Plastic Bottle Problem

Plastic Bottle Problem

Introduction

The population of world has grown so much and this huge population is also producing a large amount of the garbage. In modern world and life, the disposable items like soda cans, snacks and plastic bottles of water or any other liquid are now become the necessities. However, the increase in usage of these products results in increasing ratios of the plastic contamination all over the world. The plastic material consists of major hazardous contaminants. These pollutants or contaminants pose a huge threat to the environment. These threats or harms might be either in a form of land, water and air pollution. The pollution caused by plastic bottles is always a debating topic. Nowadays, the problem of plastic bottle has turned out to be solemn problem in all over the world. Every year, there are billions of plastic bottles that ended up in oceans. The plastic bottles that are thrown in land sides and other places block the flow of drainage system. The plastic bottles that are thrown in drains can reach rivers and ended up in oceans. Plastic bottle do not degenerate by itself (Jambeck et al., 2015). It has a huge negative impact on environment and life of river species as well as oceans. It affects them in antagonistic mode. Due to this, thousands of mammals and birds are killed each year in all over the world. It is highly a critical and worrisome element in terms of the balance in environments.

Discussion

The degradation time of plastic bottles is about 500- 1000 years, however it is only estimation and no one knows the exact time of the degradation of plastic bottles. The use of plastic bottles has increased only from the past century. In the manufacturing process of the plastic bottles, numerous dangerous and risky emissions are produced that can cause the horrible and deadly disease or infections in human beings and other animals. Benzene, Xylene and Ethylene oxide are few of the hazardous toxins that are present in plastic. These toxins are affecting the environment very badly. It is very difficult to dispose the plastic bottle in a proper way. The plastic can result in a permanent damage to the living organisms. There are numerous additives like adipates, phthalates and alkylphenols in plastic are identified as toxic and harmful material. Another carcinogen component Vinyl chloride, a material used in manufacturing process of PVC pipes (Jambeck et al., 2015). The plastic pollution has affected the human health, environment and animals to much larger extent.

Effect on Humans

Most of the plastic bottles are made up of BPA or Bisphenol A. It used in manufacturing process of plastic to make it hard and clear. It is an endocrine disruptor and has been demonstrated as risky and toxic for the health of humans. This toxic chemical is responsible for risking the life of humans by infecting them with various diseases like difficulty in neurology, fertility issues in females, birth defect in newborns, early puberty in girls, different types of cancer (Sigler, 2014). The Bisphenol A enters into a human body specifically through the contact with plastic drinking bottles. The ratio of BPA is measured high in growing fetuses and placentas of pregnant females.

Effect on animals

Large number of plastic bottles cannot be recycled and the caps of bottles are currently not recyclable. These plastic bottles with or without their caps are settled down in the bed of the oceans. Many marine animals mistake them as their food and these plastic wastes end up in their stomachs. The recent example of the sea animal tragedy is of the albatross, found dead on the island of Hawaii. The stomach of albatross was full of the trash of plastic bottles and around 120 caps of bottle. The life of sea animal falls victim to this issue on regular basis. The death of sperm whale is another example. The sperm whale was recently found dead on a beach of North America. The plastic gallon bottle was gummed into its small intestines. The stomach of whale was full of plastic bag, plastic bottles and bottle caps (Sigler, 2014).

Effect on Environment

Some plastic water bottles are also made up of polyethylene terephthalate or PET which is a product of petroleum. In order to produce these types of plastic bottles, an excessive amount of fossil fuels is required. It is stated in a report that, in the era of 1970s, the United State was the largest oil exporter in the world, but these days U.S has become the largest importer. The recycling process of plastic bottles is very hard and tough. Out of huge number of the plastic bottles consumed in all over the world, many of them are made of material which is non-recyclable. There are very few plastic bottles companies which are manufacturing bottles with recycled material. The rest of the bottles end up in landfills, leaking hazardous chemicals into the soil. These bottles can be seen everywhere from parks to sidewalk, rivers and yards (Vince and Hardesty, 2017). These bottles are so dangerous to the environment that if these bottles are cut down into smaller chunks they will take more time in degrading or decomposing than human body.

Solution and Recommendations

Plastic pollution is a huge problem and developed countries are taking it seriously. There are some major solutions and recommendations to overcome this issue. The Reduce, Reuse and Recycle process can help in handling the issue.

Reduce

Reduce drinking water from bottles. A person can save his or her resources by drinking from water fountains or glasses rather than buying non-recycled plastic bottle. A person must always check and research for the water he or she is buying in plastic bottle, is pure or clean than tap water (Li, J. et al., 2015).

Reuse

In order to handle the pollution of plastic bottle a person should invest in BPA- free bottles that can be used again. He or she must carry a refillable bottle whenever he or she is on the go.

Recycle

A person can contribute in handling the issue by sorting the plastic bottles, which can be recycled at the municipality (Li, J. et al., 2015).

Moreover, it is the duty of the companies and authorities to work together to promote the use of recycle able material in plastic bottle. The material must not be harmful to the environment and human health (Duckett and Repaci, 2015). The international polices on this issue has also been introduced. By following these polices and rules marine pollution due to plastic can be overcome (Xanthos and Walker, 2017).

References

Duckett, P.E. and Repaci, V., 2015. Marine plastic pollution using community science to address a global problem.Marine and Freshwater Research,66(8), pp.665-673.

Jambeck, J.R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T.R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R. and Law, K.L., 2015. Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean.Science,347(6223), pp.768-771.

Li, J., Zeng, X., Chen, M., Ogunseitan, O.A. and Stevels, A., 2015. Control-Alt-Delete rebooting solutions for the e-waste problem.Environmental science technology,49(12), pp.7095-7108.

Sigler, M., 2014. The effects of plastic pollution on aquatic wildlife current situations and future solutions.Water, Air, Soil Pollution,225(11), p.2184.

Vince, J. and Hardesty, B.D., 2017. Plastic pollution challenges in marine and coastal environments from local to global governance.Restoration Ecology,25(1), pp.123-128.

Xanthos, D. and Walker, T.R., 2017. International policies to reduce plastic marine pollution from single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads) a review.Marine pollution bulletin,118(1-2), pp.17-26.

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