Human-discarded plastics have the potential to enter the marine ecosystem. When marine animals mistake them for food, they consume them, starving and killing them. Microplastics and chemicals get into rivers and oceans as a result of many nations' lack of hygienic landfills and recycling facilities. Governments must take action to put an end to this worldwide calamity.
Although plastics have greatly influenced our world, their manufacture and disposal have a negative impact on the environment. Chemicals and microplastics seep into rivers and the ocean when they are disposed. Every step of the value chain—origin, manufacturing, usage, and disposal—needs to address this pollution since it endangers human health and marine life. The terrible problem of plastics in our oceans is being tackled by the Centre for Biological Diversity. In addition to harming wildlife, our plastic pollution taints the water we consume. Chemicals from entanglements and plastic waste that marine creatures absorb cause harm and death. Birds and seals that consume plastics risk poisoning and digestive system blockage. We produced more plastic in the first ten years of this century than we did in the entire previous century, and the majority of it ended up in our oceans. Because of this, we must halt this harmful and wasteful production before it's too late.
A significant amount of plastic ends up in the environment and the world's oceans, even if only 10% of it is landfilled. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains that this is because plastics that get up in their rivers frequently leak into the ocean and low-income nations typically have poorly managed garbage systems. Water supplies become contaminated when plastics in landfills combine with chemicals and sink to the bottom of the earth. Furthermore, buried plastics release greenhouse gas emissions and draw in disease-carrying scavengers like rats. We are not recycling plastic, even when we believe we are. The majority of plastic that is gathered for recycling is not recycled; instead, it is landfilled or openly disposed of (often illegally). The reason is that so-called "advanced recycling," which essentially entails melting plastics to create new, less expensive products and energy—which releases emissions that contribute to global warming—is being promoted by the plastics industry and the petrochemical sector, which provides the fossil fuel ingredients used to make plastics.
Plastics enable everyone to buy necessities like computers, TVs, and cell phones, as well as cars, homes, healthcare, and other items. Because of its robustness and longevity, there is less of a need for replacements, which uses less energy and resources. Plastics also save freight expenses because of their very light weight. They are utilised in food packaging, which lowers waste, food loss, and carbon emissions by extending the shelf life of food and minimising spoilage. However, there is a price associated with adopting plastics despite its advantages. Fossil fuels must be extracted and used to make plastics, which releases toxic gases into the atmosphere. Furthermore, the chemicals that are added to plastics have the potential to leach into the environment and endanger people's health. Moreover, plastics do not biodegrade, as was already established. They decompose into microplastics that marine creatures can consume, which then make their way up the food chain to larger fish and marine mammals, and ultimately to humans who consume seafood.
Ocean plastics pose a hazard to marine life. When marine animals consume plastic waste, the pieces can poison them with chemicals that are concentrated on the debris's surface and block their digestive processes. When we eat seafood that has been tainted with plastic, some of these poisons also transfer from animals to us. Ecosystems can suffer from plastic pollution as well, which can change habitats and interfere with natural processes. It may lessen ecosystems' capacity to adapt to other stresses like biodiversity loss and climate change, endangering human livelihoods, food security, and general well-being. Land-based sources such as industrial activity, tyre abrasion, illegal dumping, urban and stormwater runoff, littering, and sewer overflows account for the majority of plastic waste. Due to ineffective waste management practises, a greater amount of improperly disposed of plastic ends up in rivers and the ocean in low- to middle-income nations. In the end, preventing the production of plastic garbage is the only way to completely eradicate it.
