Chapter 1) Overview

1.1) Background:
 Initial Visit:

 Current Situation :
There is a bit of plastic everywhere, in our wallets, on our dining tables and
kitchens, in our cars and buses and in our phones and office. It is nearly impossiable to
imagine a world without plastics. From its beginning in 1950, global plastic production has
increased dramatically from 2 million tonnes to 380 million tonnes in 2015. In last 70 years ,
8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been [Link] the 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic produced,
6.3 billion tonnes have been discarded. Every year, nearly 13 billion tonnes of plastic waste
are added to oceans. “A plastic bottle takes between 450-1000 years o decompose”.
Much of the growth in plastic production is driven by single use or disposal
applications. Nearly 50% of plastic used products such as bottles, plastic bags, packing,
straws, stirrers, spoons and forks. Every year we use up to 5 trillion disposal plastic bags.
In INDIA, 80% of plastic consumption is discarded as waste and statistics says the
country generates 25,940 tonnes of plastic waste daily. At least 40% of this waste is
uncollected. In INDIA as, many times, the packaging is not effectively collected, ending up
in landfills and drains in the cities.

1.2) Social Issue:

 Causes:
1. Industrial Waste :
Factories are dumping their waste anywhere the can, and it is polluting our
environment. These factories are producing a large amount of waste. One of the major waste
produced by factories are PLASTIC WASTE.
The Main Causes Of Industrial Waste are:
 Lack of policies to control pollution-

Many industrial bypass laws made by the pollution control board because of lack of effective
policies and poor enforcement. These is usually done to avoid the higher cost of disposing
wastes currently or installing waste treatment facilities.
 Unplanned industrial growth-

As development and economic growth takes precedence over environmental or health

This is again done to avoid the higher cost of updating technology. Older machinery produce
large amount of waste and it are always good to take advantage of advances of technology
though the initial cost is high.
 Inefficient waste disposal-

Untreated waste causes water and soil pollution, lowers the quality of air in surrounding
areas. Industrial pollution is major cause of chronic health problems.

2. Domestic Waste:
This waste is generated as consequences of household activities such as the
cleaning, cooking, packing, huge use of plastic carry bags. Many times this waste get mixed
with biomedical waste from hospitals clinics. There is no system of segregation of organic,
inorganic and recyclable wastes at the household level.
The improper handling and management of domestic waste from households are
causing adverse effects on public at large and this deteriorates the environment

3. Overuse of Plastic :
Every year 300 million tones of plastic are manufactured. India generates around
56 lakh tones of plastic waste annually.
 Tonnes of plastic debris which can be large containers, fishing nets to microscopic pellets
are discarded every year that pollutes lands, rivers,coasts, beaches and oceans.
 Due to the no limitations on manufacturing of plastic, improper public awareness about
the harmful effects of plastic on human and animal health as well as on environment, lack
of proper recycling and using plastic and improper use of plastic according to its grade or
category.
 If we consider the fish in the sea, a vast proportion of them now have plastic in them.
They think it is food and eat it, just as seabirds feed plastic to their chicks.

4. Lack of Reuse of Plastic :

This seems to be the number one reason why people don’t recycle- they don’t want
to put in the extra effort. Some people say that they just can’t be bothered.
 Less space for recycle:

The lack of space is an issue for many. People don’t want to see garbage cans with a
little storage space for recycling bins on the side; the extra trash is an eyesore.
 Expecting money from waste:

Some countries fine people for not recycling. Some regions pay for just bottle
recycling. Some areas have no penalties or incentives for recycling.
 Hard to do recycle of plastic and takes more time:

Since there are no many facets to recycling –bottles, plastic bags it’s decipher which
kinds go where. It takes more time to recycle the plastic. Thinking that it is hard to do this.
Thinking that this job is inconvenient for earning.

 Effect :
1. Air Pollution:
Plastic materials are everywhere .We use plastic bags,straws and plastics bottles for
such a short time and then we dispose of it. Yet, they remain forever – toxic till end.

When plastic is produced,it’s made from toxic materials such as benzene to be toxic
from birth to forever .These chemicals are known to cause cancer,and the manufacturing
byproducts contaminate our air and [Link] type of plastic that is the major source of
dioxin PVC.

Phthalates are another toxic chemical added to plastic to make them softer and
pliable. It is known to affect our fertility,disrupt our endocrine glands , birth defects and
other health problems with phthalate is that they are not chemically bound to the products
, so they’re easily evaporated into the air . That new “plastic” smell is the smell of
phthalates off_gassing . Don’t sniff it

2. Ground Water :
Since its rise in the 1950s, the plastics sector has increased significantly and today
represents one of the largest and most economically important sectors to our society. The
properties of this material,such as its durability, malleability, light weight and low costs,
have contributed to the growth of the sector and its multiple applications. For instance,
plastics are extensively used in packaging, car manufacturing, building and construction,
and [Link] the multiple benefits that the material offers, plastics are associated
with high levels of waste and leakage to the environment. This is the result of single-use
plastics applications, inadequate end-of-life treatment, low recyclability and reusability
rates and high potential of disintegration into microplastics.

