PLASTIC WASTE

Introduction

Did you know that Indonesia is the second largest contributor of plastic waste in the world? With an amount of 3.22 MMT (million metric tons) of plastic waste produced, Indonesia has come second after China, with around 0.48 - 1.29 MMT of it thrown into the ocean (Ministry of Environment and Forestry, 2020). Parker (2015) reported that the pollution of the oceans remains a serious problem since every year between 4.8 to 12.7 metric tons of plastic are thrown into the sea, which endanger the life of a large number of marine animals. For example, in May 2019, while exploring the ocean floor, Sigurdsson, a diver, came across a tiny reticulated octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) that had taken refuge inside a transparent plastic cup, one of the millions of waste that man throws into the sea. This plastic cup instead of serving as protection, made the cephalopod an easy target for any predator in search of food, also becoming a potential risk if they came to ingest the plastic cup (Environment, 2019). Another example of this case reported by Sutton (2019) came from Fort Myers Beach in Big Carlos Pass. A male dolphin was found with a 24-inch hose in the esophagus and forestomach of the animal. Those are just a few examples of plastic waste's effect on marine life, while in reality, the effects are broader than that. Regarding the plastic waste effect, of course, there are several things that cause the problem to occur.

 

Body Plastic Waste

The considerations in using plastics are due to the properties of plastics which are relatively low cost of manufacture, ease of manufacture, flexibility, and water resistance, therefore, plastics are used in many ways. Plastics are also often used as packaging because they are lightweight, easy to make / print, inert, non-toxic, odorless, resistant to microbes, and can be recycled. As stated by the Professor of Air and Waste Management at the Bandung Institute of Technology, Prof. Enri Damanhuri, it would be difficult if humans had to live without plastic, because many of the items we consume every day are made of plastic. Although plastic can be recycled, only 1.2% of households carry out plastic waste recycling activities, this was reported by BPS (2018) in the 2017 National Socio-Economic Survey (Susenas). The use of single-use plastics in everyday life has a dangerous impact on the environment. Plastics can have an impact on humans, animals, and plants, and also cause global warming.

There are many adverse effects of plastic pollution on the human species. First of all, plastic pollution may lead to severe health effects since we are likely to consume microplastics in our daily food and drinks. Second, plastic pollution may also lower our life quality. People usually do not want to live in areas where plastic trash lies on the streets. People who live nearby plastic combustion plants may also be affected by the emission of harmful gases. There may also be odor nuisance from these combustion plants.

Animals heavily suffer from plastic pollution and the implicit consequences since they are not able to protect or adjust appropriately. Especially in areas where people illegally dump their plastic waste in forests, animals living in these forests are likely to get contaminated when the plastic trash slowly decomposes over time and harmful substances are released on nearby plants. Not only for animals, plants may also be affected in an adverse way. Plants usually require stable conditions in order to grow and replicate efficiently. However, if the surrounding area is contaminated by plastic waste, this waste may release toxic compounds which in turn may harm the growth behavior of plants.

Global warming can be another effect caused by plastic pollution. Since in order to get rid of the plastic trash, it is often burned, harmful substances are released into the air due to the combustion process. These substances include greenhouse gases like CO2 which in turn contributes to the global warming issue. Many plastic applications are incredibly useful, which in turn has led to plastic’s popularity and ubiquity. However, plastic does present some health concerns. Some types of plastic and plastic waste contain BPA, which is an endocrine disruptor. BPA has now been linked to a number of health issues including cancer and fertility problems (Wagner, M. & Oehlmann, 2009) and plastic harms our environment in a number of ways. The process of mining the raw oil-based materials we use to create plastic disrupts natural habitats and can cause chemicals to leach into the environment during extraction. Almost all plastic will come with a symbol that represents three arrows chasing each other. Within this symbol is a number and the number relates to the type of plastic that the product is made of. This can range from one to six in which are PET/1 used for (bottles and food trays), HDPE/2 (bottle caps, toys, and chemical bottles), PVC/3 (pipes, electrical cable insulation, and door frames), LDPE/4 (shopping bags, plastic packaging, fresh food wrappers, and soft bottles), PP/5 (packaging ready-to-eat food, bottles of sauces and syrups), and PS/6 (food boxes/bowls or egg packaging)

