Plastic menace is certainly one of the greatest environmental

challenges of the 21st century. Tiny plastic particles are swirling

around the oceans, ending up in landfills, and are responsible for
harmful imprints on the environment, and perhaps human, animals
and plants health. If facts are to be presented, there are about 8.3
billion tons of plastic in the world – some 6.3 billion tonnes of that in
the trash! This horrifying knowledge should naturally lead the world
to think of solutions and begin implementation right away. With the
Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 coming into
existence, the scourge of plastic particles spread from plains to the
mountains to the ocean trenches, can be expected to be controlled in
the days to come. If researches are to be believed the average person
in modern society breathes in and drinks hundreds of very tiny
particles of plastic every day, which causes a number of deadly
diseases like cancer, birth defects, brain damage and others. If a
government wants to tackle the problem, it needs to know whether or
not a proposed measure will be effective, and also to understand
whether or not the measure is disproportionately expensive. Does a
(legal) measure contribute to the reduction of plastic garbage in the
environment? Logically, it would help to first research the most
important sources of pollution. What, for example, are the ‘top ten’
plastic items found on a beach?
Individual sources need to be combatted with targeted solutions. If
research shows that there are a lot of balloon remnants on the beach,
then maybe it’s time to consider regulations that prohibit the mass
release of balloons into the sky during events. This approach is
normally well understood and supported by the general public, as
there is a clear link between the rules and the results. Combatting the
plague of empty plastic bottles through the introduction of a deposit
system is a telling example of this kind of approach.