Plastic Pollution
Summary
TLDRDr. Shandur's lecture at North Bengal University delves into the pressing issue of plastic pollution, outlining the history, types, and environmental impacts of plastics. It highlights the persistence of plastics in ecosystems, their contribution to groundwater and land pollution, and the dangers of improper waste management. The talk emphasizes the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling to mitigate the harmful effects of plastic waste, suggesting practical steps for individuals and society to combat this global challenge.
Takeaways
- 📚 Dr. Shandur from the Department of Botany, University of North Bengal, is delivering a lecture on plastic pollution as part of the S2 paper of Environmental Studies.
- 🚀 The lecture outlines the introduction to plastics, types, uses, effects on the environment, and management strategies for plastic waste.
- 🔍 Plastics are defined as synthetic or natural organic materials that can be shaped and hardened, often used to replace traditional materials like glass, wood, and metals.
- 🕰 The history of plastics dates back to 1846 with the discovery of nitrocellulose, and various types of plastics were developed throughout the 20th century.
- 🔢 The Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) introduced a resin identification code in 1988, categorizing seven types of plastics, each with specific uses and recycling numbers.
- ♻️ Different types of plastics decompose at varying rates, with some like PVC not decomposing at all, while others like HDPE can take around 100 years.
- 🌍 Plastic pollution is a global issue affecting all ecosystems, including terrestrial, aquatic, and marine environments, and is highly toxic to all forms of life.
- 🌿 The effects of plastic pollution include groundwater contamination, land pollution, and air pollution from burning plastics, which releases toxic gases.
- 🔄 Plastic recycling involves collection, sorting, shredding, cleaning, melting, and pelletizing waste plastic to be reused, a process that helps manage plastic waste.
- 🏺 Conventional methods of plastic waste management include recycling, landfilling, and incineration, each with its own set of environmental concerns.
- 🛍️ Reducing the use of single-use plastics, such as bags, straws, and utensils, is a key strategy for individuals to help manage plastic waste.
- 🌱 The three R's of waste management—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—are emphasized as collective actions to mitigate plastic pollution.
Q & A
What is the definition of plastic according to the lecture?
-Plastic is defined as any group of synthetic or natural organic materials that can be shaped when soft and then hardened. It includes different types of resins, resinoids, and polymeric materials, such as cellulose derivatives, proteins, and materials designed to replace traditional materials like glass, wood, and metals.
What are the main uses of plastics?
-Plastics are used for various purposes such as construction, decoration, making articles like coatings, filaments, and weaving materials.
When was the origin of plastic traced back to?
-The origin of plastic can be traced back to the year 1846 in Europe, where Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered the resin nitrocellulose.
What is the significance of the resin identification code developed by the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI)?
-The resin identification code, developed by SPI, is a system that categorizes plastics based on the types of polymers or resins used in their production. It helps in identifying seven categories of plastics, each with a specific number (1 to 7) and applications.
What are the seven categories of plastics recognized by the resin identification code?
-The seven categories include PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), HDPE (High-Density Polyethylene), PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), LDPE (Low-Density Polyethylene), PP (Polypropylene), PS (Polystyrene), and other mixed plastics.
How does plastic pollution affect the environment?
-Plastic pollution affects the environment by causing groundwater pollution, land pollution, and air pollution due to burning. It also disrupts ecosystems and can lead to the biomagnification of toxins in the food chain, posing a serious threat to various organisms.
What are the main challenges in managing plastic waste?
-The main challenges in managing plastic waste include the non-degradable nature of plastics, the accumulation of waste in landfills, the release of toxic gases during incineration, and the persistence of plastics in the environment for a long time.
What is the process of plastic recycling?
-The process of plastic recycling involves the collection of plastic, sorting of different types of plastics, shredding, cleaning, melting, and finally making pellets for reuse.
Why is it important to reduce the use of single-use plastics?
-Reducing the use of single-use plastics is important because they are used only once and contribute significantly to plastic waste. They can be replaced with reusable alternatives, reducing the overall environmental impact.
What are some alternative methods for managing plastic waste?
-Alternative methods for managing plastic waste include introducing a container deposit system, banning single-use plastic bags, removing microbeads from personal care and laundry products, and ensuring plastic producers and recyclers capture all plastic waste.
What is the impact of plastic pollution on marine life?
-Plastic pollution has a significant impact on marine life as it accumulates in oceans, affecting phytoplankton, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and ultimately humans. Improperly discarded plastic litter contributes to this pollution, disrupting the food chain and causing harm to marine species.
