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International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 85-95
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
PLASTIC POLLUTION: CAUSES, EFFECTS
AND PREVENTIONS
Obebe S.B., Adamu A.A.
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Bayero University Kano,
P.M.B. 3011, Kano, Nigeria
Abstract - Most of today’s plastics are made from is concentrated around the current carrying the debris,
Organic polymers produced from petroleum- plastic can be found off the coast of some islands.
based Chemicals. This may change as scientists Mega-plastics and micro-plastics are normally used
shift to developing plastics made from biologically in the manufacturing of packaging materials (such as
based chemicals. With the production outspacing plastic bottles, plastic bags etc.), footwear and other
almost every other material production, plastic domestic items. These are later found being washed
waste is now one of the biggest environmental off of ships or discarded in landfills. Some of the
scourges of the time. The scale of the challenge is items used in fishing activities are also found around
daunting. The exposure of humans to plastic remote islands. All these are still known as micro-
pollution also has health challenges. According to plastic, meso-plastic and macro –plastic.
the state of plastics report, only nine percent (9%)
of the nine billion tonnes of plastic in the world Plastics are in expensive and durable. These
ever produced has been recycled. Most ends up in are the reason why the plastic production by humans
landfills, dumps or in the environment especially are very high and the demand keeps on increasing
the oceans. The research methodology used is day by day. Human activities have the potential to
based on the interactions with the plastics endanger human life and the natural ecosystems. This
industries, the Environmentalists, Medical is experienced when plastics such as plastic bottle,
Practitioners, Ministry of Environment, Ministry plastic bags etc are being utilised/used for packaging,
of Health, and Bottling Companies. This paper is after they are being utilised, it is realised that they are
also based on visits to restaurants, and events discarded recklessly without thinking of what will be
centres, examination of nooks, crannies, and the consequence. These plastic wastes litters
drainages. everywhere when not well discarded/disposed
Keywords –Landfills, Environment, Discard, Debris, affecting the wildlife, wildlife habitat, humans and
Degradation, Biodegradable, Plastic, Recycling, producing chocking, and pungent odour. Therefore,
Environmental Effects, Health Effects, plastic pollution can affect land, waterways and
oceans. The figure 1 below shows plastic pollution
I. INTRODUCTION afflicting land.
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of
plastic particles and objects in the Earth’s
environment that adversely affect humans, wildlife
and wildlife habitat [1]. Pollutants are substances that
adversely affect the health, activities or survival of a
population [2]. Every day, thousands of tons of
pollutants are discarded into the air by natural events
and human actions. Far more damaging are the
substances discharged into the atmosphere by human
actions [3]. Plastics acting as pollutants can be
classified based on their sizes into three aspects
which are: micro debris plastic, mega debris plastic, Fig.1. Shows Plastic Pollution Afflicting
and micro debris plastic. According to [1], mega Land.
plastics and micro plastics have accumulated in
highest densities in the Northern Hemisphere, which
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International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 85-95
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
Source: wasteaid.org polymers from biologically based chemicals without
having to use high temperatures. With proper
Most plastics have chemical structure which makes decision and mass production, such bioplastics, could
them to be highly resistant to many natural processes be lighter, stronger and cheaper, and the process of
of degradation and as a result of this it takes them a making them could require less energy and produce
long period of time to degrade. These two factors less pollution per unit of weight than is involved in
have resulted into enormous presence of plastic the making of conventional petroleum-based plastics.
pollution in the environment and at the same time Instead of being sent to landfills, packaging made
affecting human health adversely. As the human from such bioplastic could be composted to produce a
population grows exponentially, so do the demands soil conditioner, in keeping with the nutrient
for plastic increases without thinking about the recycling principle of sustainability. Presently,
consequences after being used/utilised when Toyota is investing 38billion dollar in a process that
discarded/disposed. This population continue to grow makes plastics from plants. By 2020, it expects to
as the amount of garbage produced by people control two-thirds of the world`s supply of such
increases. These disposable products such as bottles bioplastics [4].
of water, soda cans, plastic bag etc are
discarded/disposed easily, but the accumulation of According to [2], billions of metric tons of
these products have resulted to increase in the solid wastes are dumped, burned, and buried annually
amounts of plastics pollution around the world. in the United States alone. This includes 50 billion
non-returnable cans and bottles. Paper products make
II. LITERATURE REVIEW up one-half of the total volume of solid wastes. In
natural ecosystems, solid wastes are recycled but we
Plastic debris is classified as either primary humans bury them in landfills or incinerate them.
or secondary. Primary plastics are in the state of their Incinerators can add heavy metals and other
original form when collected. Examples of these are pollutants to the air and leave a highly toxic ash that
cigarette butts, microbeads, and bottle caps. must be disposed off safely. Land that is both
Secondary plastics, on the other hand, are referring to available and acceptable for landfills is scare and
smaller plastics that are obtained as a result of becoming scarer. All landfills eventually “leak”,
degradation of primary plastics. posing a threat to groundwater supplies. That is one
reason why communities increasingly take the “Not
The search for biological based plastics In My Back Yard” (NIMBY) approach to landfills.
