Plastic Pollution and

E-waste

Group 3: namrata , Vatsal, Shreya, Shivani, Pujabhat

 plastic pollution and E-waste
PLASTIC POLLUTION
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing
environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of
disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s
ability to deal with them.
Plastic pollution is caused by the accumulation of plastic
waste in the environment. It can be categorized in
primary plastics, such as cigarette butts and bottle caps,
or secondary plastics, resulting from the degradation of
the primary ones.
Since its commercial development in the 1950s, plastic
has been a real success. Its global production is growing
exponentially. Its success comes from its remarkable
qualities: ease of shaping, low cost, mechanical
resistance, etc. Being the ideal material for packaging,
plastic is basically everywhere.
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E-WASTE
E-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams on
the planet. Already, we produce something like 50 million
tonnes of it each year. And that number’s only set to
increase as electronics become more accessible
worldwide.
E-waste, or electronic waste, encompasses electrical
and electronic equipment that’s outdated, unwanted, or
broken. That means everything from smartphones to
end-of-life refrigerators.
Basically, anything that runs on electricity that you’ve
decided to get rid of. Globally, we only recycle 10% of
our e-waste, a number that’s as shocking as it is
depressing. As for the 90% we don’t recycle, it ends up
getting landfilled, incinerated, or illegally traded.
 Root Causes of plastic pollution
• Negligence is the main cause. In fact, it is estimated that 80% of marine litter comes from land. This pollution
comes mainly from household waste, which is poorly recycled, dumped in landfills or abandoned in nature. This
waste is carried by the winds, pushed by the rains into sewers, streams, rivers, and finally in the oceans. Natural
disasters such as floods must be considered as other causes of plastic pollution as well.

• Plastics made from fossil fuels are just over a century old. Production and development of thousands of new
plastic products accelerated after World War II, so transforming the modern age that life without plastics would be
unrecognizable today. Plastics revolutionized medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible,
lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for
clean drinking water.

• The conveniences plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today,
single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such
as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the
environment for hundreds of years.

• Most of the plastic trash in the oceans, Earth’s last sink, flows from land. Trash is also carried to sea by major
rivers, which act as conveyor belts, picking up more and more trash as they move downstream. Once at sea,
much of the plastic trash remains in coastal waters. But once caught up in ocean currents, it can be transported
around the world.

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 Effects of plastic pollution

On humans On animals On enviornment

Because of the chemical This plastic debris represents a

The most direct effect of plastic
additives used during plastic chemical pollution in several ways.
pollution is the imprisonment of
production, plastics have They contain compounds that can be
animals in nets or large debris. It chemically transferred to organisms
potentially harmful effects on
is a cause of significant mortality during ingestion. Some of these
human health. Indeed, exposure
of marine mammals, turtles and molecules are potentially toxic and
to toxic chemicals coming out of
birds. A second direct effect is can accumulate in the body. Besides,
plastic can cause cancers, birth plastic bags also affect the growth of
ingestion, that concerns the entire
defects, impaired immunity and crops, by hindering the process of
food chain of the marine
other health problems. photosynthesis in agricultural fields.
ecosystem.

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 Effects of plastic pollution
 Negative effects on human health
 It upsets the food chain
 Groundwater pollution
 Land pollution
 Air pollution
 It kills animals
 It is poisonous
 “
Root cause of E-waste
• Upgrade and innovation in technology
• Lifestyle changes
• End of the intended usage
• A lack of stringent policies in India
pertaining to e-waste management

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 Effects of E-waste
• The Negative Effects on Air

• The Negative Effects on Soil

• The Negative Effects on Water

• The Negative Effects on Humans

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 Measures to be taken for reducing E-waste

❧ Reducing e-waste isn’t just about eliminating those environmental risks. Minimizing e-waste also helps us to
conserve resources and reduces the amount of energy we need to make these products; recycling parts within
e-waste uses considerably less energy than creating new ones.
❧ We can also help keep down the cost of new consumer goods by using recycled parts to make new products.
This is a far less expensive proposition for manufacturers than having to go mining for virgin ore to make new
metals. This means that the cost of making a new smartphone, or any other electronic device, goes down
once manufacturers are able to access the parts they need from the recycling industry.
❧ The challenge, of course, is that not enough people know that e-waste can be recycled. That’s why one of the
strongest and most effective ways on learning how to reduce e-waste is to help spread the word about
recycling. Sharing the knowledge with other people — family, friends, neighbors, coworkers — who may not be
aware of the hazards that e-waste poses.

