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Plastic pollution

From Wikipedia
Plastic pollution
type of pollution
Subclass ofpollution Edit
Has contributing factorplastic waste Edit

Plastic pollution be de accumulation of plastic objects den particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags den microbeads) insyd de Earth ein environment wey dey adversely affect humans, wildlife den dema habitat.[1][2] Plastics wey act as pollutants dem categorize by size into micro-, meso-, anaa macro debris.[3] Plastics be inexpensive den durable, wey dey make dem very adaptable give different uses; as a result, manufacturers dey choose make dem use plastic over oda materials.[4] However, de chemical structure of chaw plastics wey dey render dem resistant to chaw natural processes of degradation den as a result be de slow make dem degrade.[5] Togeda, dese two factors dey allow large volumes of plastic make dem enter de environment as mismanaged waste wich dey persist insyd de ecosystem wey dey travel thru out food webs.[6][7]

Major plastic waste generator end polluter countries

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Total plastic waste polluters

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Dem dey generate around 275 million tonnes of plastic waste each year around de world; wey dem dey dump between 4.8 million den 12.7 million tonnes into de sea.[8] About 60% of de plastic waste insyd de ocean dey cam from de top five countries: China, Indonesia, de Philippines, Thailand den Vietnam.[9] De table below dey list de top 20 plastic waste polluting countries insyd 2010 according to a study dem publish by Science, Jambeck et al (2015).[10][11]

Top plastic polluters as of 2010
Position Country Plastic pollution

(insyd 1000 tonnes per year)

1 China 8820
2 Indonesia 3220
3 Philippines 1880
4 Vietnam 1830
5 Sri Lanka 1590
6 Thailand 1030
7 Egypt 970
8 Malaysia 940
9 Nigeria 850
10 Bangladesh 790
11 South Africa 630
12 India 600
13 Algeria 520
14 Turkey 490
15 Pakistan 480
16 Brazil 470
17 Myanmar 460
18 Morocco 310
19 North Korea 300
20 United States 280
  1. "Plastic pollution". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  2. Laura Parker (June 2018). "We Depend on Plastic. Now We're Drowning in It". NationalGeographic.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  3. Hammer, J; Kraak, MH; Parsons, JR (2012). "Plastics in the Marine Environment: The Dark Side of a Modern Gift". Reviews of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. Vol. 220. pp. 1–44. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-3414-6_1. ISBN 978-1461434139. PMID 22610295. S2CID 5842747.
  4. Hester, Ronald E.; Harrison, R. M. (editors) (2011). Marine Pollution and Human Health. Royal Society of Chemistry. pp. 84–85. ISBN 184973240X
  5. Le Guern, Claire (March 2018). "When The Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide". Coastal Care.
  6. Worm, Boris; Lotze, Heike K.; Jubinville, Isabelle; Wilcox, Chris; Jambeck, Jenna (17 October 2017). "Plastic as a Persistent Marine Pollutant". Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 42 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-102016-060700. ISSN 1543-5938.
  7. Ong, Sandy (24 August 2023). "The living things that feast on plastic". Knowable Magazine. doi:10.1146/knowable-082423-1.
  8. Worm, Boris; Lotze, Heike K.; Jubinville, Isabelle; Wilcox, Chris; Jambeck, Jenna (17 October 2017). "Plastic as a Persistent Marine Pollutant". Annual Review of Environment and Resources (in English). 42 (1): 1–26. doi:10.1146/annurev-environ-102016-060700. ISSN 1543-5938.
  9. "Plastic Oceans". futureagenda.org. London.
  10. Jambeck, Jenna R.; Geyer, Roland; Wilcox, Chris; Siegler, Theodore R.; Perryman, Miriam; Andrady, Anthony; Narayan, Ramani; Law, Kara Lavender (13 February 2015). "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean". Science. 347 (6223): 768–771. Bibcode:2015Sci...347..768J. doi:10.1126/science.1260352. PMID 25678662. S2CID 206562155.
  11. "Top 20 Countries Ranked by Mass of Mismanaged Plastic Waste". Earth Day.org. 4 June 2018.

Sources

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Read further

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Lecture of Erik van Sebille (Utrecht University) on plastic pollution
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