dates from 1913 when a French Scientist and a On the plus side, more and more people now
Brutish Scientist filed independently for patents on a participate in recycling programs. In addition to
soy-based plastic. At that time, there was intense recycling, you can play a role by refusing to buy
competition between the petrochemical and goods that are lavishly boxed and wrapped, packaged
agricultural industries to dominate the market for in indestructible containers, or designed for one-time
plastics made from organic polymers. Henry Ford, use.
who developed the first Ford motorcar, supported
research on the development of a bioplastic made According [1], estimation shows that 1.1 -
from soybeans. A 1914 photograph showed him 8.8 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste gets
using an ax to strike the body of a car made from soy into the ocean from the surrounding coastal
bioplastic to demonstrate its strength. But as oil communities each year. Living organisms, especially
became rudely available, petrochemical plastics took seal marine animals become harmed either by
over the market. Now with projected climate change mechanical effects such as problems related to
and other environmental problems associated with the ingestion of plastic waste, entanglement in plastic
use of oil, chemists are stepping up efforts to make objects, or through exposure to chemicals with the
biodegradable and more environmentally sustainable plastics that interfere with their physiology. Among
plastics from a variety of green polymers. Such the effects on humans include the disruption of
bioplastic can be made from corn, soybeans, various hormonal mechanisms causing hormonal
sugarcane, switchgrass, chicken feathers, and some disorder. As at the year 2012, there was an estimation
components of garbage. Also the CO extracted from that there is approximately 165 million tons of plastic
2 pollution in the world`s oceans. Research shows that
coal-burning power plant emissions could be used in
this process. The key to making such biopolymers is China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam
to find chemicals, called catalyst, which will dump more plastic in the sea than all other countries
accelerate reaction that chemists can use to form in the world. A study gave estimation that there are
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International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 85-95
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
more than 5 trillion plastic pieces of different sizes
such as microplastics, large microplastics,
mesoplastics and microplastics floating on the sea. III. CAUSES OF PLASTIC POLLUTION
The litter being discharged into the oceans is toxic to
marine life and humans. The toxins that made up the The plastics causing the pollution are in
components of plastic include diethyhexyl phthalate, different sizes from big to microscopic. There are
which is a toxic carcinogen, as well as cadmium, many kinds of plastics. They exist depending on their
mercury and lead. As at the year 2018, there was precursors and method for their polymerization. The
availability of about 380 million tons of plastic being main contributory factors to the problem of plastic
produced worldwide each year. From the 1950s up to pollution are fishing nets, plain old trash, disposing of
2018, there was an estimate of 6.3 billion tons of plastic and garbage, and over-utilisation of plastics.
plastic which has been produced worldwide, of which
an estimated 9% has been recycled and another 12% Fishing Nets: Fishing is an agricultural activity
has been incinerated. normally practised all over the world. The
According to [5] , he predicted that commercial aspect of fishing is an economic
if the current consumption patterns and waste necessity in which people consume fish for their
management practices continue, by 2050, there would daily survival and maintenance of good balanced
be around 12 billion tones of plastic litter in landfills diet. The ocean has faced different problems of
and the environment. By this time, if the growth in plastics pollution created by the fishing industry.
plastic production continues at its current rate, them The nets used for large scale fishing activities are
the plastic industry may account for 20 percent of the usually made of plastic. At the initial stage, these
world`s total oil consumption. The growing trend has fishing nets become submerged in water, on
given nightmare to environmentalists and sanitation spending much time it releases toxin at will.
agencies in Nigeria. Plastics litter all nooks and Later, they get broken up. This kills and harms
crannies of major cities and towns. The most the local wildlife, but it ensures that pollutants
common are plastic drinking bottles, food wrappers, enter the water and fish of the area. According to
plastic grocery bags, plastics bottle caps, straws and [1], most ocean plastic pollution comes from
stirrers, plastic lids, other types of plastic bags, and Chinese cargo ships as said by the ocean cleanup
foam take-away containers. Like in advanced spokesperson. The largest ocean-based source of
countries, Nigerians have been caught up with a plastic pollution is discarded fishing gear which
throwaway culture that treats plastic as a disposable includes traps and nets, and it is estimated to be
material rather than a valuable resource to be up to 90% of plastic debris in some areas.
harnessed. No day passes without commuters Continental plastic litter gets into the ocean
throwing plastic bottles on the streets. The largely through storm-water runoff, flowing into
indiscipline has reached a feverish level. Everywhere watercourses or directly discharged into the
you go, empty plastics litter the surroundings and coastal waters. Plastic in the ocean has been
becoming a nuisance. Most plastics do not shown to follow ocean currents which eventually
biodegrade. Instead, they slowly break down into form what is known as Great Garbage Patches.