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 Measures to be taken for reducing E-waste

• Be a good consumer.
• Reuse as often as possible.
• Educate yourself on what gets put into your electronics. 
• Look for an environmentally friendly label.
• Consider limiting the number of electronics you own.
• Teach kids about e-waste.
• Recycle, recycle, recycle. 
• Understand security issues.
• Maintain what you have.

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 Plastic pollution prevention
Plastic pollution
prevention
How to solve plastic pollution?
Aside from cleaning up our oceans,
which is a very significant first step but
not a long-term solution, the best way
to address plastic pollution is to
change our mindsets and habits with
this controversial but nonetheless very
useful material:
1. Reduce
To efficiently reduce plastic pollution,
there is an evident need of reducing
our usage of plastic. It means
changing our everyday behaviors an
not using plastic when there is a better
alternative to it and only using plastic
when strictly necessary.
3. Recycle
Plastic recycling consists of collecting
plastic waste and reprocessing it into
new products, to reduce the amount of
plastic in the waste stream.
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2. Reuse
Plastic may cause pollution when
poorly managed but it has lots of
advantages too, such as being
resistant. Many plastic items can
therefore be reused or used for
different purposes. Before throwing
plastic items, it is important to consider
how they can be reused.
4. Educate
Another crucial solution is education in
order to increase awareness and
behavioral change.
 Measures to be taken for reducing Plastic Pollution

• Shop Friendly
• Get Rid of Bottled Water
• Forget to-go Containers
• Recycle Everything
• Try Without Disposable Plastics
•  Make Better Choices at Home 
• Educate Businesses
• Get Involved

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 “
Innovative inventions for reducing
plastic
• Breitling watch box
• Ecobirdy
• Flexikeg
• Interceptor
• Veganbottle
• Sustainable building materials

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 “
Innovative inventions for reducing plastic
• Holeygrail 2.O
• Upcycling algae waste into biomaterials
• Ocean bottle
• Brand box
• Urban & ocean plastics carbon recycling
• Zeropet

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 conclusion
• To conclude the lifestyle of the average individual has changed. We’ve embraced technology and gadgets in all their glory.
The result? An ever-increasing heap of e-waste we find hard to manage. The digital revolution changed a lot for us, and our
habits have been at the receiving end of this change too. Our spending and consuming habits have altered the way we use
electronics and electrical equipment (EEE).
• The substantial production of EEE and its rapid disposal has become a grave concern all over the world. India is no
different. In a country marked by a diversity of culture, income, beliefs, and customs, the problem of e-waste management
is, unfortunately, one of the few aspects that seem uniform, and it’s too complex to have a definite answer.
• Tossing around the responsibility for management of e-waste is something we are used to as a society. The government is
often brought under the radar for not taking adequate measures to turn the informal sector into a well-managed system.
Also, we see it as a responsibility of the government to carry out awareness programmes to make the masses aware of
what they are expected to do with their appliances once they don’t want to use them.
• With the new E-Waste Management Rules 2016, it is the responsibility of equipment manufacturers to take up the task of
recycling the products they produce. However, once in a while, we also must ponder over the idea if the responsibility ever
comes to us as a society, if we are responsible in discarding our e-waste. A balance between the three institutions –
government, manufacturers, and society – is what India needs to manage its e-waste better.

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 conclusion

• Same with the plastic pollution as  world’s population continues to grow, so does the amount of garbage
that people produce. On-the-go lifestyles require easily disposable products, such as soda cans or bottles
of water. Still, the accumulation of these products has led to increasing amounts of plastic pollution
around the world.
• Plastic is an incredibly useful material, but it is also made from toxic compounds known to cause illness,
and since it is meant for durability, it is not biodegradable. Everybody knows this very few cares for this.
Next time whenever we go for shopping, don’t forget to carry a paper or cloth bag. Also, try to avoid
bringing plastic bags at home and purchasing items with too much packaging. This way, we can help
in contributing to the environment in the form of reducing plastic pollution whose ill effects are
irreversible. 

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