Nowadays plastic is widely used in daily life, but after we are done with plastic, plastic will cause drastic effect on surrounding environment. One of the positive characteristics of plastic is the fact that it is durable. Unfortunately, this is not a positive characteristic when it comes to the environment. The fact that plastic is durable means it degrades slowly. In addition, burning plastic can sometimes result in toxic fumes.
Aside from trying to get rid of plastic, creating it can be costly to the environment as well. It takes large amounts of chemical pollutants to create plastic, as well as significant amounts of fossil fuels.
On the other hand, some argue that plastic helps the environment is several ways, as well. After all, plastic has been used to make cars lighter. As a result, less oil is used to mobilize the cars and less CO2 is emitted. In addition, plastic containers provide safe ways for disposing of toxic waste products
The following are some suggestions for reducing the effects on environment:
1. Reduce the use
Source reduction Retailers and consumers can select products that use little or no packaging. Select packaging materials that are recycled into new packaging – such as glass and paper. If people refuse plastic as a packaging material, the industry will decrease production for that purpose, and the associated problems such as energy use, pollution, and adverse health effects will diminish.
2. Reuse containers
Since refillable plastic containers can be reused about 25 times, container reuse can lead to a substantial reduction in the demand for disposable plastic, and reduced use of materials and energy, with the consequent reduced environmental impacts. Container designers will take into account the fate of the container beyond the point of sale and consider the service the container provides. “Design for service” differs sharply from “design for disposal”.
3. Require producers to take back resins
Get plastic manufacturers directly involved with plastic disposal and closing the material loop, which can stimulate them to consider the product’s life cycle from cradle to grave. Make reprocessing easier by limiting the number of container types and shapes, using only one type of resin in each container, making collapsible containers, eliminating pigments, using water-dispersible adhesives for labels, and phasing out associated metals such as aluminum seals. Container and resin makers can help develop the reprocessing infrastructure by taking back plastic from consumers.
4. Legislatively require recycled content
Requiring that all containers be composed of a percentage of post-consumer material reduces the amount of virgin material consumed.
5. Standardize labeling and inform the public
The chasing arrows symbol on plastics is an example of an ambiguous and misleading label. Significantly different standardized labels for “recycled,” “recyclable,” and “made of plastic type X” must be developed.