Plastic in the world

It is no secret that the problem connected with plastic accumulation in the nature assumed a planetary scale long ago. All that matters to manufacturers is that the cost of making plastic bottles is far lower than the cost of a producing a glass container, therefore the population does not think it’s rational to put plastic in recycling collection points. Some simply do not possess information on where it is possible to hand over plastic, and in many settlements it is not possible.

Plastic bottles, generally, go to a landfill site mixed in together with everyday waste. The damage caused is really huge.

In 1999 the American oceanologist and athlete, Charles Murza, testified about the existence of the big Pacific rubbish patch representing a genuine threat to the organisms living in the ocean. Today it is the most enormous waste patch on our planet which is slowly drifting across open spaces of the Pacific Ocean.

Some facts:

— 90% of all rubbish floating on the surface of the World´s Oceans consists of plastic;

— it is projected that production of plastic tableware will continue until the size of the Great Pacific Rubbish Island grows by 10 times its current mass (for comparison purposes – such growth has taken place during the last 40 years);

— in 2004 the weight of the Pacific “Great Rubbish Island” was 3 million tons (for a comparison – in the same year the weight of oceanic plankton was 500 thousand tons, that is 6 times less);

— the area of the “Great Rubbish Island” can be compared with the State of Texas (rubbish weight on this dump is about 100 million tons now);

— plastic products do not rot down or degrade (biological decomposition) and can lie on these floating debris dumps for about three centuries. Scientists in the modern world try to solve this difficult environmental problem by introducing new biodegradable packaging. However, implementation of the latest technologies on the factories which produce plastic bottles, unfortunately, is too expensive for most of the enterprises. Besides, the consequences of excessive use of plastics are so awful that demands active actions right now. Plastic belongs in the almost non-degradable waste category. Its disintegration takes place extremely slowly. The optimal solution is a utilisation of material by repeated processing with a continuous cycle. The main purpose is return to production and an increase in ecology. The advantage of reusing waste is only making the additional quantity of necessary products and not polluting the environment further.