PLASTIC MENACE

From Sampath’s Desk:

 

 

  

  

PLASTIC MENACE

 

A few years prior to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Central and State governments in India had slapped a ban on single-use plastic items. With the focus currently on ending the unprecedented worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, the issue of toxically noxious plastic items now stands relegated to the back-burner.

 

It is really unfortunate that only 9% of plastic items produced since the 1950s have been recycled and the rest remain untouched with all sorts of nuisance value including pollution. But there can be no denial of the fact that plastic when invented was thought to be a magic-cum-dream-come-true product with its universal and versatile use as packing material, utensils, and a host of other goods including home products. However, the recycling percentage is abysmally and woefully low.

 

Every year, the world uses up to 5 trillion plastic bags, and at least 13 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans, the equivalent of a full garbage truck every minute. In the last few decades, we produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century. At least half of the plastic we use is single-use or disposable. We buy one million plastic bottles every minute and they make up for 10% of all the wastes we generate.

 

To recall an unpleasant incident, some years back when a cyclone hit India’s Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Capital, Mumbai, tons and tons of plastic wastes the humans had earlier dumped into the Arabian Sea were pushed ashore and they remained strewn all over the metropolis for a few days. It took more than a week for the municipal authorities to clear the garbage that mostly contained plastic throwaways dumped into the sea earlier. At least, that episode should have acted as a wake-up call and an eye-opener for mankind to have identified, in advance, the ways and means for replacement and safe disposal of the non-cyclable and non-biodegradable plastic items. 

That more than 5 trillion plastic pieces of 269000 tonnes finally get into the seas/oceans causing pollution is a startling reality. Introduced in the 1950s, plastic with its ubiquitous presence and diverse uses had already started causing immense damage to our planet. 

 

On land, plastic wastes are seen littering all over with the gusts of wind rattling them from place to place almost unchecked. The huge unimaginable and unmanageable volumes of plastic bags used by the commercial and trade world have taken the common people in general and pollution-free health aficionados in particular, by storm and surprise.

 

Huge plastic throwaways lying in a city or town have the perilous potential of adversely affecting humans and other living beings alike - on land, and in waterways and seas/oceans!

 

The ease of manufacture of small and simple plastic products including packing materials at a cheaper cost had, over the years, phenomenally increased their use to beyond uncontrollable limits.

The chlorinated plastic not only generates harmful chemicals that penetrate into the soil on land, but also pollutes the surrounding water sources including drinking water, and more alarmingly the ecosystem itself. Nurdles which form a type of micro-plastic pellets used to be shipped through cargo ships are spilled into oceans in big quantities. The degradation effect of such plastic inputs produces toxic chemicals – especially bisphenol A and polystyrene -  which invariably endanger marine life.

 

Marine pollution is also caused by fishing nets and buoys besides oil spills. The first step for the clean-up is to entrust the work to fishing ships for reclaiming the nets. With research reports suggesting that the Indian meal-moths have the ability to infest a wide range of dry foodstuffs of vegetable origin, they can very well degrade polyethylene, a common type of plastic. 

 

Non-recyclable plastic heaps dumped into the sea poison the marine life that in turn adversely affect human beings through sea products. Some chemicals used in plastic production have the potential to be absorbed by the human body through the skin, while others can cause eyesores and skin diseases besides allergy and food incompatibility.

 

Even while going a whole hog on clean-up and safe disposal of plastic items both on land and in water territories especially oceans and seas, there is also a need for increased use of biodegradable materials replacing health-wise harmful plastic products. It is better we don't produce the pernicious plastic at all.

 

The plastic menace has not been given the due care and attention it deserves. Even if we now start in right earnest the job of recycling and/or safely disposing off the mounds of plastic waste, it may take years. A substitute for plastic is a sine qua non to save the world from being polluted beyond retrieval. There is urgency for deploying effective options of recycling in a big way or finding salubrious substitutes or alternatives. 

Only we humans make waste that nature can’t digest. Let us remember that today we use plastic – a material designed to last forever – for products designed to last for minutes.

 

Bear in mind, if we don’t act before it is too late, plastic will be the main ingredient of all our grandchildren's recipes. Each one of us can make a difference. And, together we can make a change.

 

Plastic being a more destructive weapon than a nuclear bomb, its impact shall remain for decades on future generations. Also, the plastic-pollution-free world is not a choice but a commitment to life - a guarantee to future generations.

In the meanwhile, a study carried out after months of implementing the ban, has revealed some, if not remarkable or significant, progress. In fact, the transition can take place only slowly and in phases. 

Come on; let us end the plastic menace expeditiously.

Last but not the least, be a part of the solution, and not part of the plastic pollution.

R.SAMPATH

23/9/2021