{"id":436,"date":"2018-02-02T12:30:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T17:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.phildu.be\/?p=436"},"modified":"2018-02-06T20:11:10","modified_gmt":"2018-02-07T01:11:10","slug":"plastic-waste-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.phildu.be\/?p=436","title":{"rendered":"Drowning in Plastic Waste"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Washed

Singapore Beach Litter<\/p><\/div>Plastic waste is one of the largest problems confronting the environment today. We are drowning in it. In our landfill, along our roads, in our waterways and in the ocean.<\/p>\n

According to the Guardian<\/a>\u00a0“a\u00a0million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute and the number will jump another 20% by 2021, creating an environmental crisis some campaigners predict will be as serious as climate change”.<\/p>\n

China has been accepting plastic and paper from much of the world for decades but as of January 1, 2018, that ended. We must now begin to deal with that additional material on top of what has been accumulated previously.\u00a0 Cities like Halifax NS are now petitioning to be allowed to move vast storehouses of plastic to landfill as they no longer have room to keep it.<\/p>\n

The use of plastic is a multi pronged problem. It is manufactured from oil and the production of oil and its byproducts causes pollution issues from the moment it is extracted from the ground.\u00a0 The transportation of oil leads to spills whether by truck, rail or boat. Oil spill cleanup is expensive and generally slipshod leaving vast amounts behind up to endanger the environment for decades. As the oil is manufactured into plastic pellets additional pollution occurs causing both ground, water and air concerns. Those pollution concerns occur once again, when the pellets are converted into one time use plastic products. Every stage in the process right up to final delivery requires energy consumption in the form of electricity and fuel all contributing to the pollution of our planet.<\/p>\n