The Waste Problem: Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic products that begin to negatively affect the environment, animals and their habitats, and human beings. Reality is that we are eating plastic, drinking plastic and breathing in plastic on a daily basis but there is no one to blame for this but ourselves. It is virtually impossible to completely avoid and eliminate using plastic in today's society.

Plastics are the type of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymer which can moulded to any shape. It is an example of inorganic waste. Plastics are not toxic as such to humans since it is less soluble, but additives like plasticizers are toxic. Plastics though non-toxic cause a great deal of damage to the environment because of their non-biodegradability. This is because most plastics are derived from monomer of propylene and the propylene link formed is extremely strong to be decomposed by bacteria.

It has been found that in marine pollution, 60-95 percent of pollution is caused due to plastics itself. Due to the cool temperature and salinity of oceans, polymer degradation is very difficult. Plastics also degrade the soil by making it less fertile and chlorinated plastics release harmful chemicals which can get absorbed into nearby sources of water.

Types of plastics are:

1. Polyethylene terephthalate is a thermoplastic polymer that is used to make food and water containers, fibers for clothing etc. It is recyclable.
2. High Density polyethene is a thermoplastic made from cracking of petroleum. It has high strength to density ratio and is thus used to make plastic bottles, pipes, plastic bags etc. It is recyclable.
3. Polyvinyl Chloride is a synthetic polymer used to make pipes, window frames, ducts etc. It contains numerous toxins (plasticizers) and is called “poison plastic”. They are recyclable.
4. Low Density polyethene is a thermoplastic made by free radical polymerization of ethylene at high pressure. It’s commonly used in plastic bags. It is also recyclable.
5. Polypropylene is formed by chain-growth polymerization of propylene. It is Used to make bottle caps, packaging and labeling etc. It is also recyclable.
6. Polystyrene is made from polymerizing styrene. It is transparent and rigid. It is used for protective packaging of DVD, CD, tumblers, bottles etc. It is not recyclable.
7. Miscellaneous plastic are the all the other plastics (polycarbonates, acrylic, styrene, nylon etc. ). They usually contain Bisphenol A (BPA) which is a hormone disruptor used to increase the plastics’ durability. It requires very high temperatures to be broken down and hence is not recyclable.

Every year about 18 billion pounds of plastic waste goes into the world’s ocean from coastal areas. 40% of the plastic produced is just for packaging purposes. This percent of plastic is only used once and then simply discarded. Only 20 % of plastic is recycled all over the world, even though many countries are taking initiatives to increase this percentage.

The major problem due to plastic is the enter into our food chain and cause damage to our health. Most of this plastic disintegrates into particles smaller than five millimetres, known as microplastics, and these break down further into nanoparticles (less than 0. 1 micrometre in size). Plastic bags that we use to package food contain a lot of harmful compounds. Inappropriate utilisation of these products leads to these harmful compounds finding their way to water bodies, where they dissolve over a long time due to their non-biodegradable nature. Additionally, it can be harmful for animals, they can occasionally eat and die. Up to 9 of 10 seabirds, 1 in 3 sea turtles and more than half of whale and dolphin species have ingested plastic. Furthermore , in previous year in November a big dead whale was found in the shore in Eastern Indonesia. Having been observed, 115 drinking cups, 25 plastic bags, plastic bottles, two flip-flops and a bag containing more than 1,000 pieces of string were found in its stomach. In all, the plastic contents of the whale’s stomach weighed 13.2 pound. This problem will not be solved until the moment people understand the importance and urgency of the issue.

The average person is responsible for approximately 1.5 tons of waste per year! There are approximately 7.5 billion people in the world meaning that 11.5 billion tons of waste produced on the earth each year. If this waste is not recycled, it builds up over the years and the earth does not have the capacity to support it. Many families recycle in their home environments but at the same time, many don’t. when you do not recycle, your plastic waste as well as other waste is disposed at a landfill site. At landfill sites, your waste is crushed and then deposited into the land fill which is basically a big hole and once this land fill is fill, they burry it. The issue with this is that the waste contained by the land fill sites have the potential to pollute the ground water and soil surrounding them with toxins that are very harmful to the environment and all surrounding living organisms. Most landfill sites are not regulated properly meaning that this waste often catches alight and burns causing great pollution of the atmosphere.

To sum up, an individual’s dependence on the use of plastic grows stronger as each year passes, resulting in a massive quantity of detritus being discarded in oceans. Although plastic may be the most versatile material with favorable qualities (mechanical resistance, durability, etc), it has created serious environmental issues that keep snowballing due to its non-biodegradable properties as it takes thousands of years to decompose. With its exponential production and negligence towards recycling and waste management, millions of plastic waste are carried and accumulated in oceans instead of a recycling plant.

To overcome plastic pollution, the waste hierarchy could be followed. It consists of the three R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. These basic principles can be implemented in our daily activities which would help to live a sustainable life.