Plastic waste is a collection of plastic items and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags, and microbeads) in the Earth’s environment that negatively affects wildlife, its habitat, and humans. Plastics that act as pollutants are classified as small, medium, or large waste, depending on size. Plastics are inexpensive and durable which makes them adaptable to different uses due to their flexibility for various plastic designs; as a result, industries naturally produce more plastics. However, the chemical composition of many plastics enables them to withstand many natural destructive processes, hence they are slow to degrade. Together, these two substances allow large amounts of plastic production pollution to enter the environment as uncontrolled waste and to continue in the ecosystem.
Plastic pollution can affect the land, waterways, and seas. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 tons of plastic waste enter the sea from coastal communities each year. It is estimated that there are 86 million tons of sewage in the world at the end of 2013, with an estimated 1.4% of the world’s plastics produced from 1950 to 2013 entering the sea and accumulating there. Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there may be more plastic in weight than sea fish by weight.
The Oakland Recycling Association submitted an analysis of the toxic chemical load that relied heavily on information from EPA data, particularly the Toxics Release Inventory. This information was limited because manufacturers within the “plastic mixing sector” did not submit reports. However, available data showed that more toxic emissions entered the air, with the plastics industry accounting for 14% of the national average. Of the top ten manufacturers listed for total releases, seven products are made of plastic. Notable emissions of toxic chemicals are included:
- Trichloroethane
- Acetone
- Methylene chloride
- Methyl ethyl ketone
- Styrene
- Toluene
- Benzene
- Trichloroethane
If you are looking to produce plastic products, such as water bottles and packaging, it is important to know these chemicals and enquire with your plastic bottle manufacturer. Other major plastic production pollution to know includes sulfur oxides, nitrous oxides, methanol, ethylene oxide, and flexible organic compounds. Less visible but worse is the pollution caused by the production of plastic frames. As ethylene is polished, the active mixture is purified by aqueous caustic solutions that become highly polluted. The purification process uses waste minimization methods, but the emission of the point air is still high due to the natural difficulty in handling the large flow of compressed gases. PET resin production produces toxic emissions (nickel, ethylbenzene, ethylene oxide, benzene) rather than production glass. Producing 16 oz. A PET bottle produces more than a hundred times more toxic emissions than can be made in the same size as a glass bottle.
Hazards caused by plastic production pollution on worker’s health
In addition to creating safety problems during production, many chemical additives that provide plastic products with attractive performance properties also have adverse effects on the environment and human health. These effects include direct toxicity, such as in the form of lead, cadmium, and mercury; or carcinogens, such as in the case of diethyl hexyl phosphate (DEHP). Troubled chemicals are used such as plasticizers, antioxidants, colorants, flame retardants, heat stabilizers, and protective agents. One type of resin can be mixed with many such additives, adding complexity to the chemical structure and possibly producing new classes of incompatible structures within the simple SPI residual code. People are exposed to these chemicals not only during manufacturing but also by using plastic packages because some chemicals diffuse (migrate) from the packaging polymer to the foods they contain. Migration potential exists for traces of monomers, oligomers, additives, stabilizers, plasticizers, lubricants, anti-static nucleating agents, and reaction products of the polymer or its additives. Such substances may be toxic.
Solid waste caused during production
Curbside plastics collection programs are being carried out in part by the desire to reduce solid municipal waste. Indeed, much of the waste-disposal legislation focuses on building mechanisms that will divert municipal waste from recycling or dumping sites. These plans include container deposit rules and land use reduction laws. Importantly, such measures do not solve the problem of overheating or reducing the production of plastic. Only limited resources can do this. Germany recognized the need to take advantage of aggressive resource depletion and passed a law requiring all plastic manufacturers to arrange for the disposal of discarded packages, usually on sale, like a supermarket. This requirement has encouraged the industry to reduce packaging. But not every country has the resources to do this. Much waste is produced during production apart from gases and in solid form. Much of which is not disposed of completely or rightly.
Addressing our plastic waste problem requires a fundamental change in thinking about how plastics are made, used, and disposed of, say two new studies. The global plastic waste management campaign is one of the fastest-growing environmental causes ever. However, it is not enough to make a dent in a growing ton of discarded plastic that ends up in the sea.