There are a collection of plastics that fall into their own category. These are items that are difficult to recycle. Including sunglasses, baby bottles, and even CD’s. They contain BPA, which is a toxic chemical and can cause disruption to hormones as well as a range of health problems (Rolf, 2010). Therefore, capturing plastic waste and waste plastic products and turning them into other useful products can help to limit the harm resulting from our demand for new or virgin plastic. Or from discarded plastic making its way into the environment. It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the world's oceans every year and will exist forever (BBC, 2019). The plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and eventually becomes "microplastics", which can be digested by plankton and other tiny organisms, then eaten by larger organisms, and spread the tiny plastic particles up and up into the food chain, including humans. The “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic waste in the world and a collection of plastic waste floating in the ocean between Hawaii and California. Its size has grown to 1.6 million square kilometers, almost the area of inland Indonesia (1.9 million square kilometers) (Mongabay, 2018). The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is not a solid plastic collection, but is composed of 1.8 trillion plastic parts, and is estimated to weigh 88,000 tons, which is the weight of 500 jumbo jets (Mongabay, 2018). It can be seen from the results of waste mapping conducted in the past three years that the amount of plastic pollution has doubled. In this vast area, microplastics account for 8% of the total floating plastics. Plastic consumption increases with the increase in the human population. This results in high production of plastic waste, especially in the most densely populated areas. Indiscriminate disposal of wastes from plastics and plastic products can lead to environmental pollution which is evident in several ways including environmental natural beauty deterioration (Andrady., 2003) , entanglement and death of aquatic organisms (Hofmeyr et. al., 2006, and Lithner et. al., 2009), sewage system blockage in towns and cities especially in developing countries (Adane and Muleta., 2011), resulting in creating conducive environment for breeding mosquitoes and other disease causing vectors and production of foul smells (Ellis et. al., 2005), reduction in water percolation and normal agricultural soils aeration thus causing reduced productivity in such lands (Njeru., 2006). Dumping of plastics on land or landfilling plastics leads to abiotic and biotic degradation of the plastics, where plastic additives (e.g. stabilizers, harmful colorant moieties, plasticizers and heavy metals) can leach and eventually percolate into various aspects of the environment, thereby causing soil and water contamination. Reports have shown that micro plastics (Dubaish and Liebezeit., 2013) as well as synthetic polymer fibres are still detectable five years after they have been applied to sewage sludge and soils (Zubris and Richard., 2005). Chlorinated plastics are capable of leaching out toxic chemicals into the soil and subsequently seep into the underground water or surrounding aquatic system thereby polluting the ecosystem. Methane, a dangerous greenhouse gas, which significantly contributes to global warming is released during microbial biodegradation of plastics (Biello., 2003). Wastes found in the oceans are made up of approximately 80% plastics. Within the marine ecosystem, plastics have been reported to concentrate and sorb contaminants present in the seawater from different other sources. Examples of such contaminants are persistent organic pollutants like nonylphenol, PCBs, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and phenanthrene, with potential to accumulate in several fold on the plastic debris compared to the surrounding seawater (Mato et. al., 2001). More than 260 species of marine organisms ingested or are entangled in or with plastic debris, leading to reduced movement, feeding, reproductive output, ulcers, lacerations and eventual death (Gregory., 2009, and Laist., 1997). Air pollution is one of the major environmental threats to public health, and it is responsible for more than 6 million deaths associated with environmental pollution (Hamlet et. al., 2018). Open burning of plastics and plastic products releases pollutants such as heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and furans which when inhaled can cause health risks especially respiratory disorders (Okunola et. al, 2019). Plastic pollution awareness should be more effective and efficient, with all stakeholders heavily involved. Environmental knowledge and attitude are key elements for changing human action to awareness about plastic waste like less waste and zero waste movement. There are 4 important activities that are the basis for reducing plastic waste, namely prevention, minimization,reuse, and recycling. There are several ways to raise awareness of plastic pollution which through introducing the environmental education as a subject in the school curriculum, owing the importance of early age awareness and through socialize campaign about less and zero waste lifestyle like bring non plastic grocery bags and don't use a plastic straw or spoon

Zero Waste Indonesia (ZWID) is the first online-based community in Indonesia which was founded in 2018 by Maurilla Imron and Kirana Agustina with the aim of inviting Indonesians to live a zero waste lifestyle (Zero Waste Lifestyle).  Zero Waste Lifestyle is a lifestyle to minimize the production of waste generated by each individual which will end up in landfills (TPA) in an effort to preserve the environment.  Besides ZWID, another community that is engaged in plastic waste is the Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) Community, which started with two siblings, Melati and Isabel Wijsen.  Born in 2013, this community has spread its wings.  Not only in Bali, BBPB is also in a number of big cities in Indonesia and abroad. Using less plastic is a goal that many of us strive to achieve. Looking at our daily routine shows where we can scale back the most on plastic use. It’s time to come together and reduce our plastic consumption. The biggest impact you can have is reducing single use plastics. We can help in many of convenient way such as bring our own cup in outdoor activities, using reusable straw, bring our own totebags when we get grocery shopping, save and reuse plastic bags that we already have, choose plastic-free when there is an option, and lastly we can choose natural clothing fibers (cotton) over synthetic

The benefits of reducing plastic consumption include preventing pollution by lessening the amount of new raw materials used, saves energy, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute towards climate change, reduces the amount of waste that needs to be recycled or, in developing countries, sent to landfills/incinerators, saves money, since reusable items work out cheaper than constantly purchasing more plastic.

Conclusion

Indonesia is the second largest contributor of plastic waste in the world with an amount of 3.22 MMT of plastic waste produced. This is caused by the relatively low cost and ease of manufacture, flexibility and water resistance. These characteristics increase the use of plastics. The adverse effects of plastics pollution include dangerous effect in human health and life quality, animals suffering, and global warming. One of the worst plastics waste is the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", caused production of foul smells, reduction in water percolation and normal agricultural soils aeration. There are some attempts in solving plastic polution, for example is Zero Waste Indonesia (ZWID) and Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPB) Community. Though, it doesn't really takes a big effort to reduce plastic wastes. Society also can participate by using reuseable their own cup, straws, and bags. These small effort could lead to decrease the amount of new raw materials used, saves energy, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

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