ACT English 102: Plastic Pollution - Summary and Analysis

This essay addresses the critical issue of plastic pollution, highlighting its detrimental effects on the environment, particularly focusing on microplastics. The essay discusses the various sources of microplastics, including tire manufacturing, textile washing, and cosmetic microbeads, emphasizing their significant contribution to marine pollution. It references studies conducted by organizations like IUCN and research findings from various sources, to analyze the impact of microplastics on ecosystems and human health. The essay also mentions initiatives taken to mitigate plastic waste, such as cutting the use of plastic bags and evaluating floating plastic in oceans. The document stresses the importance of understanding the behavior of microplastics and their consequences to develop effective strategies for environmental protection and sustainability. The essay adheres to referencing guidelines and includes a bibliography.

Running head: ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Plastic Pollution
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

2ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Table of Contents
Discussion on plastic pollution:.................................................................................................3
References:.................................................................................................................................5
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3ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
Discussion on plastic pollution:
Plastic pollution is considered as one of the greatest threats towards protecting the
environment. This is causing major harm to the environment. It has been observed that the
inclusion of increasing rate of plastic in the land and ocean causing greater harm to the
marine environment and affecting the lives of landfills (Xanthos and Walker 2017). There are
both primary and secondary micro-plastic, which are causing greater harm to the
environment. The organisations, responsible for protecting the environment are showing
utmost care in the way of exploring the primary sources of micro-plastic. It had been
observed that mismanagement of plastic is one of the major reasons and primary sources of
micro-plastic. There are various sources of micro-plastic such as manufacturing of tires,
washing of textile fabrics in washing machine and the loss of micro bids from cosmetics.
These are the very significant sources of plastic in marine, which accounts to almost 1.5
million ton. More than 15% plastic contaminated in the ocean come from the primary source
of micro-plastic. In order to mitigate this situation, it is important to apply effective tools and
techniques, which can help in analysing the impact of micro-plastic on the countries and how
it is affecting the sustainability of the environment. Plastic in every form and size can impact
the marine environment. The environment protection organisations like IUCN with the help
of Swedish Postcode Foundation has conducted research on plastic in Baltic region. In
addition, they also conduct experiment in Canada, Sweden and Finland (Ccb.se. 2020). The
project was started in the year 2017 with the duration of two years. In addition, IUCN has
also made partnership with regional experts, members of academia, research institutes and
grassroots organization in order to conduct the research properly.
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4ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT
According to Chae and An (2018) the micro-plastics are the greater causes of
environment degradation. There are increasing rate of plastic that has been observed in
remote area of the French Pyrenees Mountains. Such plastic are blown in Pyrenees
Mountains by travelling through atmosphere. Such increasing rate of plastic is one of the
major examples of hidden risk, which can cause greater harm for both the humans and
environment. Both government and activists are showing utmost care in the way of resolving
plastic litter in the environment, due to the concern towards the environment. Greater
initiatives have been taken for the sake of cutting the rate of using plastic bags. In addition to
that multiple projects are also being conducted in order to evaluate the rate of floating plastic
in the ocean (The Conversation. 2020). The rate of plastic, whose size is less than 5mm is the
major matter of consideration in the contemporary times. These plastic come from various
sources like scrubbing materials of the cosmetic products and breaking up of fibre shed. In
order to mitigate this issue, it is important to gather knowledge about the behaviour of micro-
plastic in the environment and its impact on human and animal wellbeing.
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References:
Ccb.se. (2020). Baltic Solutions for Plastic Pollution | Coalition Clean Baltic. [online]
Available at: https://ccb.se/?event=baltic-solution-for-plastic-pollution\ [Accessed 20 Feb.
2020].
Chae, Y. and An, Y.J., 2018. Current research trends on plastic pollution and ecological
impacts on the soil ecosystem: A review. Environmental pollution, 240, pp.387-395.
The Conversation. (2020). Microplastics have even been blown into a remote corner of the
Pyrenees. [online] Available at: https://theconversation.com/microplastics-have-even-been-
blown-into-a-remote-corner-of-the-pyrenees-115503 [Accessed 20 Feb. 2020].
Xanthos, D. and Walker, T.R., 2017. International policies to reduce plastic marine pollution
from single-use plastics (plastic bags and microbeads): a review. Marine pollution bulletin,
118(1-2), pp.17-26.
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