Academic English Skills Coursework: Plastic Pollution Essay

This assignment, completed for an Academic English Skills course, focuses on the critical issue of plastic pollution. It begins with an evaluation of four relevant sources, assessing their academic suitability and relevance to the essay topic. The student then provides a detailed essay outline, structuring the argument across several paragraphs. The introduction establishes the severity of plastic pollution, highlighting its toxicity and impact on both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Subsequent paragraphs explore the challenges in recycling and reusing plastics, the role of government bodies in minimizing plastic usage, and the need for cohesive societal action to reduce plastic consumption. The essay plan includes supporting points, evidence, and citations from the selected sources. Finally, the assignment concludes with a comprehensive reference list of at least six sources, including those used in the source evaluation and essay outline, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the subject matter and academic research principles.

Academic English Skills Coursework 1: Source Evaluation and Essay Outline
Student ID:
1234567
Class:
AES
Date:
Title:
Plastic and Environment
Part 1: Source Evaluation [Explanation of why you have selected the sources for use.]
Complete the table below for FOUR sources you have found which are reliable and relevant for your essay. You
should not use sources you were given in this section.
EVALUATION 1
Reference: Eriksen, M., Lebreton, L., Carson, H., Thiel, M., Moore, C., Borerro, J., Galgani, F., Ryan, P. and
Reisser, J. (2019). Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over
250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. Borrelle, S., Rochman, C., Liboiron, M., Bond, A., Lusher, A., Bradshaw, H., &
Provencher, J. (2017). Opinion: Why we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(38), 9994- 9997.
Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/114/38/9994 [Accessed 26th October 2018]
How do you know this source is suitable for academic use? Refer to the currency, authority, purpose, reliability
of evidence or data, objectivity, use of expected academic conventions.
The source enlisted here discusses the presence and effect of plastic debris in the ocean waters. This source is
relevant as it is associated with this report topic which studies the effect of plastic pollution on the marine
ecosystem. The language of this source is academic and informative as it attempts to not only identify a crisis but
also understand and explains it with the vision of providing detailed clarity to its readers. The data source is
available online for free, as a secondary form of data. It identifies itself as a research article and is published on
PLOS ONE or Public Library of Science, which is a publisher for scientific journals since 2006. It is a recognized
source, with publications, specifically in the discipline of medicine and science.
How is the source relevant to your title? What are the useful points / arguments made in the text?
The source has a title that speaks of 250,000 tons of plastic pieces as wastes, afloat all over the sea body. This
poses a serious question about the disrupting ecosystem and threats to the marine flora and fauna. This report
tries to study the sub-tropical coastal belts from Australia to the Bay of Bengal to the Mediterranean Sea from 24
expeditions, over a span of six years. The report depicts how the total amount of plastics determined for the
southern hemisphere is in range with that of the north. However, the inputs in the north are certainly higher than
those in the southern hemisphere. The study collects data and analyses it, empirically, through specific models to
reach a definite conclusion and support its argument.

EVALUATION 2
Reference: Burnham, (2018). UK: Foreign Secretary Orders Plastic to be Binned from Britain's Diplomatic
Network, Vol. 27, Iss. 1/2,.
How do you know this source is suitable for academic use? Refer to the currency, authority, purpose, reliability
of evidence or data, objectivity, use of expected academic conventions.
This source, named, “Foreign Secretary orders plastic to be (banned) from Britain’s diplomatic network.” was
published by Burnham (2018). It is a government website and is, therefore, considered reliable. It has also
remained the first department of the United Kingdom government operations to announce a ban on plastics. It
also presents Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) as the leader in the battle against the use of plastic. The
article, therefore, represents authentic primary data.
How is the source relevant to your title? What are the useful points / arguments made in the text?
The source speaks of plastic ban and measures to be undertaken by the people. This includes the replacement of
plastic cups, straws, crockery, condiment sachets, and cutlery with either re-usable items or biodegradable ones.
Being a body of the government of a developed nation, such initiatives set the standard for others and draw
attention to the alarming issue. This issues in in rise for the fast and easy lifestyle in modern days. The FCO also
brings to notice and draws in situations where single-use of plastics can be avoided. In addition, the annual
sustainability report also records the reduction in the emission of the greenhouse gases, paper consumptions,
wastes management and recycling by a considerable amount.
EVALUATION 3
Reference: Wilcox, C., Van Sebille, E. and Hardesty, B. (2015). Threat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global,
pervasive, and increasing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(38), pp.11899-11904.
How do you know this source is suitable for academic use? Refer to the currency, authority, purpose, reliability
of evidence or data, objectivity, use of expected academic conventions.
The third source used is PNAS, that is, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of
America. It is a multidisciplinary scientific journal and also the official journal of the National Academy of Sciences.
It has been conducting original research and publishing them since 1915. It majorly uses scientific data, which are
original and authentic. It enables free access to all. It also tries to bring to notice how the production of plastic is
rising at an increasing rate besides posing a threat to the wildlife—seabirds and other animals who ingest such
plastic debris.
How is the source relevant to your title? What are the useful points / arguments made in the text?
This source relates to this report as it brings forth another angle, that is, the scarcity of water besides harms to
aquatic life when they ingest such wastes. The data, gathered, has been collected through an exhaustive review,
followed by an analysis of the same. It speaks about the negative impacts of plastic from another domain with
respect to the report topic and provides extensive research materials.
EVALUATION 4
Reference: Zhao, Y., Lv, X. and Ni, H. (2018). Solvent-based separation and recycling of waste plastics: A review.
Chemosphere, 209, pp.707-720.

