Plastic
pollution : cause, impact and strategy/measures:-
The world environmental day
theme is ' Beat plastic pollution' for year 2018 and India is hosting a global world
environmental day on 5th June 2018.
The US-based study on India
indicate that 93%of water bottles contains contaminated microplastics from 259
samples of 11 brand. It is regulated by BIS and FDA. That raise the question
are we drinking plastics?
Today, plastic contribute more than
10% of discarded waste.It involves the accumulation of plastic products in the
environment which adversely affecting the animals, humans and environment. It
is in two major forms :
1. Microdebris /nurdles: plastic size between 2mm-5mm
which mainly came from cleaning and cosmetic products also called scrubbers. It
enters ocean by means of spills from transportation or land based sources.
Microplastics accumulates hydrophobic persistent toxins such as DDT and PCB.
2. Macro debris / metaplastic : larger than 20mm in
size mainly comes from packaging polythene and abandoned fishing nets.
Estimate,
by 2050 there could be more plastic than weight of fish, per day around 0.37m
tonnes plastic waste generated ,350million tonnes by 2015, major polluters of
plastic are China, USA, EU , India and Indonesia. Every year nearly 8 million
tonnes of plastic reaches to oceans.
Major
sources of plastic pollution in the world are : in decreasing order
1) packaging
2) building and construction
3) textiles
4) consumer institutional products
5)
transportation
6) electrical/electronics
7) industrial machinery
8) others
Major problems arise due to plastic
slow decomposition rate ( plastic cups -50 years, plastic beverage bottles-400
years, fishing lines -600 years); resulting release of toxic chemicals such as
bisphenol A.; Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) linked to red tides (algal
blooms); every year estimated global production of plastics is 250mt/yr. ,
Other problem arises due to high cost
of replacing plastics with other things and could raise environmental cost
atlest 4 times. Now
Adverse
impact on the environment by plastic pollution :
-- chlorinated plastic can release
harmful chemicals into the soils and seeps into water sources.
---landfill plastics either eaten
by animals or biodegradable plastics release methane contributing to global
warming.
---plastics in oceans degraded in
years but not entirely releasing toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A and
polyestyrene.
---effects on animals arise due to
entanglement, ingestion of plastics leading to killing sea turtles, whales,
fishing.
---humans adversely affected by
chemical additives during plastic production such as endocrine disruption,
phthalate plasticisers and brominated flame retardants,BPA- sex hormones,
bisphenol A- thyroid hormone.
--- marine litter cost $13bn a
year, mainly through its adverse effects on biodiversity, tourism and fisheries
.
---Overall total cost of plastic
pollution is $139bn a year. 50% caused by climate change effect and GHG
emissions linked to producing and transporting plastics., 33% comes from the
impact of associated air, water and land pollution on health, crops and the
environment ,cost of waste disposal.
---Plastic is a durable material
made to last forever, yet 33 percent of it is used once and then discarded.
Plastic cannot biodegrade; it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces.
--- China is the largest producer
of plastic pollution. Americans alone discard more than 30 million tons of
plastic a year; only 8 percent of it gets recycled. The rest ends up in
landfills or becomes 'litter', and a small portion is incinerated.
---Plastic spoils our
groundwater.There are tens of thousands of landfills across the globe. Buried
beneath each one of them, plastic leachate full of toxic chemicals is seeping
into groundwater and flowing downstream into lakes and rivers.
--- Plastic poisons our food
chain.Even plankton, the tiniest creatures in our oceans, are eating
microplastics and absorbing their toxins. The substance displaces nutritive
algae that creatures up the food chain require.
--- Plastic attracts other
pollutants.Manufacturers' additives in plastics, like flame retardants, BPAs
and PVCs, can leach their own toxins. These oily poisons repel water and stick
to petroleum-based objects like plastic debris.
--- Plastic attracts other
pollutants.. Manufacturers' additives in plastics, like flame retardants, BPAs
and PVCs, can leach their own toxins. These oily poisons repel water and stick
to petroleum-based objects like plastic debris.
---- Plastic threatens wildlife.
Entanglement, ingestion and habitat disruption all result from plastic ending
up in the spaces where animals live. In our oceans alone, plastic debris
outweighs zooplankton by a ratio of 36-to-1.
---Plastic costs billions to
abate. Everything suffers: tourism, recreation, business, the health of humans,
animals, fish and birds—because of plastic pollution. The financial damage
continuously being inflicted is inestimable.
----Plastic costs billions to
abate. Everything suffers: tourism, recreation, business, the health of humans,
animals, fish and birds—because of plastic pollution. The financial damage
continuously being inflicted is inestimable.
Strategy
and measures to reduce the adverse impact of plastic pollution :
1. Plastic recycling of
biodegradable and degradable plastics by
avoiding non biodegradable plastics.
2. Plastic medical equipment
should be incinerated rather than deposited in a landfill but gaseous emissions
is a demerit
3. Rules and regulations through
strict policies to ban plastic production and it's use, disposal,etc.under EPA
and food and drug administration.
4. Institutional mechanism :
strategy,laws,plans, action,collection,non use and reduction in usage, creating
awareness,etc
5. Cleaning of water bodies,
sewage treatment plant, ecosystem based management, adaptive management,
precautionary measures, people participation.
6. Plasma recycling , where refuse
is heated to 5000 degree Celsius, turning it into unadulterated hydrocarbons
and solid residue .but problem lies with huge cost it will take some time for
commercialisation.
7. Building recycling capacity by
plastic waste generators such big companies, city management authorities,
consumer-goods firms,etc.
8. Making plastics biodegradable,
by adding corn starch or vegetable oil to petroleum-derived hydrocarbons but
renders recycle.
10. zero tolerance to plastic by
banning its commercial useage in retail,pakaging,etc