Sunil Seth
The pledge by the Prime Minister to clean India from its vices, be it Political, Social or Environment, has once again been reflected very strongly at “Howdy Modi” event. A clarion call to enforce ban on “Single use plastic” came into existence on 2nd of October too. The efforts to bring environmental concern into the minds of the people considering plastics as a major environmental pollutant, is being stressed upon at different platforms. In fact, it is the start of the end of plastic menace. We need to build momentum among all sectors to change our unsustainable production and consumption patterns too. Moreover, rapid urbanization and industrialization all over the world has resulted in large deposition of waste polymer material. ‘Single-Use-Plastic’ is polluting our oceans, damaging marine life there by threatening the human health. It is huge environmental and health issue. The fact that the big plastic degrade into small plastics, which get dissolved into the ocean and then the small particles are eaten up by fishes, which are then consumed by human beings. It’s in the air we breathe, water we drink and the food we eat .It has now become an Epidemic. Every year human settlements produce 1.3 billion tons worth of solid waste products; sufficient enough to encircle the Earth four times causing danger to mankind, sea birds and marine life. Use of the latest technology to tackle plastic pollution including micro plastics thereby reducing plastic pollution is need of the hour.
Fundamental Problem Starts with:-
Lack of responsibility from consumer goods companies for plastic pollution caused by their decisions, their products and their packaging. Big consumer companies are selling products indiscriminatingly wrapped in plastics without a second thought as to what will happen to the package when these new customers are finished with the product. And we see the result – Rivers of Plastic flowing to the ocean.
Plastic Pollution Facts:-
* Every year the world uses 500 billion plastic bags.
* Each year, at least 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans, the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute.
* In the last decade, we produced more plastic than in the whole last century.
* 50% of the plastic that we use is ‘single-use of disposables’.
* We buy one million bottles every minute.
* Plastic makes up 10% of all the waste we generate.
Disadvantages of Plastic:-
* Decomposition-Insoluble in water for 300 years: takes 500 years to decompose, especially 1000years for decomposition of Pet bottles.
* Hard to use-most of the time and is meant for single-use.
* Non-renewable-manufactured as by product of oil and natural gas material which otherwise can be used for heating houses and cooking foods.
* Difficult to Recycle.
* Non Bio-degradable but Photo de-gradable, means it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces, creating a plastic soup in the oceans.
So how do we solve it:-
Main focus should be on two strategies:-
* Cleaning the Oceans as it is the prime dumping space,
* Preventing the pollution in the first place. Lot is being done to clean the Oceans but these will do nothing if we don’t first stop the ongoing pollution at the source. The reality is that the only sound strategy to stop the Plastic pollution is the one that prevents it in the first place.
Real solutions to end Plastic Pollution:-
We need to work out the strategies to stem the tide of Plastic Pollution in both developed and developing world.
* Ditch single-use plastic/ minimize the use.
* Ban/substitute or innovate for eco friendly alternatives.
* Recycling and composting with a support system for zero waste.
* Storm water management to capture plastics before they enter the environment.
* Invest in solid waste management and recycling infrastructure.
* Ban on Plastic beads widely used in cosmetics, soaps and toothpastes which because of their small size can dip through treatment plants pollute rivers, lakes and finally oceans.
* Cook real food and say no to packaged food.
* Alternative to one billion plastic bottles reaching the ocean each year has been tested by Skipping Rocks Lab. The capsules made from a sea weed extract which is actually cheaper than plastic is an alternative to Plastic Water Bottles one of the biggest water pollution menaces and has already been tested in London.
I, being a Civil Engineer ought to bring before you the potential uses of recycled plastic as under.
* Use of Plastic Grains from unsorted plastic waste substituting gravel or sand for better bonding with Asphalt as Plasphalt for roads with better durability and resistance to seepage.
* Use of recycled plastic in Road construction increases the melting point of bitumen along with reduced seepage of water resulting in lesser road repairs.
* Use of recycled Plastics as building material can help in reducing CO2 emission in manufacturing of cement thereby reducing the percentage of cement used.
* Eco-Bricks from recycled plastic waste are viable alternative to conventional bricks with good specific strength, being light weight strong for the weight they bear, are earthquake resistant with short construction period; are low cost while contributing to environmental management.
Above all a new term “Garbology” has come into existence, to find new and exciting materials made out of stuff you did normally find as a landfill site. In future, we could end up re-using pretty much everything, as we did back when all waste was organic.
Legislations to be levied:-
* Like CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility);our efforts towards GSR (Green Social Responsibility) should say that if each and every one of us does at least one green deed daily; there will be billion of Green Good Deeds daily which in turn can lead to invention of green alternative to replace Plastic Menace.
* Under “Extended produces responsibility” levy on new plastics used by the Companies can be enforced for the creation of solid waste and recycling infrastructure in the developed as well as developing countries.
Our plea to get rid of plastic pollution should be “if you can’t reuse it, refuse it”
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