How do you know this source is suitable for academic use? Refer to the currency, authority, purpose, reliability
of evidence or data, objectivity, use of expected academic conventions.
This reference source talks about recycling these plastics and reduce the waste production for the same. Adopting
measures to separate these plastic wastes from the mixed non-recyclable as well as the rubbish, put together. The
data collected here is secondary but adds to the report prepared.
How is the source relevant to your title? What are the useful points / arguments made in the text?
The source is relevant to the report as it depicts the various methods to minimise the use and production of
specific thickness of plastics. It also presents a study, which claims that the number of bacteria on the bottle is
more than that on the toilet seat. It also emphasizes on the re-use of plastic bottles that is dangerous and toxic for
human health.

Part 2: Essay Outline
Provide a clear plan of your essay, including the key points you will include, and the sources you will use to support
your points. You can use the sources you were given, as well as your own sources.
Title: Plastic and Environment
Plan for overall structure
Introduction
P1. Plastic pollution is dangerous.
P2. Plastic is composed of substances, which are toxic in nature.
P3. People’s behaviour and habits has added to plastic pollution.
P4. Plastic pollution also adds to the water and air pollution.
P5. Plastics are detrimental to both humans, plants and wildlife.
Conclusion
Introductory paragraph structure
Background Plastic pollution as the major issue affecting the ecosystem and life processes.
Outline Plastics are toxic and pose a serious threat to the biotic and abiotic factors that comprise the
ecosystem.
Thesis statement The detrimental effect of plastics has led to a situation where plastics add to air and land
pollution besides being hazardous to marine ecosystem.
Paragraph 1 Topic sentence
Production of plastic wastes and its effect on the coastal ecosystem.
Supporting points Evidence/ example/ data Citation
Plastics are easy to recycle but hard
to break down and are hence, non-
biodegradable.
90% litter on beaches are found to be plastic bottles. Kitagawa et al
(2018)
Many animals, seabirds swallow and
even digest plastics, which are toxic
to their life.
29% of animals were found to digest plastics in 1962-
2012
(Wilcox, Van Sebille
and Hardesty,
2015)
To get rid of the plastic wastes,
people either bury the plastics,
turning the soil toxic or burn them,
causing air pollution with the
release of toxic gases.
Concluding/ linking sentence
Plastic wastes are primarily produced due to their overuse by the humans, posing a risk to the ecology.
Paragraph 2 Topic sentence

Challenges in recycling and re-using plastic.
Support Evidence/ example/ data Citation
Recycling helps to reduce the plastic
wastes and also, get rid of them
with burning or burying them.
Recycling plastics is complicated as
it becomes difficult to identify them
from rubbish and mixed non-
recycle, together.
(Zhao, Lv
and Ni, 2018)
Reused bottles could be dangerous
as there tend to carry more bacteria
in than a toilet seat.
2016 Treadmill Reviews claimed
this.
(Mitchell, 2019)
Concluding/ linking sentence
Plastics are not only toxic while re-using but pose severe challenges while re-cycling.
Paragraph 3 Topic sentence
Role of the government bodies in minimising plastic usage.
Support Evidence/ example/ data Citation
The government body can serve as
the second effective method to
reduce the use of plastics.
Local government can be more
effective than the national
government to provide a proper
plan to reduce plastic usage by
levying taxes and fines.
Levying a fine on people when they
use banned plastic products.
(Borrelle et al.,
2017)
Use of different types of bins as is
introduced by the local government
of the United Kingdoms (U. K.).
Besides this, checking the
production of plastics in the
factories is also mandatory.
Installing different kinds of bins like
the recyclable and non-recyclable
ones besides blocking the usage of
plastic containers for drinks, as in U.
K.
(Burnham, 2018)
Concluding/ linking sentence
Strict roles and penalties to be exercised by the local government to bring the situation of plastic usage under
control.
Paragraph 4 Topic sentence
A cohesive and coordinated interaction is required to minimize the use of plastics from the various bodies in a
society.
Support Evidence/ example/ data Citation
Plastic pollution is the result of man-
made activities. This needs
education, awareness, support from
the local governments, schools
besides environment protection
campaigns.
Teaching children how to use
plastics and avoid them, whenever
necessary.
Running a campaign to collect
plastic objects.

Paragraph 5 Topic sentence
Support Evidence/ example/ data Citation
Conclusion
Encouraging people, making them aware and implementing strict rules by the government can bring the situation
of plastic usage under control by a considerable amount.
Part 3: Sources
Write a reference list for at least SIX sources which you have found yourself. You should also include the two
sources you were given if you plan to use them in your essay.