As plastic is composed of major toxic pollutants, it has the potential to cause great harm in the environment in the form of air, water and land pollution.
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili
As the world’s population continues to grow, so does the amount of garbage that people produce. The 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 in the environment in the form of air, water and land pollution.
Plastic pollution is caused when plastic has gathered in an area and has begun to negatively impact the natural environment and create problem for plants, wildlife and even 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 for shopping, we should not forget to carry a paper or cloth bag. Also try to avoid bringing plastic bags at home and purchasing items with too much of packaging. This way we can help in contributing towards the environment in the form of reducing plastic pollution whose ill effects are irreversible.
The major contributors to the Plastic Pollution include:
Trash: Plastic is everywhere, even on those 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 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.
Overused: As plastic is less expensive, it is one of the most widely available and overused item in the world today. When disposed, 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 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.
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 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 several ways.
Effects: It seems rather obvious that this amount of a 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 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, this 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 plastic are present in the fish that many people eat every day.
Ground water 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 on 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 form hazardous chemicals. When these chemicals seep underground, they degrade the water quality. Wind carries and deposits plastic from one place to another, increasing the land litter. It can also get stuck on poles, traffic lights, trees, fences, tower etc. and animals that may come in the vicinity and might suffocate them to death.
Air pollution: Burning of 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 affect 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, 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, and that 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 business class: Speak to local restaurants and businesses about options that 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 development of items and propose alternatives when applicable.
Recycling: Try and select items that come in non-plastic recycled and recyclable packaging, to 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: Recently good news has come up in social media that scientists have accidently discovered an enzyme that consumes the plastic bottles. If so, it shall be a great help to reduce the plastic pollution menace.
The other news is that a company based in Indonesia has come up with a biodegradable plastic alternative made from Yuca tree, which gets dissolved in water and is safe for drinking for animals and even for human beings and it could replace trillions of bags, we waste every year. It looks and feels like plastic. Most of the countries are completely overrun by plastic waste and we need these plastic bags every year. This plastic bag is 100% plant and could replace trillions of bags we waste every year.
Many simple ways have been suggested to reduce plastic waste like: 1.Say no to straws,2.Use reusable produce bags, 3. Give up chewing gum, 4. Buy boxes not bottles, 5. Buy from bulk bins, 6. Reuse glass containers, 7 Use reusable bottles and cups, 8. Bring your own container, 9. Use matches instead of plastic lighters, 10. Skip the frozen food section, 11. Don’t use plasticware, 12. Return reusable containers, 13. Use cloth diapers, 14. Don’t buy juice, Clean green, 16. Pack a lunch the right way.
Road Construction: Waste plastic is used in road construction. Plastic waste when coated over aggregate helps to have a 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.
Er. Mohammad Ashraf Fazili is a Former Chief Engineer.
