Plastic Pollution

Nowadays there are many types of plastics, from organic polymers derived from petroleum-based chemicals. Most researchers and scientists look for innovation in developing multiple biological bases from which they can obtain plants for their plastic production. One point of consensus in both developing and developed countries is that plastic waste production is the biggest environmental problem today. Not only is the challenge huge, but it also poses health risks due to mankind’s interaction with plastic pollution. The State of the World report states that only nine percent (9%) of the world’s historical production of nine billion tons of plastic was recycled. Most of them end up in landfills, dumps and the environment, especially the oceans.

The research methodology applied included interacting with the plastics industry, environmentalists, medical practitioners, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Health and bottling companies. The paper is also based on visits to restaurants and event centres, examining nooks, crannies and drains.

Introduction

Plastic pollution is defined as the build-up of plastic particles and objects in various environments found on Earth, which adversely impacts humans, wildlife, and wildlife habitats. Therefore, pollutants are substances that harmfully affect the health, activities or lifespan of a particular population. Thousands of tons of pollutants are released into the atmosphere every day by natural events or human actions. Most harmful substances released into the atmosphere result from human actions. Plastics as pollutants can be subclassified into three levels of plastic pollution based on size: mega debris plastics, microplastics and micro debris plastics.

Mega and micro plastics are said to be concentrated in the highest density in the Northern Hemisphere under this current carrying debris and have been found offshore from some islands. Mega-plastics and micro-plastics are commonly used to produce packaging materials such as plastic bottles, bags, etc.; The items are later swept away by ships or end up in landfills. This type of plastic used in fishing is also found around remote islands. All of these are still known as microplastics, mesoplastics or macroplastics.

It is cheap and definitely durable. Therefore, the production of plastic is very high and its demand is increasing day by day. Human activities have the potential to destroy human life and natural ecosystems. However, this is experienced when plastics such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, etc. have their initial purpose only for packaging; After that, they are thrown away without regard to any future consequences. Such discarded plastic waste remains lying everywhere if disposed of improperly. They are harmful to wildlife, their habitat, humans and cause suffocation and foul smell. In three ways, plastic pollution affects land, water and oceans.

Most plastics have a chemical composition that makes them very resistant to many natural decomposition processes, and they take a long time to break down and decompose. Both factors together create a large amount of plastic pollution in the environment and adversely affect human health. The more the population grows, the more the demand for plastics increases, without considering what their usefulness is after disposal. It is still increasing because the amount of waste is increasing rapidly with human activity. The increasing number of disposable products like water bottles, soda cans and plastic bags are easily thrown away. However, the accumulation of such products has increased the levels of plastic pollution around the world.

Literature Reviews

Plastic waste is classified into two types, primary and secondary forms. Primary plastics are collected in their original form as soon as they are found. Examples are cigarette butts, microbeads, and bottle caps. In contrast, secondary plastics refer to smaller varieties, which result from the degradation of primary plastics.

The search for biodegradable plastics began in 1913, when a scientist from France and another scientist from Britain separately applied for patents on soy-based plastics. Competition between petrochemicals and agribusiness was really intense during this period, with each trying to displace the other and monopolize the production of plastics from organic polymers. Henry Ford, who built the first Ford motorcar, was a supporter of research into the development of bioplastics from soybeans. Using an axe, he could prove the strength of this arrangement with a car made of soy bioplastic, as per a photo from 1914. However, the easy availability of oil has long made petrochemical plastics the norm. Nowadays, under the anticipation of climate change and other environmental problems arising from the use of oil, chemists are trying their best to develop biodegradable and more green plastics from a variety of green polymers. Such bioplastics can be made from corn, soybeans, sugarcane, switchgrass, chicken feathers, and some components of waste. CO2 emissions from coal-burning power plants are envisioned for this bioplastic feedstock.

