What is plastic pollution?

What is plastic pollution?

Plastic Pollution is the accumulation of plastic wastes in the Earth's environment. It is also one of the most urgent environmental issues we are facing today as the world is engulfing in plastic wastes.

Usage of Plastics that used to be an easy, economical alternative to most of the materials decades back has now become one of the biggest threats to our health and the Eco-system.

As we are aware of the recent decision taken by the Indian government regarding the ban on usage of plastic bags all over the country, which can make us curious about, "What exactly made our government take such a concrete step?
   So for that, we have come with some not so known facts regarding Plastic products and it's harmful effects.

About 40% of the plastics are plastic bags and packaging. This kind of short term use and long term dumping as waste are causing an immense threat to our future wellbeing.

About 75% of the plastics stick around and cause huge damage to our ecosystem. Rest 25 % are either recycled or burned. The burned plastic also produces toxic gases in the environment.

Harmful Effects of Plastic Products

1. Plastic bags kill about 100,000 animals(whales, dolphins, turtles, penguins) annually. The main effect is the ingestion of plastic that affects the whole food chain of the marine ecosystem.

2. Plastic products are very slow to decompose and are non-biodegradable, it takes about 1500 years to completely decompose.

3. Harmful chemicals and solid wastes are released during the manufacturing of plastics.

The burning of plastics releases toxic gases like mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls.

4. Toxic chemicals coming out of plastic cause various types of cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, and other types of health-related issues.

What are the factors that contribute to plastic pollution?

There are many factors that directly or indirectly contribute to plastic pollution in bare lands, aquatic bodies, and even in human bodies. First and the foremost factor is population.

An area with a high population is most likely to be highly affected by plastic pollution. Due to this reason, most Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India are the most infamous countries in the contribution of plastic pollution.

Another major factor is the industrialization of a country that affects plastic pollution and pollution caused due to the usage of plastic or manufacturing of the plastic.

Absence of natural resources also contributes in the usage of plastics.

Out of all the causes discussed, negligence is the biggest cause of plastic pollution. More than 80% of the plastic pollution comes from household waste. The poorly recycled, dumping on lands, pushed by rains into the sewer and rivers are causing the real problem as plastic pollution.

Now let us learn about the manufacturing of plastic bags. The easy in manufacturing, its usage, and its significance on the economic basis make plastic bags the most popular in packaging industries. The replacement of plastic bags is not an easy task, considering its handiness.

Manufacturing of Plastic bags

1. Plastic bags, we use are made up of granules of linear polyethylene resin that would be melted then mixed with other granules to make a homogenous material.

2.  The polyethylene, which we use for plastic bags are derived from refined oil and natural gas from underground through the drilling process.

3.  The raw oil is sent through pipes to a refinery. Petroleum separates at these sites into different - different densities so that the appropriate oil needed for plastic can extracts. (The densities we get depends upon the amount of temperature and pressure we apply)

4. The blow extrusion process is the process of making the plastic film. In this process, raw material like HDPE and LDPE are again pressurized and heated to form a uniform molten liquid. The air is blown from below to produce a long thin balloon of plastic film that passes through a vertical corridor.

5. The plastic bags are rolled on the roller for further processes like printing, cutting, and pasting.

Some Benefits of Plastics

Considering the harm plastic is causing to our planets really means that "no plastic is equal to a better world?". The answer is it's complicated. Most of the products that we use today are earlier used to be the product of wood. That clearly means cutting trees. Which is again a huge damaging act on the environment, maybe more than the usage of plastic. The more or less is a topic of research and discussion, but surely, the other way round is also not safe completely.

We need to understand that not all plastic products are terrible as they are handy also there are some benefits humans have enjoyed over the last few decades. Plastic revolutionized medicine system with some life-saving devices.

Plastics helped in making space travel possible. lightened transportation vehicles like cars, buses, and jets saving fuel and pollution. It also saved lives with helmets, airbags, and equipment for clean drinking water.

Unless each government treats it as a global problem, this problem can not be solved. The pace in industrialization development in countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam are causing huge plastic pollution.

In the end, your individual daily action is what really matters, therefore, it is important to refuse disposable plastics.

Let us now understand what is plastics? Source of plastic and types of plastics with the application of each type.

What are the Plastics?

      Along with knowing plastic pollution, we should also have a complete understanding of plastics and its types. Hardly there is any day we spend without the use of plastic, this much is the significance of plastic is in our life. Anyone who brushes his teeth cannot deny this fact. Not many people know it, we get plastics from crude oil.

    Development and Infrastructure go hand in hand with plastic. It has proved to be equally fatal and hazardous for the environment and nature. Therefore, It is now most important to replace the usage of plastics with some other material for the future well-being of a human.

    On the basis of the source of plastic, there are two types of plastics.

1. Synthetic Plastic, we get from crude oil, natural gas, and coal.
2. Bioplastics, which are made up of starch, carbohydrates, recycled food waste, woodchips, renewable biomass sources.

There are seven types of plastics

1. PET (polyethene terephthalate) - Polyester -  Most cooldrink and water bottles.
2. HDPE (high-density polyethylene) - Less squeezable
3. PVC (Polyvinyl chloride)
4. LDPE (low-density polyethylene) - More squeezable
5. PP (Polypropylene)
6. PS( Polystyrene)
7. Others - Polycarbonates, nylon, fibreglass etc.

What is Plastic called in other languages?

• In Spanish plastico
• Italian plastica.
• French plastique
• German plastik
• Japanese purasuchikku
• Korean peullaseutig
• Chinese Suliao
• Turkish plaastik

Today's One Point News.

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