Outlines
📚 Introduction to Plastic Pollution and Lecture Outline
Dr. Shandur from the Department of Botany at the University of North Bengal introduces a lecture on plastic pollution, part of the S2 paper of Environmental Studies. The lecture aims to outline the types of plastics, their uses, the environmental impact of plastic pollution, and management strategies. Plastics are defined as synthetic or natural materials that can be molded and hardened, often replacing traditional materials like glass, wood, and metals. The history of plastics is traced back to 1846, with significant developments in the 20th century, leading to the creation of the Resin Identification Code in 1988 to categorize different types of plastics based on their polymers or resins.
🌿 Environmental Impact and Decomposition of Plastics
This paragraph delves into the environmental effects of plastic pollution, highlighting the varying decomposition times of different plastic types. For instance, PVC takes an indefinite amount of time to decompose, while LDPE can take up to 1,000 years. The paragraph emphasizes the persistence of plastics in the environment, their resistance to natural degradation processes, and their accumulation as a result of their widespread use. Plastic pollution affects ecosystems, including groundwater and land, and poses a significant hazard due to the release of toxic gases when burned, contributing to air pollution and the overall degradation of the environment.
🌍 The Consequences of Plastic Pollution on Ecosystems and Food Chains
The third paragraph discusses the impact of plastic pollution on the food chain, from phytoplankton to humans, and the biomagnification of toxins in higher consumers. It outlines the management of plastic waste, including recycling, landfilling, and incineration, each with its own set of challenges and environmental implications. The paragraph calls for individual and collective action to reduce single-use plastics and to embrace the principles of reduce, reuse, and recycle. It also presents innovative uses of plastic waste, such as constructing roads, as a means to mitigate the environmental harm caused by plastic pollution.
🚯 Conclusion and Call to Action on Plastic Pollution Management
In conclusion, the lecture emphasizes the urgency of addressing plastic pollution, with statistics highlighting the millions of plastic items and tons of plastic waste entering the environment annually. It stresses the importance of not letting the world be overrun by plastic and suggests steps for managing plastic waste, such as implementing a container deposit system, banning single-use plastic bags, and ensuring producers and recyclers capture all plastic waste. The lecture ends with a call to action for everyone to contribute to the reduction of plastic pollution.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Plastic Pollution
💡Plastics
💡Resin Identification Code (RIC)
💡Decomposition
💡Non-Degradable
💡Recycling
💡Landfilling
💡Incineration
💡Single-Use Plastics
💡Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
💡Microplastics
Highlights
Dr. Shandur introduces the lecture on plastic pollution, its effects on the environment, and management strategies.
Plastic is defined as a group of synthetic or natural materials that can be shaped and hardened, often replacing traditional materials like glass, wood, and metals.
The history of plastics dates back to 1846, with significant developments in various types of plastics throughout the 20th century.
SPI's resin identification code categorizes plastics into seven types, each with specific uses and decomposition times.
Plastic pollution is highly toxic and affects all ecosystems, including plants, animals, and insects.
Groundwater pollution is a major concern due to plastic waste accumulation in aquatic environments.
Plastic waste is a significant contributor to land pollution, with 46% of plastic waste being landfilled.
Burning plastics leads to air pollution due to the release of toxic gases and chemicals.
Plastic pollution disrupts the food chain, affecting producers, consumers, and ultimately humans.
Plastic recycling involves collection, sorting, shredding, cleaning, melting, and pelletizing to produce new products.
Landfilling plastic waste has disadvantages, including limited space and environmental impact from non-degradation.
Incineration can be used to manage plastic waste, but it raises concerns about hazardous substance release.
Reducing single-use plastics is a practical step towards managing plastic waste.
Alternatives to single-use plastics, such as reusable bags and steel cutlery, can help mitigate environmental impact.
The 3Rs of waste management—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle—are emphasized as key strategies to combat plastic pollution.
Innovative uses of plastic waste, such as in road construction, demonstrate potential for repurposing materials.
Statistics highlight the scale of plastic pollution, with millions of plastic bottles and packaging items released into the environment annually.
Microplastics from a single bottle can number in the thousands, emphasizing the need for plastic management.
