Plastic Waste Management
Global plastic use is soaring, yet half is single-use and only 5% recycled. From packaging to agriculture, plastics impact health, oceans, and climate. Solutions like Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, alternatives, and advanced recycling tech can turn the tide. Explore how.
Plastic Consumption
The average global consumption of plastic is 28. Consumptions based on the country are:
US: 109
Europe: 65
China: 38
Brazil: 32
India: 11, which is a tenth of the US
Single Use Plastic
Single-use or disposable plastics are used only once before they are thrown away or recycled. These include plastic bags, straws, coffee stirrers, soda, water bottles, and most food packaging.
50% of the plastic we use is just used once and thrown away. Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times. We currently recover only 5% of the plastics that we produce.
We should refuse the use of single-use plastics as:
- They are made from fossil fuels
- They have a huge carbon footprint on the planet
- They are non-biodegradable
- Only a small percentage is recycled
- The toxins are leached into the food and drinks that are stored in them
- They can cause health problems such as hormone disruption and cancers
- It also pollutes the oceans, which can harm marine animals and birds
- And can enter into our food chain
Application of Plastics
The 4 major sectors where plastics are used are for packaging (India: 43%, World: 35%), Infrastructure (India: 21%,…
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