Plastic Pollution and Circular Economy: A Case Study of Miniwiz

Ethics
Sustainability and
Social Impact

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Define plastic pollution and explain why it is seen as one of the greatest threats to the
sustainability of the planet.......................................................................................................3
Introduce the company you have chosen to evaluate and explain how you are going
to address the topic in this essay...........................................................................................3
The causes and effects of plastic pollution...........................................................................3
Effects of plastic pollution, you should consider impact on the following: the planet, for
example, the oceans , people’s health economy, wildlife...................................................5
Define and discuss the Circular Economy (CE)...................................................................5
Briefly introduce your chosen company (a signatory to the New Plastics Economy
Global Commitment, June 2019) and evaluate how it is performing based on the six
characteristics from the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment report..................8
Conclusion....................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The following report represents information about plastic pollution. A new company
naming Miniwiz that is using innovative strategies for recycling plastic and managing the
ecosystem. There is explanation of the Circular Economy.
Define plastic pollution and explain why it is seen as one of the greatest threats to the
sustainability of the planet
Plastic pollution is known as problem that is caused by the accumulation of various
plastic waste in the surrounding. There are basically primary plastics that includes
cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic bottles, etc. on the other hand, secondary plastic
includes the degradation of the primary plastic wastes (Kirchherr, Reike, and Hekkert,
2017). The plastic pollution is defined as accumulation of plastic particles or objects in
the environment and these can negatively affect wildlife habitat, wildlife as well as
humans. Plastics are not expensive and they are durable. This causes high production
of plastic by humans.
Introduce the company you have chosen to evaluate and explain how you are going to
address the topic in this essay
The company chosen in this essay is Miniwiz. According to the owner of this company,
there is no thing which is known as trash. He believed that all old things can be turned
into something new. The scientists and engineers of Miniwiz invent approximately 1000
new sustainable materials and applications in their labs. A new innovative product
offered by this company is Trashpresso machine that is good example of sustainable
upcycling (Stahel, 2016). This is an upcycling plant of mobile which is transported in
containers to the customers.
The causes and effects of plastic pollution
Plastic pollution is known as the accumulating of particles and objects of plastic in
environment. There is huge amount of plastic produced every day and this is causing
pollution in environment. Plastic pollution is causing negative impact on animals, plants,
humans and the environmental system. The causes and effects of plastic pollution are
mentioned below

Causes of plastic pollution
Overuse - this is one of the main cause of the plastic pollution. As plastic is durable and
inexpensive, people use this for doing their daily jobs like ok while purchasing products,
taking boxes or other items to different places. Plastic bags are also easy to carry and
also plastic bottles are used by various people for drinking water (Korhonen,
Honkasalo, and Seppälä, 2018). Moreover, plastic eggs also present in some of the
clothes like polyester and this is major product used in the fashion industry.
 Incorrect disposal - there are several countries and most of them are
developing countries in which the disposal of plastic is done illegally. This is a
major issue as people and industries do not have knowledge about the adverse
consequences that this plastic can cause to the living beings. There are various
industries which are disposing their waste that includes large amount of plastic
products in water systems directly without treating it.
Sea accidents - this is also a cause for the plastic pollution and in this case there are
some cases in which shapes of lose their cargo (Zink, and Geyer, 2017). Few of these
contain plastic items and products. As the ship sinks, plastic products or items also get
into sea and this causes serious effect and cause pollution.
Effects of plastic pollution
Water pollution. - the main effect of plastic pollution is water pollution. When plastic
items are disposed of illegally in several water bodies they cause problem to the living
organisms of water or seas (Murray, Skene, and Haynes, 2017). sometimes humans
also consume fishes that are sick due to the plastic particles which causes
contamination of humans via food cycle.
 Global warming - it is also an effect that is caused by plastic pollution. In some
cases, plastic trash is burnt and this causes release of various harmful
substances in air. Discourses release of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide
and this is a major problem for creation of global warming issues.
 Economic effects- plastic pollution causes severe effects on the economics.
Several countries as well as their governments have to spend huge amount of
money for combustion of plastic.