Plastic Pollution

Presented by
Tanya Gupta
Student ID 19016259

27th Jan’20
Topics to cover
 What is plastic

 What is plastics pollution

 Plastic pollution facts

 Plastic pollution contributors, sources and how it accumulates

 What various countries are doing and some Bristol initiative

 You can make a difference

 Questions to take away and think

 WHAT IS PLASTIC?

AN ARTIFICIAL SUBSTANCE THAT CAN BE SHAPED WHEN SOFT

INTO MANY DIFFERENT FORMS AND HAS MANY DIFFERENT USES.

Useful

- Easy to carry, cheap and durable

- Store things easily and securely, and preserve perishable food
- Plastics are present in furniture, construction, materials, cars, appliances, electronics and countless other things

“There is no such thing as AWAY because plastic is so

permanent and so indestructible that when you cast it
into the ocean it does not go AWAY.” Sir David Attenborough
 Plastic Pollution
- One of the most important environmental problems that we face today and are paying the price

- Plastic pollution has reached severe levels in developing and third world countries, where
land-fills, streets, drains, and literally the whole country is swamped with plastics and its
resultant pollution.
- Plastic takes between 500 and 1,000 years to break down

- Impacting
- Human health and well being
- Marine life and related industries
- Tourism
- Environment

Video - click here

 Plastic Pollution facts
70% 2m/min

1m seabirds
And 90% 70,000/yr

8m/day 5.25 trillion ton

 Plastic Pollution contributors
According to World Economic Forum researchers, just 10 rivers
across Asia and Africa carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in
the oceans.

The WEF added that the two things all the rivers named have in
common is a high population living in the area, as well as a poor
waste management system.
Where does plastic pollution accumulate?

The biggest of the garbage patches is the North Pacific Garbage Patch between Hawaii and California. It is
now three times the size of France.
The patch contains 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic which equals 250 pieces for every human being in the world
Sources of Plastic litter into marine life
SOME OF THE IMAGES
Initiatives in UK (Bristol)
Bristolians sent 4 million kilos of plastic to be recycled. The equivalent of 743
elephants! 

Refill Bristol, a scheme where you can fill up your

drinks bottles in cafes and restaurants started in
Bristol. There are now 14,000 places where you can
refill your bottle rather than buy a new one.
 What various countries are doing?

Kenya introduced one of the world’s toughest laws against plastic bags in 2017. Now, Kenyans who are
caught producing, selling, or even using plastic bags will risk imprisonment of up to four years or fines of
$40,000 (£31,000).

Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Australia, Canada France, New Delhi and many other cities around the world have
banned the single use of plastics

Britain imposed tax on plastic bags. UK - announced a 25-year plan to “set the global gold standard”

China banned imports of plastic waste

Even Big companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, P&G, McDonald – promised to collect and recycle more
plastics
You too can make a difference
Reduce
CONSUME WHAT YOU NEED

- Many plastic products you may frequently use are generally unnecessary – do you really need a straw to
drink a glass of water?

- Many of the most commonly disposed of plastic products have viable alternatives

- Always ask yourself if you can get the same product without consuming plastic before you buy
something

- Talk about our plastic problem loudly and often. Start conversations with your family members and
friends
Refuse
Some tips

- Refuse use of single use plastics – always carry a bag when shopping

- Refusing the plastic shopping bags given away at retailers and grocery stores is easy

- Take a little extra time while doing your shopping, select products without plastic packaging and always
be sure to avoid or even boycott products that are excessively wrapped in plastic (for example fresh
produce).

- When you go clothes shopping, it is best to avoid fabrics with plastic microfibers such as nylon and
polyester
Reuse
Some tips

- Use reusable bags such as canvas bags

- Use reusable water bottles instead of buying single plastic bottles and then throwing it up

- When you finally decide to get rid of old clothes, toys, furniture, or electronics, donate them rather than
throwing them away

- Use dishes, glasses, and metal silverware instead of their plastic counterparts.
Recycle
Some tips

- Use products that are marked as recycled

- Dump plastics appropriately

Remove
Some tips

- Start a beach or river clean-up in your local community

- Support the work of organizations removing plastic from the environment

- Purchase innovative products created from recovered ocean or environmental plastics

Thank you
 Harvard References
10 Facts About Plastic Pollution You Absolutely Need to Know (no date a) Global Citizen. Available at: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-pollution-facts/

(Accessed: 27 January 2020).

10 Facts About Plastic Pollution You Absolutely Need to Know (no date b) Global Citizen. Available at: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/plastic-pollution-facts/

(Accessed: 27 January 2020).

BBC News (2017) ‘Seven charts that explain the plastic pollution problem’, 10 December. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42264788

(Accessed: 27 January 2020).

Blockstein, D. E. (1988) ‘Washington Watch: Congress tackles ocean plastic pollution’, Bioscience, 38(1), pp. 19–19. doi: 10.1093/bioscience/38.1.19.

Buranyi, S. (2019) ‘The missing 99%: why can’t we find the vast majority of ocean plastic?’, The Guardian, 31 December. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-

news/2019/dec/31/ocean-plastic-we-cant-see (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

‘Plastic Pollution - Facts and Figures • Surfers Against Sewage’ (no date a) Surfers Against Sewage. Available at: https://www.sas.org.uk/our-work/plastic-pollution/plastic-

pollution-facts-figures/ (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

 Harvard References
‘Plastic Pollution - Facts and Figures • Surfers Against Sewage’ (no date b) Surfers Against Sewage. Available at: https://www.sas.org.uk/our-work/plastic-pollution/plastic-

pollution-facts-figures/ (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

Smee, B. (2019) ‘414 million pieces of plastic found on remote island group in Indian Ocean’, The Guardian, 16 May. Available at:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/16/414-million-pieces-of-plastic-found-on-remote-island-group-in-indian-ocean (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

The Economist (no date) ‘The known unknowns of plastic pollution, The known unknowns of plastic pollution’. Available at:

https://www.economist.com/international/2018/03/03/the-known-unknowns-of-plastic-pollution (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

We Depend On Plastic. Now, We’re Drowning in It. (2018) Magazine. Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-

trash-crisis/ (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

Wilkins, M. (no date) More Recycling Won’t Solve Plastic Pollution, Scientific American Blog Network. Available at: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/more-

recycling-wont-solve-plastic-pollution/ (Accessed: 27 January 2020).

YouTube (no date). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA9O9YUbQew (Accessed: 27 January 2020 ).