Traveling in the Delhi Metro around the “World Environment day” this year, I happened to come across a thought provoking quotation, “Only we humans make waste that nature can’t digest”! True to its words, one of the major threats to Planet Earth is already knocking on our door in the form of the long lasting ‘Plastic Invasion’. As per the studies and recent data by the premier organizations across the globe, the upward trend of plastic accumulation on the planet is threatening and worrisome. Plastic being a long lasting, lightweight, durable material can be easily manufactured in good numbers with low inputs has resulted in the over production and voracious consumption of the non degradable mess.
The origin: Plastics are primarily bulky polymers of carbon compounds. It is mainly obtained from fractional distillation of crude oil at lower boiling points. The placement of monomers (it’s units) is different for it’s different variants. With this knowledge, countless varieties of plastic can be synthesized. The plastic industry, off lately, has been aggressively expanding it’s foot print and their demand is perpetual. They are predominantly used by industries due to their inert properties and cheaper manufacturing cost, making it the most extensively used item for packaging. Plastics have become so well ingrained into our lives that it is hard to imagine a world without one!
The first plastics were derived from natural substances like eggs and blood proteins. These were biodegradable plastics that decomposed quicker than present day plastics. However, the modern plastics era began in 1907 with Leo Baekeland’s invention of Bakelite, world’s first synthetic plastic, now used in the manufacture of insulators, kitchenware, jewelries and toys. Events like Industrial Revolution and World Wars drew plastics into mainstream usage. Since then, the plastic industry has seen an incessant growth.
How long does a plastic waste survive:
Picture this, a polythene bag will take anywhere between 10 to 20 years to completely degrade. And for the Cola bottles, it could take about centuries. For other plastic items, the reality is worse, with some taking more than 1000 years to decompose. Going by this trend, the plastic waste accumulated across the world is only expected to grow as the time advances.
Plastic Islands, the alarming reality: A diminutive 9% of world’s plastic is recycled every year, with the rest hanging around in our environment. Of all the plastic that has ever been produced till date, only 12 percent has been incinerated. The rest of the chunk floats around in the oceans, gradually coagulation to form a large mass of humongous plastic bodies called “Plastic Islands”. One such mass, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, thrice the size of France has been spotted floating between Hawaii and California, is snowballing by each passing year.
Large chunks of garbage generated every day end up in landfills or oceans where they break into microscopic particles, that renders the land unproductive and affects marine life. These micro-plastics have climbed into in our plates via food chains. A major study also revealed that roughly 70 percent of drinking water across the world contains plastic, the stats being variable for each country. The numbers are worse for bottled water ironically sold for their mark of purity. The fact that plastics have made their way into our bodies speaks volumes about the gravity of the mess we’ve created.
The Recycling: Not just the first world countries are on rampant consumption of plastic items, a recent report on plastics revealed that Thailand is, surprisingly, the biggest consumer of plastic in the world. The reports further suggest that More than half the plastic waste dumped into the world’s oceans every year have sources in China and South East Asia. That, being said, makes third world countries the bigger contributors of plastic waste in the world. A lot can be attributed to the informal waste management system in such countries where garbage is quickly done away with by either land filling or dumping the wastes in open oceans. Recycling units are costly affairs for countries that survive largely on imported technologies. Hence the lax in opting for methods of waste reduction by third world countries.
On the contrary, India recycles close to 90 percent of it’s polyethylene terephthalate or PET bottle wastes every year, transcending countries like Japan, Europe and US.
As first world countries, these nations must help their needy counterparts when it comes to the environmental issues. They must equip the third world countries with recycling units and impose stricter laws at international platforms for accountability of plastic wastes.
What authorities do: The government of India has made several attempts to inculcate good practices that promote recycling of plastics. Awareness campaigns on segregation of plastic wastes, promoting usage of paper bags, ban on plastic bags less than 20 micron in thickness are some of the initiatives that are being put to practice.
Many states have introduced and faltered on the initiative of plastic bans in the past. States like Tamil Nadu, that announced comprehensive ban on plastic items, this “World Environment Day”, have made similar announcements prior to this. The ban is rendered ‘merely symbolic’ when no punitive measures are taken to punish the defaulters. Around every “World Environment Day”, or when global environmental concerns gather consciousness, such bans are given a fresh lease and implemented with the same loopholes time and again.
The little thing that we can do:
1. Recycle: If we are yet to figure out sustainable ways to get rid of our plastic wastes, we must focus on recycling what we have already produced. There are organizations dedicated to this practice. The plastic recycling industry looks promising with rising global concerns for a pollution free world.
2. Biodegradable Plastic Bags: They look like plastic bags, but degrade way quicker than those: within 180 days of being discarded. These bags are made from starch and vegetable oil and can be ingested safely by cows or strays. Some take even less than a week to break down without traces of toxins released. The bag, costing marginally higher than it’s plastic cousin, has been discovered very recently.
3. Waste segregation: Formalization of waste management can help us in segregation of plastic wastes that make way into the water bodies or landfills and cause environmental damage. The plastic wastes here are segregated from the biodegradable wastes and kept in separate bins. The biodegradable wastes proceed for landfills where they can decompose within days and enrich the soil. The plastic wastes, on the other hand, are recycled and sold in the markets.
Apart from the above, we can opt for greener alternatives in our daily life and spread the word about it. Chances are, your friends will be inspired by your ideas and include the greener alternates in their daily lives as well. In the coming century, the industry for greener alternates is sure to bloom due to growing concern for the planet. Things like durable eco plates made from dead leaves instead of thermocol plates, bringing your own carry bags to super marts, purchasing basics from brands that aggressively practice greener initiatives, focus on inclusion of biodegradable items are just a handful of things we can do to save our planet before it is too late.
