Strategies to Reduce Plastic Pollution

As plastic production continues to increase, the accumulation of plastics in the environment has created a threat to economies, ecosystems, and the overall health of living  beings. The rise of plastic pollution can be attributed to the long and slow degradation rates  along with challenges of disposal and non-sustainable usage. In 2010, a study found that 4.8 to  12.7 million metric tons of plastic waste entered marine ecosystems throughout the world (Jambeck, J.R. et al.). With this annual amount entering marine ecosystems worldwide, it is  nearly impossible to remove all this waste and dispose of it properly. However, there are  mitigation strategies to reduce this extensive volume (Prata et al, 2019).

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To prevent plastics from being released into natural environments, there must be an  improvement in the levels of production, consumption, and waste management. For example,  switching to alternative uses such as recycled or biodegradable materials and reducing the  number of polymers, additives, and other mixtures at the production level (Thompson et al.). At  the consumption level, increasing awareness and educating people on the problems associated  with plastic production and consumption and encouraging people to use alternative resources,  which can increase the demand for these products and push for more sustainable usage of  materials (Prata et al. 2019). For example, a study was done at Alleghany College to assess the  impact of water filtration systems on student’s plastic use and found that over the course of five  years, since they were installed, the number of students reusing one water bottles at these stations  increased from about 25% to almost 70% (Bethrurem et al. 2021) Lastly, at the waste  management level, improving the processes of recovering and disposing of waste and promoting  waste-to-energy strategies that allow some energy restoration from plastic waste (Prata et al.  2019).

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Some recommendations proposed by Prata et al. include short, mid, and long-term goals  to decrease the total quantity of plastics that enter natural environments annually. Short-term  measures involve creating regulations through local and state governments on the manufacturing  and consumption of plastic by placing bans and taxes on plastic products that are known to be  damaging to ecosystems. A significant measure in reducing the use of plastic is through local  awareness and education on how harmful plastics can be at many different levels. This will also help influence manufacturers and companies to decrease the use of plastics by reducing the  amount of packaging or switching to more sustainable sources (Prata et al. 2019). 

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Mid-term measures focus more on waste management strategies and improving the  systems to have more efficient recycling techniques and to encourage people to recycle. Creating  systems of waste collection to reduce the amount of waste and landfill production by providing  incentives to recycle products such as a deposit-refund system. Overall, these short and mid-term  strategies call for the reduction of waste and the improvement of recycling capabilities, but the  long-term proposals are more infrastructure-based (Prata et al. 2019).

Improving the designs of products, parts, etc. to be more sustainable and taking the life cycle of the products into account by switching to plastics made from bio-based materials that are biodegradable and compostable as opposed to oil-based plastics (Iriarte et al. 2009). This will significantly reduce the number of plastics and microplastics released into natural environments. An improved waste management system that is focused on reducing, reusing, recycling, recovering, and enhancement of the life cycle will lead to a list of long-term benefits. This will have significant impacts on the rising number of plastics and microplastics entering ecosystems, harmful emissions like CO2, and energy usage and resource consumption. (Prata et al. 2019). Figure one shows the life cycle of plastics in a linear economy versus a circular economy and in order to mitigate the negative impacts of plastic pollution, we would need to move to a  circular economy. In the linear economy, plastic is composed of oil and sold to consumers,  typically as single-use products, and once discarded, they are placed in a landfill or released to ecosystems.

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However, in a circular economy, plastic is more likely to enter a cycle of being recycled or used as waste-to-energy or feedstock to recover energy and valuable chemicals used  to create plastics (Prata et al. 2019). However, while waste-to-energy methods may decrease the  need for landfills, there are implications that include hazardous material that may be released  into the atmosphere from incineration which can lead to the degradation of the atmosphere. This  method is able to recover some energy and materials within the plastic but is most useful when  dealing with highly integrated plastics like those found in electronic and automotive substances (Hopewell, J. et al. 2009).