Plastic Pollution and Its Business Impacts
Picture this: You take a water bottle on your tour to a rural site, use it once, and throw it away. This is the common practice with plastic bottles and containers. They are part of the quick-use culture.
But here's the thing: when we toss them away, they don't just vanish. They build up in landfills, float in our waters, and slip into forests, causing a massive mess that is difficult to clear. In the long run, it might affect the business you had that tour for. Sounds like interconnected dots, doesn’t it?
That’s the problem of plastic waste.
This blog post will break down the complex topic of plastic pollution and guide you on the first step towards sustainability.
Plastic Pollution Causes
The size of plastic pollution varies. You can see it somewhere in containers, pipes, and shopping bags. On the contrary, you might not see Microplastics with your eyes. Either microplastic or macroplastic, this man-made material is present everywhere around us. And there are certain causes of plastic pollution.
Causes of Plastic Pollution
Single-use Plastic
Single-use plastic is one of the primary causes of environmental plastic pollution. This mostly includes packaging material and containers in landfills and water bodies.
Microplastic
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles from personal care products, textiles, and other sources that threaten marine life in the ocean.
Packaging Material And Aquaculture Equipment
Packaging material makes up a significant portion of plastic pollution. Discarded fish nets, lines, and aquaculture equipment contribute to plastic pollution when lost or abandoned at sea.
Improper Dumping of Plastic
Improper dumping of plastic garbage into rivers and oceans is a significant cause of pollution. This block drains and plastic seeps down, ultimately degrading the soil.
Effects of Plastic Pollution
The effects of plastic pollution are enormous. From affecting human health to becoming a major contributor to climate change, plastic pollution impacts life in every possible way. Here are some common impacts of plastic pollution:
Adverse Effects on Humans
Throughout its lifecycle, plastic impacts human health in one way or another. Toxic chemicals, such as BPAs and phthalates, used during the manufacturing process can lead to endocrine disruption, cancer, and reproductive disorders.
In contaminated seafood, water, and air, microplastics can cause inflammation, genotoxicity, and oxidative stress.
Emissions and harmful byproducts from inappropriate plastic waste treatment, such as open burning or incineration, release carcinogenic compounds, including dioxins and heavy metals, into the air and water.
2. Potential Threat to Marine Animals
Ocean plastic pollution drastically increased from 8 million metric tonnes to 9 million metric tonnes in 2010-15, which is alarming for marine animals.
The marine animals mimic the plastic as food and ingest it, which causes suffocation and death. The animals also get entangled, which impacts their ability to move and feed.
Moreover, plastic degrades in the ocean and becomes microplastic. Microplastics can build up in the tissues. As predators ingest polluted prey, microplastics travel up the food chain, resulting in higher quantities in larger species and potentially affecting entire ecosystems.
3. A Contributor to Climate Change
Plastic pollution contributes to climate change via various methods, resulting in a complicated interaction between these two global concerns.
Plastic is made from fossil fuels. The energy-intensive processes in extracting and manufacturing plastics produce significant greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change. The incorrect disposal of plastic garbage, such as incineration or open burning, emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. When exposed to sunlight, discarded plastic garbage generates methane and ethylene, contributing to climate change.
When plastics are not properly recycled or disposed of, they continue to emit greenhouse gases into the environment as they deteriorate.
Plastic Pollution Facts: What Businesses Should Know
Businesses must understand the full scope of the plastic pollution disaster, a global issue with serious economic, environmental, and social consequences. Here are some facts that you must know as a business owner;
More than 8 million tonnes of plastic debris enter our oceans each year, where it remains for millennia and endangers marine life and human health due to the spread of microplastics.
Single-use plastics such as bags and packaging account for around 36% of worldwide plastic production.
Recycling Challenges
Only 9% of plastic garbage is properly recycled globally, while 79% is in landfills or water bodies.
A study showed that 20 corporations are responsible for nearly 50% of the world's single-use plastic garbage, underlining the role of businesses in this catastrophe.
Plastic Pollution Solution: Actions for Businesses
Every dark cloud always has a silver lining. By working strategically, you can turn these facts into our benefits.
The plastic crisis presents an opportunity for creativity and sustainability. Businesses that embrace eco-friendly options and incorporate circular economy ideas into their operations can reduce their environmental effect and increase their resilience and competitiveness.
It’s high time plastic was replaced with a sustainable and eco-friendly material. Savasolutions can help you take your first step toward claiming sustainability as your core value.
Conclusion
That’s it for plastic pollution. This seemingly simple material costs the environment millions and billions. Not only this, it also impacts life on Earth. The blog post has a breakdown of the causes and effects of plastic pollution.
If you’re a business owner looking to upgrade to a “Responsible business,” Savasolutions should be your only choice.
What first step would you like to upgrade to become an “Eco-friendly” business?
FAQs
Q: What are the causes of plastic pollution?
Plastic pollution has multiple causes, including single-use plastic containers, plastic bags, and packaging materials.
Q: Why plastic pollution is a problem?
Plastic is a non-biodegradable material that has remained in the environment for hundreds of years. This makes it a bigger problem as it breaks into small pieces and becomes part of food chain.
Q: How do plastics break down in the environment?
Plastic breaks down into microplastic in sunlight and becomes part of water and soil.
Q: Will plastic pollution ever stop?
Plastic in the environment will take thousands of years to degrade. For now, it seems impossible to replace this product completely.