Management of Plastic Waste

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE
MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE
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MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Literature review........................................................................................................................3
Plastic waste...........................................................................................................................3
Management of plastic waste.................................................................................................5
Recycling of plastic materials............................................................................................5
Reusing of plastic substance..............................................................................................5
Minimizing the use of plastic.............................................................................................6
Incineration........................................................................................................................6
Landfilling..........................................................................................................................7
Encouraging the alternatives of plastic..............................................................................7
Use of biodegradable plastic..............................................................................................7
Need for managing plastic waste...............................................................................................8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................11

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MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE
Introduction
Plastic is a special kind of material which is composed of various synthetic organic
compounds which can be given any shape or size very easily. Plastic was invented in 1907
and after its invention it became one of the most popular invention of the previous century.
Most of the household items which are used on daily basis are made of plastic nowadays. The
plastic is very easy to manufacture and derived from the byproducts of the petrochemical
very easily. The plastic used on daily basis have a severe effect on the nature if they are not
disposed or recycled properly. Most of the plastics does not decompose in the soil or nature
thus they can create huge havoc among the flora and fauna of this nature. Plastic waste
management deals with the management of daily plastic waste from household and the main
objective of the plastic waste management is to prevent the plastic from getting contaminated
with the nature. The plastic waste management can be done by taking two basic steps which
are recycling and reusing of the plastic waste. Those plastic waste which are not possible to
recycle or reuse in any way should be disposed in proper manner so that the nature would not
be harmed by those waste. This literature review will discuss about the plastic waste and the
management of plastic waste.
Literature review
Plastic waste
The unusable or unwanted waste made of plastic are known as plastic waste. After the
invention of plastic in 1907, most of the household materials are made from the plastic as
plastic is very cheap and easy to produce. Plastic are generally made from the byproducts of
the petrochemical. The plastics are synthetically produced from substances which are not
natural, thus the plastic does not decompose in nature.

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MANAGEMENT OF PLASTIC WASTE
The plastic waste are very hazardous for nature as they can cause many kind of health
hazard to plants and animals. Plastics are used in almost everything including the electronic
gadgets, medical purpose and industrial machineries. Plastic is most frequently used for
packaging purpose and the quality of plastic which are used for packaging purpose are of
very low quality. Those plastics used for the packaging purpose generally ends up in the
dump yard causing huge amount of soil pollution (Rochman et al.,2013). Plastics above the
35 micron of thickness are generally preferred for packaging purposes nowadays for
recycling and reusing of those plastic bags.
According to the (Eriksen et al.,2014) more than 5 trillion plastic bags which weighed
over 250,000 tons were afloat at sea. This amount unplanned plastic waste disposal in the sea
created huge problems for the aquatic animals. The balance of the ecosystem also got
hampered as many aquatic animals died due to those disposed plastic waste.
Burning of plastic waste is also very dangerous because the gases which are emitted
from burning plastics are very harmful for the living beings. The latest data suggests that 380
million tons of plastic was generated in the last year most of which will end up in the dump
yard sooner or later.
The plastic waste destroys the ecological balance of nature as the plastic cannot
decompose naturally. Aquatic animals are mostly effected by the plastic waste, but other
plants and animals are also affected by the plastic waste (Jambeck et al .,2015). The
ecological business should be maintained in every way possible, thus the management of
plastic waste has become a major issue.