Global plastic production has reached unprecedented levels, with 322 million
tonnes of plastics produced globally in 2015 (Plastics Europe, 2016). In 2015, 6,300
million tonnes of plastic waste were generated, 9% of which was recycled, 12%
incinerated and the remaining 79% sent to landfills or leaked to the environment.

The accumulation of plastics in the environment is a global issue which will

3. Hazardous to Animals:
When the plastic from our landfill and from shipping lines carrying
Plastic components get into our ocean,animals and birds mistakes it for food and ingest
it…and die from [Link] is no place on Earth that plastic hasn’t reached.

To envision the magnitude of our water pollution from plastic,you need to see the
Great Pacific Garbage [Link]’s totally [Link] ocean gyre in the middle of has
trapped garbage composed mostly of plastic and it’s now as big Europ,India and Mexico.
It’s a floating garbage insland.

4. Land Pollution:

Our of the 33.6 million tons of plastic that americans discard each year,only 6.5
percent of it is recycled and 7.8 percent is combusted in waste to energy facilities . The
remainder 85.7% ends up in landfills where it may take up to 1000 years to decompose ,
leaching potential pollutants into the soil and water.
Evan though there has yet to be concrete research on the impacts of plastics
waste on land based , wild life ,there is concern that incorrectly managed landfill could lead
to the escape of plastic waste or the escape of landfill leachate containing chemicals
associated with plastic decomposition. Plastic contain chemicals or additive to give it certain
property.
Evan though formal research is lacking, but plastic are similarly ingested by land
based animals. Racoons and wild dogs are often seen to be scavenging garbage dump and
may accidentally ingest plastic,thinking that they,re food. Often, we may also observe
animals behind tangled by plastic bags, rings even jars. All this contribute to the suffering of
animals.

5. Social Effect:

Plastics have been with us for more than the a century , and by now they’re
everywhere , for good and for ill. Plastic container and coatings help keep food fresh , but
they can also leave behind neurotoxins such as BPA in the human body . PVC is used for
everything from pipes and flooring to furniture and cloths , but it contains compounds
called phthalates that have been implicated in male reproductive [Link] have
also show that childwood exposure to environment pollutants can have significant
negative effects later in life, including reduced labor force participate and even earnings.
 Solution:
Chemical Decomposing:

Since traditional plastic is cheap and convenient, it is widely used around the
world nowadays, and replacing traditional plastic with more environmental friendly
but also more expensive biodegradable plastic seems difficult. Therefore, if a
technology is developed to chemically break down the plastic to non-harmful
molecules, it will be a good solution to the plastic pollution problem. Scientists have
found a variety of methods to decompose products such as plastic bags made with
traditional plastics, but unfortunately, it seems that decomposition of plastic in a large
scale is still challenging.
Recently, a Canadian teenager, Daniel Burd, discovered a way to decompose
plastic bags in three months, while normally it would take 20 years or even longer for
plastic bags to decompose. Since polyethylene (PE), the major component of the
regular plastic bags, does decompose under natural conditions after a very long time,
he made an assumption that there exists a kind of bacteria that can digest and break
down plastic bags. If a method is developed to isolate this kind of bacteria, it is highly
possible that they can be used to decompose plastic bags. Hence, he designed a series
of experiments to identify the bacteria from the soil sample collected at a local landfill
27 in Waterloo, Ontario, and found out that Sphingomonas and Pseudomonas are two
kinds of microorganisms that can consume plastic bags (Burd 2008). Although this
experiment was accomplished in a small scale, there is a possibility to develop a
technology based on this experiment to decompose PE in an industrial scale, since
these two kinds of bacteria were simply obtained from landfill soil. However, it might
not be economical and also challenging to isolate a large amount of bacteria from soil
if the concentration is low, and also collecting plastic bags before they get buried in
the landfill or end up in the ocean may be problematic.

Reducing Use of Plastics:

One of the easiest and simplest ways to reduce plastic waste is to reduce the
use of plastics in different areas. In our interviews with international faculty members,
most of them agreed that they use more plastics in the U.S. than in their home
countries, especially in the field of grocery bags and beverage bottles. In most of the
European countries, people usually bring their own tote bags to stores since plastic
bags are not given out for free, and glass bottles are preferred rather than plastic
bottles. In developing countries such as India and China, people tend to reuse
materials due to economic concerns, and they do not usually buy bottled water, but
drink boiled tap water instead. However, in the U.S., it is rare that people bring their
own shopping bags, and nearly all of the beverages and food are packaged in plastic
containers.
Based on this point we try to apply plastic waste into the construction field like as
1. Paving Blocks
2. For Road Construction
3. For Road Maintenance.