smaller fragments known as micro plastics. The knowledge of the routes that plastic follows
Therefore, there have been important efforts to in ocean currents comes from the accidental
reduce/alleviate the prominence of of free range container drops from ship carriers. For example,
plastic pollution by reducing plastic consumption, in May 1990, the Hansa carrier, sailing from
promoting plastic recycling, and litter cleanup. Korea to the United States, broke apart due to a
storm, which resulted into thousands of dumped
shoes and these eventually started showing up on
According to [6], Cameroon, among the the U.S. Western coast, and Hawaii. The
other courtiers in the world, plastic, placed a ban on estimate show that over 400,000 marine
non-biodegradable plastic shopping due to the mammals perish every year due to plastic
adverse effects it has on the environment. These pollution in oceans. Marine organisms become
plastic bags have made the roads and streets untidy caught in discarded/disposed fishing equipment,
and clog seas and rivers. It has become a serious e.g. ghost nets. The ropes and nets used for
threat to wildlife. These plastic bags are made using fishing activities are often made of synthetic
energy and non-renewable resources such as oil materials such as nylon, which makes fishing
which are unfriendly to the environment. equipment more durable and buoyant. These
organisms can also become caught in circular
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International Journal of Engineering Applied Sciences and Technology, 2020
Vol. 4, Issue 12, ISSN No. 2455-2143, Pages 85-95
Published Online April 2020 in IJEAST (http://www.ijeast.com)
plastic packaging materials, and if the animals continuous. Most of the wastes in the form of
continue to grow in size, the plastic can cut into plastic in landfills, are single-use items such as
their flash. Equipment such as nets can also drag packaging. When plastics are being discarded
along the seabed there by causing damage to /disposed in this way, it leads to accumulation.
coral reefs [1]. But, disposing plastic wastes in landfills has less
Plain Old Trash: Plastics are found everywhere of a gas emission risk than disposal through
along the streets and roads of every cities and incineration, the landfills has space limitations.
towns in Nigeria making them to be untidy. The Another factor to be considered is that the liners
cartons of some products such as can-milk, can- acting as protective layers between the landfills
beverages, can-tomatoes are lined with plastics and environment can break, thereby leaking
so as to allow proper packaging. Plastic drinking toxin and contaminating the nearby soil and
bottles, water bottles, straws and stirrers used for water. The recycling of plastics is not enough to
soft drinks in hotels, restaurants and events reduce the large number of plastics that litters
centres for entertainment during conferences, everywhere. The process of recycling plastic
seminars, symposiums, wedding receptions, could result to the release of plastic irritants and
Annual General Meetings (AGMs) etc are harmful chemicals into the environment.
disposed/discarded littering everywhere by the Over-utilisation of Plastics: This refers to
participants and invited guests ignoring the plastics being over-used. It is less expensive and
environmental consequence. Some of these durable. These enable both the priviledged and
products may even contain tiny plastic beads. less priviledged people in the society to afford
Whenever one of these items is being patronising plastic materials/items. It is one of
discarded/disposed or washed down a sink, the the most widely available and over – used item
toxic pollutants pose threats to the environment in the world today. When plastic is disposed/
there by causing harm. Trash dumps and landfills discarded, it does not decompose easily there by
are major problems because the pollutants are polluting the land or air nearby when burnt in the
allowed to get into the ground thereby affecting open air. Also, plastic items that are not properly
the wildlife and groundwater. According to [1], discarded can be carried to oceans through storm
the plastic pollution on the land poses a threat to waters.
the plants and animals including humans
occupying the land. The estimates of the amount IV. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF
of plastic concentration on land are between four PLASTIC POLLUTION
and twenty three times that of the ocean. The
amount of plastic poised on the land is greater Plastics consist of major toxic pollutants
and more concentrated than that in the water. having the potential to cause important harm to the
Disposing of Plastic and Garbage: Plastics environment in the form of water, land and air
have complex chemical composition. This makes pollution. Plastic is a material that is non-
plastic to be durable and do not break down biodegradable, hence it can wreak havoc on natural
easily. Plastics and resins have different environment resulting into long-term issues for
properties related to contaminant absorption and animals, plants and humans. The distribution of
adsorption depending on their chemical plastic debris varies due to some factors among
composition. The polymer degradation takes a which are wind and ocean currents, urban areas,
long period of time due to saline environments coastline geography, and trade routes. The population
and cooling effect of the sea. These are of humans in some areas also plays a large role in
contributory factors to the persistence of plastic this. Plastic are normally found in enclosed regions
debris in certain environments. Findings carried such as nooks and crannies of cities and towns
out by the marine experts have made them to thereby affecting the environment. This plays the role
predict the rates of decomposition of different of distribution of organisms to remote coasts that are
plastic products. It is estimated that a plastic not their natural environments. Among the effects
beverage holder will take 400 years, a foam plastic pollution has on our environments are
plastic cup will take 50 years, a disposable nappy groundwater pollution, upsetting of the food chain,
will take 450 years, and fishing line will take 600 killings of animals, land pollution, poisonous ability,
years, to degrade. The burning of plastic is toxic air pollution, expensiveness.
which can harm the atmospheric conditions
resulting to deadly illness. Therefore, if it is in a Groundwater Pollution: Groundwater is water
landfill, the releasing of toxins in that area is that is present in rocks or unconsolidated
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