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    SOLEN IPC 0008 Plastics Are Everywhere

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    Moe Thazin Shwe

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    SOLEN IPC 0008 Plastics Are Everywhere

    Uploaded by

    Moe Thazin Shwe
    9 views2 pages

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    9 views2 pages

    SOLEN IPC 0008 Plastics Are Everywhere

    Uploaded by

    Moe Thazin Shwe

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Plastics are everywhere

    Plastics are made from petroleum and millions of tons of plastic waste are
    nonbiodegradable and inappropriately disposed thereby constituting sanitary and
    environmental nuisance to the society. When they are dumped into drainages and water
    bodies, the pollute the environment, contaminate aquatic habitats and harm aquatic
    animals. The plastic waste increases by approximately 5% a year continuously and
    another 33 billion tons of plastic will have accumulated by 2050(1). Plastic wastes
    become a planetary threat or global plastics crisis already by affecting nearly every
    marine and freshwater ecosystem globally. There are out of the 8.3 billion tons of plastics
    produced since the 1950 and 79% ended in landfills or leaked into the environment. From
    the Marina Trench to Mt. Everest, there is virtually no place on earth which is left
    untouched by plastic pollution (2).

    At least 14 million tons of plastic in the ocean and the most abundant
    type of litter in the ocean is plastic debris. 80% of all marine debris
    found from surface waters to deep sea sediments (3). Mostly, they are found
    near popular tourist destinations and densely populate areas. The main sources of plastic
    debris found in the ocean are land-based, coming from urban and stormwater runoff,
    sewer overflows, littering, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial
    activities, tyre abrasion, construction and illegal dumping and also originates primarily
    from the fishing industry, nautical activities and aquaculture. These plastic breaks down
    into small particles called microplastic and nano-plastic under the influence of solar UV
    radiation, wind, currents and other natural factors. The small size of the plastics makes
    them easy for marine life to ingest accidentally.

    Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris which cause


    severe injuries and death. Moreover, Researchers in Germany are warning that the
    impact of microplastics in soils, sediments and freshwater could have a long-term
    negative effect on such ecosystems. They say terrestrial microplastic pollution is much
    higher than marine microplastic pollution – estimated at four to 23 times higher,
    depending on the environment (4). Plastics are everywhere and we should emphasize to
    reduce plastic pollution by minimizing and stopping the use of plastic daily.

    Ref:
    1. C.M. Rochman, M.A. Browne, B.S. Halpern, et al., Classify plastic waste as
    hazardous, Nature, 494 (7436) (2013), pp. 169-171
    2. https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/plastics-and-the-
    environment/
    3. https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution
    4. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/plastic-planet-how-tiny-plastic-
    particles-are-polluting-our-soil

    By: Moe Thazin Shwe, SOLEN Research Associate – IPC panel member
    Edited by: Hendra WINASTU, SOLEN Principal Associate – IPC panel coordinator
    Date: 18 January 2023
    Article#: SOLEN-IPC-0008

    Photo source: Rubbish left on Mount Everest. Photo taken in 1993


    PIERRE ROYER/AFP via Getty Images (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260499-
    microplastic-pollution-discovered-near-the-top-of-mount-everest/)

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