Plastic- Pollution, Solution, Recycle

The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly conglomerating along the
coasts, and standing on the front row of the greatest, most unprecedented, plastic waste tide ever
faced.

Washed out on our coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution spectacle
blatantly unveiling on our beaches is only the prelude of the greater story that unfolded further
away in the world’s oceans, yet mostly originating from where we stand.
For more than 50 years, global production and consumption of plastics have continued to rise.
An estimated 299 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013, representing a 4 percent
increase over 2012, and confirming and upward trend over the past years.(See:  Worldwatch
Institute – January 2015).

Plastic is versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive.
Those are the attractive qualities that lead us, around the world, to such a voracious appetite and
over-consumption of plastic good .However, durable and very slow to degrade, plastic materials
that are used in the production of so many products all, ultimately, become waste with staying
power. Our tremendous attraction to plastic, coupled with an undeniable behavioral propensity of
increasingly over-consuming, discarding, littering and thus polluting, has become a combination
of lethal nature.

Plastic Pollution in Bangladesh

Plastic pollution in Bangladesh’s environment continues unabated raising serious threats to
human and animal health as the government is yet to move for reducing its production and safe
management.

Environmentalists say that plastic can exist in soil and water for a long time as it is not
biodegradable and it may turn into leachate and, through heat, get mixed with the food chain and
enter human body causing diseases and, eventually, deaths.
It also gradually gets divided into very small particles and get back to animal body through their
food chain.

When burned, plastic releases dangerous chemicals such as hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide,
dioxins, furans and heavy metals as well as particulates. Emission of such elements is known to
cause respiratory ailments and stress the human immune system.
And they are potentially carcinogenic, experts say.
Micro plastic can also enter human and animal body through breathing.
As the human population continues to grow, the amount of garbage produced also grows. People
enjoy using plastic because it is flexible, relatively inexpensive, durable, and light – and it is
used almost in everything including grocery bags and 3D printed rocket nozzles.

Currently, over 300 million tons of plastic are produced yearly with more than half used just
once and thrown away. Statistics show that only 9 percent of plastic gets recycled while 12
percent incinerated.
Solutions to Plastic Pollution

The top solutions for reducing plastic pollution are:

1. Get Used to Not Using Disposable Plastics 

About ninety percent of the plastic products used every day are used once and then thrown:
plastic wrap, grocery bags, straws, disposable cutlery, coffee-cup lids among others. Consider
how you often depend on these items and change to reusable versions.

This is the most obvious and easiest way to eliminate the use of plastic in the future.
Interestingly, nations like Kenya and France are phasing out single-use plastic bag by banning its
products. Infractions with these products are heavily penalized and could send you to jail.

2. Incineration 

Over 60 percent of used or wasted plastic medical equipment is burnt rather than dumped in a
landfill as a preventative measure to reduce the transmission of infections. This has significantly
decreased the quantity of plastic waste from medical equipment.

3. Avoid Using Bottled Water 

People are advised to drink a lot of water, at least 8-ounce glasses every day. Many who stay
outdoors throughout the day keep themselves hydrated using plastic water bottles, which are
thrown to trash after use.

For that reason, you are encouraged to carry a reusable bottle with you, get a model with a built-
in filter for your safety. Alternatively, turn to companies that are selling reusable water bottles to
minimizing plastic waste and bottles vulnerable to leakage.
4. Institutional Arrangements and Creation of Awareness 

States can use their power and authority to control plastic pollution by forming various
institutions that can manage and protect the ecosystems. For example, the Canadian federal
government established an institution to safeguard marine areas.

In addition, these institutions can provide education to individuals and businesses about the
alternatives they can shift to for bagging, storing and packaging. Put simply, people will be
aware of the causes and how to prevent it.

5. Collection of Plastic 

This is done to limit the scattering of plastic waste in the environment. It can be done through the
curbside collection, where people place used plastics in a special container to be collected by a
private or public hauling company.

People can alternatively use drop-off recycling centers, where they take their plastic wastes to a
centrally placed facility. Once collected, the wastes are taken to the factory for recycling. In the
United States, more than 80 percent have access to these collection centers.

6. Policies

The Food and Drug Agency and the Environment Protection Agency are mandated to assess the
safety of any new chemical before they are allowed for use. After the evaluation, policies are
always put in place to help reduce plastic pollution and its ramifications.

Government regulations that ban the use of some chemicals in specific plastic products have
been implemented in nations like the United States, European Union, and Canada.
Taxes can also be used as a way to discourage specific ways of plastic management. For
example, the creation of landfill tax makes people prefer recycling plastics rather than landfilling
them. Standardization of compostable plastics is also been used to slow down its production.

7. Fungus That Eats Plastic 

An unimaginable amount of plastic has been dropped into the environment over the years, and
once there, many centuries will pass before it degrades. Even as above mentioned, remains of
microplastic may continue to exist unnoticed.

But recently, scientists discovered Aspergillus Tubingensis, a plastic eating fungus that lives in
the soil. It secretes enzymes which help to break down the polymer chains that hold plastic
together.

The research is still on about the optimal condition for this organism to thrive in, after which, it
will be introduced to begin the process of plastic eating.

8. Reuse of Plastic Waste

While the main objective of the world is to totally eliminate plastic items in the environment, it is
also necessary to ensure that the existing ones are managed properly.

Individuals can enhance this by keeping safe the plastic bags they use at one time and go back
with them to the shop.

Companies, on the other hand, can encourage reuse by including some deposits on packaging,
with the amount refunded upon return. This may force companies to switch to reusable
packaging that can be returned and reused.

9. Mushroom Packaging 
Science is always good at identifying a problem and providing a solution to it no matter how
long it takes. With this new discovery, the future of plastic packaging is at stake. It introduces the
world to biodegradable packaging.

Mushroom packaging is fire resistant and can be molded to any shape easily. It is composed of
an extensive connection of thread-like roots called mycelium. Scientists have perfected this
packaging and are currently making structures with it.

After use, it can be thrown away where it naturally decomposes.

10. Packaging Using Milk Products 

In what may seem impossible, an agricultural research team in the United States has created a
packaging item derived from milk proteins. Though it is relatively expensive, it preserves food
and conserves the environment better than plastic.

11. 3D-Printing Recycled Plastic 

ReDeTec has developed a system that can convert plastic wastes into a completely new filament
and then use it to print new objects.

The printer known as ProtoCycler can be filled with a variety of plastic items like rejected 3D-
printer models and bottles where it grinds them into small pieces before melting and releasing
spools of plastic filament for use on the next project.

12. Recycling Plastic into Oil 

Perhaps the most advanced way to eradicate plastic is to convert it back to the crude oil, a state it
once was, then use it again.
According to Akinori Ito, the Japanese inventor of a household appliance that converts plastic
into fuel, plastic is nothing but a processed crude oil, which can be transformed back to its
original form and be used as an alternative fuel.

13. Using Edible Cutlery 

The easiest way to reduce waste from parties and picnics is to feast on the tools you’ve just eaten
with. The tools are made from rice, wheat, millet, and many other flavors. This dining innovation
was offered by an Indian inventor and is soon hitting the whole world.

Sources:

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/10-ways-reduce-plastic-pollution

https://oceanbites.org/paper-or-plastic-policies-inspired-by-research-to-find-a-solution-to-plastic-
pollution/