This year's World Environment Day 2023 was titled Beat Plastic Pollution due to the increasing global interest and importance of this environmental problem and the health damage it can cause to human societies as well as to the organisms that live with us. What are the most important environmental impacts of plastic waste that have made it a source of great concern?
Public awareness of the environmental impact of plastic waste and the bad damage it causes in the short or long term has increased. To date, the role of harmful plastic in fueling the global climate change crisis is unclear, because there are many hidden effects in all stages of the plastic life cycle.
The plastic life cycle begins with the oil and gas extraction stage, and the toxic environmental emissions that result from these extraction methods directly from fuel combustion as well as the leakage of methane and other gases. Also in the stages and during the manufacture of plastics are energy-consuming procedures that produce large amounts of emissions and toxic chemicals. Also, during and after the use of the product (plastic after its manufacture), microplastics, microfibres, and additives are released into the environment, which are harmful substances that enter the food web and are increasingly deposited in the bodies of marine and terrestrial organisms.
Also, the danger and harm of plastic is in the last stage, which is the final disposal stage of plastic products after their use, and because the majority of plastics are not recycled, especially those used in the health care sector, therefore most plastic waste ends up in one of the following disposal paths:
Incineration: It results in carbon emissions and toxic gases such as dioxins or furans and toxic ash. Incineration is considered the most harmful method of disposing of plastic and generates the most carbon dioxide emissions.
Landfill: Products can last for hundreds of years, which can lead to toxic chemicals and microplastics leaching into the soil and water and accumulating on the Earth’s surface.
In conclusion, there is a global call to limit and reduce the harm of plastic pollution, and this year the guide was issued on the occasion of World Day, giving some advice on how we can all be part of the global movement to overcome plastic pollution (#BeatPlasticPollution.), so we must take quick and serious action. Across all sectors of society to limit, reduce and prevent plastic pollution.