The science of making biopolymers depends on finding catalytic chemicals that will accelerate reactions by which chemists can polymerize organic-based chemicals without resorting to high temperatures. Proper selection and large-scale production can bring bioplastics, which are lighter, stronger and cheaper, and produce much less energy consumption and pollution per unit weight in the manufacturing process than traditional petroleum-based ones. Instead of landfilling, any waste packaging made from such bioplastics can be composted into soil conditioner materials in keeping with nutrient recycling principles of sustainability. Right now, Toyota is spending $38 billion on a process that will make plastics from plants, and by 2020, it hopes to control about two-thirds of the world’s supply of these bioplastics.

Across the United States alone, billions of metric tons of solid waste are dumped, burned, or buried each year. This includes 50 billion non-returnable cans and bottles. Half of the total is made up mostly of paper products. Solid wastes naturally undergo the recycling process within the ecosystem, while we humans bury them within the dark walls of landfills. Additionally, incinerators add heavy metals and other pollutants to the atmosphere and release highly toxic residual ash, which needs to be disposed of in a safe location. Both available land for landfill and land acceptable for landfill are becoming scarcer and scarcer. Eventually, all landfills “leak”, which poses a threat to groundwater supplies. This is one of the many reasons communities take a “not in my backyard” approach to landfills. However, most communities are now getting involved in recycling. You can help by refusing to buy unnecessarily over-boxed and wrapped items, as well as by recycling.

In fact, estimates suggest that the amount of plastic waste reaching the ocean from coastal communities each year ranges from 1.1 to 8.8 million metric tons (MT). Living organisms are subject to damage as a result of mechanical impacts, such as those related to ingestion of plastic waste or from becoming entangled in plastic objects, or from exposure to chemicals that interfere with their physiology. Among the effects on humans is the disruption of several hormonal mechanisms which will eventually lead to hormonal disorders. An estimate made by the year 2012 indicated that there was approximately 165 million tons of plastic pollution worldwide. Research shows that China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, among others, dump as much plastic into the ocean as the rest of the world combined.

According to an estimate, more than five trillion plastics of various sizes, from microplastics to large microplastics, mesoplastics and still microplastics, are floating in seawater. Garbage thrown on beaches is harmful to humans and marine life. The toxic substances that constitute the components of plastics are diethylhexyl phthalate, a toxic carcinogen, cadmium, mercury and lead. In the year 2018 alone, it produced around 380 million tonnes of plastic worldwide on an annual basis. Between 1950 and 2018, it is estimated that the world produced 6.3 billion tons of plastic, of which 9 percent was recycled while 12 percent was incinerated.

Thus, if the current patterns of consumption and waste management continue in the future also, it is estimated that by 2050, there will be a landfill and 12 million tonnes of plastic waste in other places worldwide. Till then, under the current trend of increasing plastic production, the industry can be 20% of the total oil consumption worldwide. Such a trend is a terrible threat to Nigerian environmentalists and hygiene agencies. Plastic is spread in every corner of major cities and towns. There are some plastic drinking bottles, food wrappers, plastic grocery bags, plastic bottle lids, straws and sterils, plastic lids, other types of plastic bags and foam-and-fired food containers. Like other advanced countries, Nigerians are trapped in the culture of throwing plastic as a disposable raw material, not considering it as a resource. Every day passengers throw plastic bottles on the roads. Indiscipline has reached a fever level. Wherever you turn, there is an environment with empty plastic that is harmful to the environment. Most plastic are not biodegradable. Instead, they slowly break into small parts, which are called micro plastic.

Therefore, necessary and great efforts have been made to reduce or reduce this prevalent, free-grain, plastic pollution by reducing plastic consumption, advocating plastic recycling and reducing garbage. Cameroon, among other countries of the world, who have banned non-biodigradeble plastic, studied the adverse effects of the use of such plastic shopping bags on the environment. Such plastic bags block roads and streets, blocking the sea and rivers. They create serious threats for wildlife. The use of these plastic bags consumes energy and non-renewable resources.

Read Also: