PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT 

1-OVERVIEW:

The word “plastic” comes from the Greek word “plastikos,” which means “fit for molding.” This is the term used to describe a material’s ability to be cast, pressed, or produced into a wide range of shapes throughout the manufacturing process, including films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more.
The word “plastics” is often used to refer to a broad category of semi-synthetic or synthetic materials that have a vast and expanding range of applications. Plastics, like wood, paper, or wool, are biological materials. Natural resources including cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and crude oil are the primary materials utilized to make plastics.

1.1-Plastic History

At the London International Exhibition, Alexander Parkes presented the first artificial plastic in history in 1862. Parks discovered “Parkesine,” as it was termed while attempting to create a synthetic waterproofing material that would replace wood and horn.

1.2-Annual Global Plastic Production

Just 2 million tons were generated annually worldwide in 1950. Since then, yearly production has grown by about 200 times, with over 350 million tons produced in 2018. To put things in perspective, this is about the same mass as two-thirds of the global population.

The chart shows the increase in global plastic production, measured in tones per year, from 1950 through to 2018

1.3: Making Use of Plastic

There are several applications for plastics worldwide. Global plastic output doubles every ten years, with each person producing around 50 kg of plastic yearly. Food packaging, including sachets, beverage bottles, coffee cup lids, and wrappers; smoking products, including cigarette butts; and home items, like shampoo and laundry detergent bottles, were the most often discovered product kinds in plastic garbage from all over the world. Over 14,000 people kept track of the materials.

1.4-Advantages of Using Plastic

The growth in the use of plastic is due to its beneficial properties which include:

1.5-Plastic Pollution

Plastic pollution is caused by the accumulation of plastic waste in the environment. It can be categorized as primary plastics, such as cigarette butts and bottle caps, or secondary plastics, resulting from the degradation of the primary ones. It can also be defined by its size, from microplastics to macroplastics. Macroplastics are relatively large particles of plastic found especially in the marine environment typically more than about 5 mm long. Microplastics are small plastic pieces less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life.

Plastic pollution can take different forms including:

• The accumulation of waste
• The    accumulation of marine litter, fragments or micro particles of plastics, and non-biodegradable fishing nets, which continue to trap wildlife and waste
• Waste causing the death of animals by ingestion of plastic objects
• The arrival of micro-plastics and micro-beads of plastics from cosmetic and body care products.

1.6-Major Plastic Polluters

Plastic pollution is one of the most severe environmental problems in the world, and multinational companies are largely to blame, according to a new report. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé named the world’s top plastic polluters for the third year in a row, facing increasing criticism for their lack of action.

2- NEED TO REDUCE PLASTIC WASTE

Plastic is everywhere. It is strong, light, cheap, and very versatile. Plastics are inexpensive, lightweight, and durable materials, which can readily be molded into a variety of products that find use in a wide range of applications. The majority of plastic waste does not get reused or recycled and experts believe that 50% of plastic is single-use, meaning it is used once before being discarded. Single-use plastic includes plastic water bottles, plastic packaging, plastic grocery bags, etc.

Plastic waste needs to b recycled because it has greater impacts on the environment, animals, humans, etc. like;

• It pollutes our oceans
• Plastic kills marine animals and birds when it accumulates in the body tissues of them
• Plastic disturbs our food chain as plastic has the potential to transfer toxic substances to the food chain
• Plastic never goes away simply breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces like microplastics
• Plastic kills 1 million seabirds and up to 100,000 marine life creatures each year globally In fact, 52% of turtles and 44% of sea birds are estimated to have ingested plastic
• 80% of marine plastic pollution comes from land and 50% is single-use Plastics
• A straw we use for a few minutes takes up to 200 years to break and until then it can injure and possibly kill animals
• Only 9% of plastic produced globally has ever been recycledSimply recycling is not a solution, so we need to change our consumption habits right now to give clean-up efforts a chance

The 4Rs are a simple way of reducing plastic waste. Each step provides us with a different way of considering what we use and how we dispose of waste. Every step has a clear focus on educating us. It helps us to identify the changes we can make.

3- FOUR(4), Rs to reduce plastic waste

1. Refuse
2. Reduce
3. Reuse
4. Recycle

3.1-Refuse

We can cut down on our waste simply by refusing to buy individually packaged items and single-use plastics. To refuse plastic we should:

• Carry our own reusable bag instead of plastic bag
  1. Pick up our drink glass and avoid the straw

• Avoid mineral water bottles since they neither have minerals nor is their water quality any better than filtered water
  • Avoid individual packaging
  • Refuse containers for storing leftovers
  • Avoid buying frozen foods because their packaging is mostly plastic

3.1.1-Banning of plastic bags in Islamabad:

In Pakistan, each year, 30 million tons of solid waste are produced, out of which nine percent are plastics. Here, 55 billion plastic bags are per year produced. Plastic bags cause 11.18% environmental pollution. But recently the government announced a ban on disposable plastic bags in Islamabad and introduced reusable bags. It was also announced that a fine would be imposed on manufacturers and users of plastic bags. This step is taken to refuse plastic waste in order to protect the environment.

3.2-Reduce

The most effective way to reduce plastic pollution is to not create plastics in the first place. In first step is refusing plastic, we have to avoid the use of plastics and we should use alternatives to minimize pollution, as much of the world’s plastic output is manufactured into single-use objects, such as drinking straws, food packaging, and food-related objects, such as cups, carryout containers, shrink wrap and plastic bags, so to prevent plastic waste the best alternative is the introduction of bioplastic in market. So if we use bioplastic then there will be less harm to the environment.

3.2.1-Bioplastic

Bioplastic simply refers to plastic made from plant or other biological material instead of petroleum. It is also often called bio-based plastic. It can either be made by extracting sugar from plants like corn and sugarcane to convert it into polylactic acids (PLAs), or it can be made from polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) engineered from microorganisms. PLA plastic is commonly used in food packaging, it’s the cheapest source of bioplastic. It’s the most common type and is also used in plastic bottles, utensils, and textiles. while PHA is often used in medical devices like sutures and cardiovascular patches.

Benefits of bioplastics:

1. Bioplastics are biodegradable and degrade into carbon dioxide, water, biomass or mineral salts when exposed to air, moisture, and microbes.
   1. Bioplastics do produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional plastics over their lifetime.
   1. There is no net increase in carbon dioxide when they break down because the plants that bioplastics are made from absorb that same amount of carbon dioxide as they grow.

3.3-Reuse

We can reuse plastic mainly bottles into a number of creative and useable products like:

1. Reuse Coffee Creamer Containers for Snack Storage
2. Make a Plastic Bottle Planter
3. Upcycle Laundry Detergent Bottles Into a Watering Can
4. Create an herb garden from empty bottles
5. Turn Plastic Bottle Trash Into a Trash Can
6. Reuse Soda Bottles by Creating a Vertical Garden

3.4-Recycle

One good way to stem the production of plastic is to recycle plastic that has already been produced and use it to make new products. Plastic recycling has become more advanced in recent years and is always becoming more efficient. Fortunately, a lot of plastic can be remade into new products. Plastic waste recycling reduces our need for more fossil fuels and saves energy, landfill space, and emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We all are well familiar with the steps involved in recycling plastic waste like collecting, sorting, shredding, washing, melting, and pelletizing after which the new products are formed.

3.4.1-Technological Uses of recycled plastic waste

1.      Plastic Waste for 3D Printer Filament:

3D printing filament is created by using a process of heating, extruding, and cooling of plastic. This is the best way of reducing plastic waste.

2.      Plastic Fuel:

Fuel formation from plastic has been trending because this process solves the plastic waste problem. Collected plastic waste is shredded and then poured into an oxygen-free chamber that is set to 400 degrees Celsius. Plastic starts melting and entails gas and fuel which are separated in the distilled and filtered stages. The fuel type and its quality vary depending on the type of plastic used.

3.      Plastic Waste as Road Construction Material:

This process comprises four major steps Segregation, Cleaning, Shredding, and Collection. Plastic waste with a maximum thickness of 60 microns is collected and then cleaned and dried. Dried waste is shredded and added to the heated aggregate in equal amounts. Right off the bat, hot Bitumen has to be added to the plastic and aggregate mixture to use on the road.

4- PLASTIC POLLUTION CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES

The severity of plastic pollution is now well-recognized and Given the human and environmental hazardous nature of the Plastic pollution problem, both for-profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are trying to reduce the negative impacts of plastic pollution by developing new technologies designed to remediate plastic pollution in the environment.

Some of the technologies from the plastic pollution control inventory are

4.1-The interceptor

The Interceptor is the answer to The Ocean Cleanup project for the river plastic waste. It is said that it is the first up-scale solution to prevent plastic waste from entering the oceans of the world from rivers.

This machine is 100% solar-powered. It removes plastic autonomously. It is hypothesized that it is capable of operation in the majority of the world’s most polluted rivers. The Interceptor has been designed for mass production and can be applied virtually anywhere in the world.

Working: The debris from the water source enters the Interceptor with the natural current of the river. All the electronic devices on the Interceptor, comprising the conveyor belt, shuttle, lights, sensors, and data transmission, are solar-powered. The Interceptors are connected via the internet, allowing continuous performance and collection of data. This enables the Interceptor introducing the company to automatically notify local operators once the dumpsters are full.

4.2-Net-Tag

The estimated 640,000 tonnes of old fishing ropes, lines, and nets are discarded or lost every year. According to Greenpeace, it’s one of the ocean’s worst forms of plastic pollution because of its power to ensnare almost anything, from crustaceans to whales. Low-cost transponders called Net Tag are invented that will allow fishers to locate and recover lost nets. There’s a whole project set up to try to reduce and prevent marine litter by using transponders. There are organizations working on it too that encourage the use of these Net tags and even if the fishers cannot collect the ghost nets, the organization will do it itself.

4.3-Plastic-Eating Worms May Cut Pollution

Researchers may have found an unusual way to reduce plastic pollution, one bite at a time. It turns out that the common wax worm can eat plastic. Also known as the Galleria mellonella, these worms may help reduce the waste caused by plastic bags. Its discovery was accidental, as a researcher and beekeeper made the discovery that after removing the worms from beehives, where they live and put into a plastic shopping bag, the plastic bag became full of holes. The worms can “do damage to a plastic bag in less than an hour. Plastic is not the natural food for the wax worm. Researchers say they still need to better understand how wax is digested, or processed, in the worm. Finding that out could lead to a solution for dealing with plastic waste.

5-Environmental Impact of Plastic

Toxic substances are released into the soil when plastic bags perish under sunlight and, if plastic bags are burned, they release a toxic substance into the air causing ambient air pollution. Waste from plastic bags poses a serious environmental danger to human and animal health. If plastic bags are not properly disposed of, they can impact the environment by causing littering and stormwater drain blockages. Plastics have been identified as a problem in the marine environment since the 1970s, but the issue of plastic pollution in marine and freshwater environments has only recently been identified as a global problem. It is estimated by National Geographic that only 9% of plastic gets recycled. The remaining 91% ends up in our landfills and increasingly within our oceans. Each year we produce over 300 million tons of plastic with 10 % of this ultimately ending up in the sea.

5.1-Alternatives of Plastic bags

The best way to protect the earth from plastics is to replace them with more eco-friendly materials, Metal, wood, and glass. One of the best ways to get rid of plastic in your home or business is to choose products made from more traditional materials like metal, wood, or glass that are cleaner to manufacture and easier to dispose of.

1. Cotton Bags: A cotton bag, for example, must be used over a hundred times to really be environmentally friendly.
2. Canvas Bags: Thicker and stronger alternatives to plastic bags, canvas bags made of cotton are actually more durable and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
3. Jute Bags: Another alternative to plastic is the good old Jute bag. They are stronger, more durable, and bio-degradable. These inexpensive bags can degrade biologically in two years.

6-Control Measures

1. Avoid single-use plastics such as drinking straws.
2. If you go shopping, remember to take a cloth bag.
3. Recycle chewing gum… it’s also made of plastic!
4. Buy more bulk food and fewer packaged products.
5. Replace plastic Tupperware with glass or steel containers.
6. When hanging out washing use wooden pegs instead of plastic ones.
7. Make those around you aware of the importance of reducing the consumption of plastic.
8. Pay attention and put your plastic waste in the correct recycling container.
9. Choose to reuse and give some of the packaging a new purpose.

Also read: Environmental Awareness