Plastic pollution is a major issue that we, as a planet, are dealing with. The accumulation of plastic contaminants in nature is what plastic pollution could be described as.
What is ‘Plastic pollution’ and how has it come about?
Plastic is known as rather a widely used material for many purposes. We have considered plastic to be a controversial material, based on its usability, importance and impacts. This material has been used across industries and has been quite useful over the past decades or even centuries. Plastic has been entrusted as a reliable material due to its longevity in use and the ability to easily transform this material into any form we desire. But as good as it sounds, plastic has turned out to create quite harmful effects on the environment through numerous ways.
Plastic pollution is mainly traced down to the improper manner of disposing/ discarding of plastic. As a material which takes up to 200 years or more to decay, items made of plastic tend to linger around for decades. And this has been proved to hold a negative impact on nature.
“An estimated 8 million tons of plastic enters our oceans every year.”
https://www.condorferries.co.uk/marine-ocean-pollution-statistics-facts
This issue has come to be, due to two main factors; improper plastic disposal and the low rate of plastic degrading.
The high tolerance levels of plastics are based on the ingredients it’s created from, and this contributes towards the low degradation rate of plastic. And this issue has not only affected land, but also has found its way to the depths of the oceans, threatening the aquatic life forms as well.
As a motion to reduce or minimize and control the adverse effects caused by plastic pollution, many organisations have pledged to abide and set an objective to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, which would help in controlling the environmental impact caused by various pollutants, including plastic pollution.
On the search to find a starting point to solve this issue, companies have shifted many plastic based utilities to alternative solutions, by changing product packages, plastic based materials in products, plastic accessories and utilities.
However, if we review the rates of ocean and land pollution through the year 2020, we still see a rise in the factual and estimated statistics.
It has now become the responsibility for each individual and corporate to play a vital role in battling plastic pollution. Especially for organisations which produce goods based on plastics.
Have you taken a stance against this global issue?