Consequences of plastic waste on future life!

Plastic waste, also known as "white pollution", is a threat that is lurking and ready to kill the global environment. What's scarier than when plastic items are favored, prioritized to be used, but when they are no longer in use, they cling to our living environment for hundreds or even thousands of years. The problem of plastic waste has not been solved until now, and it may take a long time to be completely solved. Everyone needs to be very aware of the nature of plastic and its harmful effects on the environment and their own health.

According to statistics of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, each year, Vietnam is currently one of the countries with the fourth largest amount of waste discharged into the sea in the world, with a volume of about 0.28 to 0.73 million tons/year (equivalent to about 6% of the total plastic waste discharged into the world's seas).

Sources of plastic waste

• Plastic waste from daily life: Plastic waste originates mainly from residential areas, markets, and shops. Plastic waste from daily life is mainly plastic bags, plastic bottles, toys, diapers, straws, yogurt cups, toothbrushes...

• Plastic waste from industrial activities: Waste arising from production and construction activities of factories, enterprises, industrial parks...

• Medical plastic waste: This is a rather large source of plastic waste today, due to the specificity of the medical industry that it is necessary to use a lot of disposable items to reduce the risk of infection and ensure safety in medical examination and treatment of sick. Types of medical plastic waste include plastic bags, packaging for medical supplies, medicine packaging tools, gloves, needles, etc.

Current status of plastic waste treatment in Vietnam

The treatment and recycling of the plastic waste in Vietnam are still weak, outdated, and has many limitations when up to 90% of plastic waste is treated by burying, incinerating and only 10% is recycled (According to Mr. Dang Huy Dong – Former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment). While the treatment in the way of burying, burning has many disadvantages, harmful to the environment and people.

Plastic waste is very difficult to decompose in the natural environment. Each type of plastic has a different number of years of decomposition with a very long time, hundreds of years, sometimes even thousands of years. For example, according to information from the Environment & Urban newspaper: plastic bottles decompose after 450 - 1000 years; straws, bottle caps will decompose after 100 - 500 years; toothbrushes decompose after 500 years…

Harmful effects of plastic waste on life

• Effects of plastic waste on human health: Micro-plastics will mix into the environment of water, soil, air, etc, causing marine organisms to eat. Next, humans eat these organisms and will indirectly introduce micro-plastics into the body, directly threatening health.

As for plastic waste, which is processed in the form of incineration, it will produce toxic gases including dioxins, furans, etc., which affect the endocrine glands, reduce immunity, and cause cancer.

• Affect the living activities of marine organisms:

Plastic waste not only affects human health but also directly affects other organisms on earth, of which the most serious impact is on marine life.

Plastic waste when dumped into the sea will destroy or degrade biodiversity, kill marine life if they are accidentally caught or eaten.

• Impact on the environment:

According to information published in the Environmental Journal, when buried, plastic waste will decompose into small pieces of micro-plastic and are mixed in the soil, causing a great impact on groundwater.

As for plastic waste in the mountains and forests, when mixed in the soil, it will lose the soil structure, gradually leading to a decrease in water holding capacity, causing erosion and landslides in mountainous areas.

Overcoming and dealing with the consequences of plastic waste

Many countries around the world are working to eliminate pollution caused by plastic waste. To step up propaganda and education to raise awareness about the harmful effects of plastic waste and plastic bags on the economy - society, environment, and human health; develop effective solutions to reduce consumption, increase reuse and recycling of plastic waste to the community and people.

Each citizen must uphold the sense of responsibility, actively participate in and organize anti-plastic waste activities with specific and practical initiatives and actions. The use of non-biodegradable plastic waste to create products that are not only beautiful but also useful for human life. Understanding that, Green Leaf Infinity always pursues the goal for the green environment, reducing waste to the environment by creating highly applicable and user-friendly products. Coming to Green Leaf Infinity, customers will admire a beautiful product display space and hand-made sophisticated handmade products.