The lecture concludes with a call to action to rise above plastic pollution and manage it responsibly.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Music]
hello dear students I Dr shandur from
the Department of botney University of
North
Bengal today I will be delivering a
lecture on the topic plastic
pollution as a part of the S2 paper of
Environmental
Studies first of all I would like to
focus upon the outline of this lecture
so this lecture will briefly introduce
to the Plastics the types of plastics
and their
uses the effect of plastic pollution on
the
environment and most importantly on the
management of plastic
fa so first of all what is a
plastic so we can Define plastic as any
group of synthetic or natural organic
materials that may be shaped when soft
and then
hardened it can include different type
of resins resinoids and polymeric
materials including the cellulose
derivatives cin materials proteins and
most importantly it has been designed
and produced to replace the other
materials that have been used
traditionally like glass wood and
metals the Plastics are also used for
different purposes like for the
construction decoration for making many
articles such as coatings
filaments and for weaving
materials so if you go and look back at
the history of the Plastics we can trace
the origin of the plastic from the year
1846 in Europe where Charles schen
accidentally discovered the resin
nitrocellulose in 1851 hard rubber was
discovered in 1870 cam for was
discovered in 1890s formal deide was
used as a resin
199s synthetic bealite was discovered in
1930s different plastic polymers in the
form of nylon was discovered 1930s to
1940s during the World War II different
thermoplastics were discovered which are
still today used like PVC low density
polythylene
polyene
Etc also in 197
78 the very low density polyethene was
introduced which reduced the cost of the
plastic production industrially so as a
result of that Plastics have been used
for the production of different articles
slowly and gradually replacing the
traditional materials such as wood and
other construction
materials
so in
1937 Society of PL industry which has
been abbreviated as SPI they developed a
system which is known as the resin
identification code so this resin
identification code in 1988 depending
upon the types of the polymers or the
resins that have been used for the
production of
plastics they have recognized seven
categories so these categories include P
that is polyethylene
tetral sdp high density polyethylene
venile or PVC that is poly venile
chloride ldp that is low density
polyethylene PP that is
polypropylene PS polystyrene and other
mixed
Plastics so if you go through this resin
identification code so this has been
numbered like this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 for the
different classes and you can see the
use of this plastic for different
applications for example the P or
polyethylene talet it has been used for
for making soft drink bottles and
different bottled waters high density
polyethylene they have been used for
making milk jugs laundry detergent
bottles and different cleaning solution
bottles poly chloride which is the most
importantly used plastic which is
abbreviated as PVC it has been used for
the plastic cing wrap and for the
plumbing pipings and all these things
and low density polyethylene for
shopping bags and squee bottles
polypropylene for plastic straw medicine
bottles condiment bottles polystyrene
for the clamshell packaging materials
plastic utensils CD cases and the other
mixed Plastics which includes the
acrylic nylon and polycarbonate type of
materials that has been used for making
different type of construction materials
and have different different varieties
of applications in every field
so in this slide you can see that
depending upon the time of their
decomposition so all the plastic types
they vary on the timing of the
decomposition for example you can see
that the poly venile choride which is
the least decomposed plastic so you can
see that there is no timeline for the
decomposition whereas the ldp type of
plastics they can take more or less 500
to th000 years for DEC composition also
the high density polyethylene they also
require a substantial amount of time
near about 100 years for the
decomposition so you can see that almost
all the
Plastics
are or they can persist in the
environment for a long period of time so
that make them a very dangerous material
from the point of view of the
environment so if you go through the
properties of the Plastics
we can say that the Plastics are
commercially used in the present day
because they are mostly
inexpensive on the other hand they are
very
durable and these
structures and their polymeric
properties they make them resistant to
all the natural processes of
degradation so that is why they are
completely
non-degradable and as a result of this
their higher prominence and usage in the
present day makes them accumulate in the
environment and which causes potential
hazards to the
environment so now let us focus on the
plastic pollution so basically the
plastic pollution is slowly and
gradually engulfing the Earth so in the
sense that it is highly toxic and it
affects all the organisms present in the
earth including the plants animals
insects and all the known living organ
orm it is an incredibly useful material
from our point of view but it is highly
toxic and it is known to cause
illness and because it is meant for
durability it is non-degradable in the
nature so which is the most con
important concern of the plastic
use so if you see the effect of the
plastic pollution on the environment we
can see plastic affects all the uh
ecosystems so first of all you can see
that the groundwater pollution is the
major cause of the plastic waste so this
plastic bottles and all these things
which get accumulated in the Aquatic
environment it slowly and gradually gets
accumulated in the surface water and
slowly it becomes leashed out to the
groundw and it begins to cause serious
harm to the
species which live in the water and
which are dependent upon the Water for
their drinking
then the Plastics if they get
accumulated in the land it causes the
land pollution and it has been known
that overall 46% of the plastic waste is
