body. Besides, plastic bags also affect the growth of crops, by hindering the process of photosynthesis in agricultural fields.

2. On the animals

The most direct effect of plastic pollution is the imprisonment of animals in nets or large debris. It is a cause of significant mortality of marine mammals, turtles and birds. A second direct effect is ingestion, which concerns the entire food chain of the marine ecosystem.

3. On human health

Because of the chemical additives used during plastic production, plastics have potentially harmful effects on human health. Indeed, exposure to toxic chemicals coming out of plastic can cause cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity and other health problems.

Solution for Plastic pollution

Aside from cleaning up our oceans, which is a very significant first step but not a long-term solution, the best way to address plastic pollution is to change our mindsets and habits with this controversial but nonetheless very useful material:

1. Reduce

To efficiently reduce plastic pollution, there is an evident need of reducing our usage of plastic. It means changing our everyday behaviors and not using plastic when there is a better alternative to it and only using plastic when strictly necessary

2. Reuse

Plastic may cause pollution when poorly managed but it has lots of advantages too, such as being resistant. Many plastic items can therefore be reused or used for different purposes. Before throwing plastic items, it is important to consider how they can be reused.

3. Recycle

Plastic recycling consists of collecting plastic waste and reprocessing it into new products, to reduce the amount of plastic in the waste stream

4. Educate

Another crucial solution is education in order to increase awareness and behavioral change.

Unsustainable and Future Technologies – Opportunities And Innovations

1. Biodegradable Plastics

Biodegradable plastics have been considered as a future, sustainable option to curb our voracious demand and consumption of plastic material as known in its current form. According to the Biodegradable Plastics Society (2005), when such plastics are composted they break down to carbon dioxide and water.

Controversy does exist though, because it is possible that biodegradable plastics do not break down fully, especially under environmental conditions which are not ideal for composting, and leave non-degradable constituents, some of which may be equally, if not more, hazardous. Also, there is a danger that biodegradable plastics will be seen as “litter friendly” materials, conveying the wrong message to the public and potentially leading to less responsible and more wasteful practices.

A change in behavioral propensities to over-consume plastics, discard and thus pollute, need to be promoted.

Plastic pollution: a global problem

1. Plastic waste per person

Daily per capita plastic waste across the highest countries – Kuwait, Guyana, Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, and the United States – is more than ten times higher than across many countries such as India, Tanzania, Mozambique and Bangladesh.

Note that these figures represent total plastic waste generation and do not account for differences in waste management, recycling or incineration. They therefore do not represent quantities of plastic at risk of loss to the ocean or other waterways.

2. Total plastic waste by country

This estimate is available only for the year 2010, but as we see later in this entry, the relative global picture is similar in projections to 2025. With the largest population, China produced the largest quantity of plastic, at nearly 60 million tons. This was followed by the United States at 38 million, Germany at 14.5 million and Brazil at 12 million tons.

Like the per capita figures above, note that these figures represent total plastic waste generation and do not account for differences in waste management, recycling or incineration. They therefore do not represent quantities of plastic at risk of loss to the ocean or other waterways. Beyond domestic plastic waste generation, there is also a large global commodity market for recycled plastic waste. 100 percent import ban, in addition to the impact if this was reduced to 75 or 50 percent.

By 2030, it’s estimated that around 110 million tons of plastic will be displaced as a result of the ban. This plastic waste will have to be handled domestically or exported to another country. Brooks et al. (2018) suggest this ban has several implications:

• Exporting countries can use this as an opportunity to improve domestic recycled infrastructure and generate internal markets;
• If recycling infrastructure is lacking, this provides further incentive for countries to reduce primary plastic production (and create more circular material models) to reduce the quantity of waste which needs to be handled;
• It fundamentally changes the nature of global plastic trade, representing an opportunity to share and promote best practices of waste management, and harmonize technical standards on waste protocols;
• Some other countries may attempt to become a key plastic importer in place of china; one challenge is that many countries do not yet have sufficient waste management infrastructure to handle recycled waste imports;
• Countries considering importing significant quantities of plastic waste could consider an import tax specifically aimed at funding the development of sufficient infrastructure to handle such waste.