landfilled unlike the Other M materials
you know that the plastic is non
degradable so that is why it slowly and
gradually gets accumulated in the
terrestrial
environment also
Plastics they cannot be burnt because
burning of the plastic leads to air
pollution
the burning of the plastic releases
highly toxic gases and elements and
products which are mostly carbon
monoxide chlorine hypochloric acid
dioxine furons amines styrene benzine
and acid alide all these compounds are
highly toxic and causes air
pollution again the most important
dangerous aspect of the plastic
pollution is AC of the plastic
ultimately into ultimately into the
oceans because the ocean is at the down
strep of each and every
ecosystem mostly all the Plastics gets
accumulated and end up in the
ocean it has been estimated that nearly
4.8 million and 12.7 million tons of
debris end up in the Wall's ocean every
year and majority of it is improperly
discarded plastic liter
so in totality we can see that the
plastic plastic pollution it upsets the
food chain so you can see in this figure
that the Plastics it affects not only
the phytoplankton which are the
producers it also affects the primary
consumers and the secondary consumers
and ultimately
affecting the humans which are at the
top of the food chain so that is why
Plastics are highly toxic and their
biomagnification and accumulation in the
the T consumers poses a serious threat
and
concern so now let us focus on some of
the aspects of the management of plastic
WS so the conventional methods of
management of the plastic waste it
involves the recycling of the plastic so
the plastic recycling basically refers
to the process of recovering waste or
scrap plastic and reprocessing it into
useful products so this recycling
process it involves first of all the
collection of the
plastic then the Sorting of the plastic
so that means separating the different
type of
plastics then shredding of the Plastics
through the shredder machine and
different machines after that de
cleaning of the Plastics and melting the
Plastics to finally making it pellet so
that they can be recycled and reused for
uh for the
use another conventional method includes
The Dumping of the pl itic waste into
the landfill so this is a conventional
approach of the waste
management but the major disadvantages
of this land filling is that uh
gradually in every country the space for
landfilling is becoming
scanty however this plastic waste also
remains in the landfill without breaking
down and changing the composition of the
terrestrial environment and the
surrounding aquatic environments also
due to the leeching of the plastic
waste another conventional method is the
incineration so basically incineration
means to burn the plastic at high
temperature so insulation process
basically it aims to reduce the need for
the landfill of the plastic W however
there are the major concerns that
whenever the Plastics are burned
hazardous substances or chemicals are
released into the environment
however insulation can be used to
recover some of the energy content in
the plastic so that means some of the
Plastics can be recycled through this
process so how can we manage the plastic
waste from our
s so we all of us can do a uh bit from
our own by reducing the use of the
single use Plastics so basically single
use Plastics refer to the plastic that
are used only once it may be for any
purpose that means like a carry bag uh
like a cuty like a packaging material so
you can see the all the examples of the
single use items or the single use
Plastics including the plastic carry
bags sticks then straws then food
packaging material or the plastic
utensils you can see that you can
replace all this item with different
alternatives for example you can use the
plastic bags or the different bags which
can be reused again and again instead of
the carry bag you can use the steel cut
we can as the tiffen Box instead of the
plastic your containers so like this we
can replace the uh usage of the single
use Plastics
so as you know that the there are three
hours for the management of the West
that is Reduce Reuse and recycle that
means all of us should work toward
reducing the usage of the
plastic reuse of the plastic materials
and recycling of the plastic materials
so like this we can all work towards the
goal of managing the plastic fist so in
this example you can also see a road
that is made from the West plastic so
this road is from your from our own
country where the plastic waste has been
used for uh preparing the road like this
so you can see that there can be
different ways by which you can utilize
the plastic so that it does not get
causes the potential hazards when they
gets landfilled or when they are leased
out into the aquaticos
system lastly in conclusion so we can
say that we have to rise above the
plastic and there are many statistical
implications as you can see that near
about 180 million plastic blacks 120
million plastic bottles 200 million
other pieces of plastic packaging they
are released into the environment M
every year 9 million tons of plastic
enter into the ecosystem and every 11
years this is going to
double and the most important thing is
that plastic doesn't decompose it just
gets
smaller just from a single bottle near
about 10,000 pieces of microplastics can
be released into the
environment so in our bit to manage or
cup the plastic pollution we can follow
some of the basic steps that means we
can introduce a container deposit system
to eliminate the plastic rubbish we can
ban the single use plastic bags we can
remove the microb Beats from the
personal care and laundry products we
can ensure plastic producers and
recyclers
capture all the plastic wees from our
own
premise
finally thank you for your patient
hearing and let us do our bit and don't
don't let the world to go to the West
just like a plastic thank you all of you
once again
[Music]
Посмотреть больше похожих видео
Waste Disposal
Who is polluting the ocean with plastic?
How we can stop the flow of plastic pollution into our oceans? | Tim Niemier | TEDxMeritAcademy
Can we live without plastic? ⏲️ 6 Minute English
The World Ocean "Trashed"
Water Bodies Pollution | Beach Cleanup Drive | Clear Sands | Echoes of Empathy
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)