Plastics: Being Social than Nonsocial? · 42 Problematic plastic 43 The problem is what we are witnessing as an aftermath in huge heaps of plastic waste piling 44 around us and much

Plastics: Being Social than Nonsocial? 1

A MINIREVIEW 2

Gaurav Mudgal*, Gajendra Bahadur Singh 3

Department of Biotechnology, University Institute of Biotechnology, Chandigarh University, 4

Gharuan, Mohali, Punjab-140413. India. 5

*[email protected] 6

Abstract: 7

For the attributes related to material cost, durability, light-weightiness, transportability, easy 8

amenability to structural remodeling for functional diversities of conventional materials, 9

plastics changed the world’s perspectives towards products and service, reaching all portions of 10

the globe, satisfying material requisites for us. Much of the plastic however is for single use, 11

and post use is discarded, which travels through waste retrieval chain ultimately reaching the 12

biggest garbage bin, our oceans. This leads to concern related to animal (including human) 13

health and in a glooal context may lead to multifold problems, such as contamination of fresh 14

and marine water, colonization of bacteria on seas and so on. The current initiatives throughout 15

the world are working towards reducing, recovering, recycling of plastic wastes. In this 16

minireview we entail the latest findings on how to achieve the above. 17

18

Keywords: Plastic, waster, mitigation, microplastic, energy, sand block 19

20

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INFORMATION AND COMPUTING SCIENCE

Volume 5, Issue 8, August 2018

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http://ijics.com/292

Introduction 22

The biggest blunder that man has ever made on this planet, amongst many others, is the 23

invention of plastics. Our surroundings are full and fed up with them. In the race towards 24

finding alternatives to issues related to material cost, durability, light-weightiness, 25

transportability, easy amenability to structural remodeling for functional diversities of 26

conventional materials, that plastics have changed the world’s approach towards products and 27

services (Thompson, Swan, Moore, & Vom Saal, 2009). Be it any sector and any portion of the 28

globe, since their advent in 1900s and mass production by 1940s, plastics have found multiple 29

applications and have reached all portions of the globe satisfying our material requisites with 30

regard to one or all of above attributes (Andrady, 2011). In fact as a surprise (Fig 1), globally 31

around 400 million tones of plastic is produced every year (Geyer, Jambeck, & Law, 2017). 32

Being a byproduct of oil and gas fuel production from fossils, plastic extraction and the factories 33

that fabricate plastic products consume around 8% of the global fuel production (Derraik, 2002; 34

Rios, Moore, & Jones, 2007; Thompson et al., 2009). Around only 18% of global waste plastic is 35

recycled (Geyer et al., 2017). While the rest of the trash is just discarded off single use or after 36

routines when found losing usability. Much of the plastic waste comes from our daily plastic 37

dependent lifestyle habits such as use of use and throw cutlery, packaging material, carry bags, 38

cards, cosmetics, medical supplies, toiletries, and so on. In this review we comprehensively 39

summarize the literature available on activities and emerging new approaches to circumvent 40

plastic pollution. 41



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Problematic plastic 42

The problem is what we are witnessing as an aftermath in huge heaps of plastic waste piling 43

around us and much of this inadvertently goes to the oceans, turning it into an inevitably 44

ultimate global garbage bin. Especially, because of the demerits of plastics being 45

nonbiodegradable, we now realize the concern related to their growing abundance and 46

ubiquitioness in the environment, and as usual more appropriately when it was more than a 47

hint affecting us humans. According to some study plastics are found as micro and nanosized 48

particles in water we drink, the food we eat and the air we breathe. 49

Plastic waste affects health of all life forms and has been accumulated from poles to equator 50

(Barnes, Galgani, Thompson, & Barlaz, 2009). They come in various sizes and are so categorized 51

into macroplastic and microplastic wastes, both of which have significant environmental impact 52

on minutest to biggest of the life forms, whether existing on land, water or air, or underneath 53

the ground. Actually, marine plastic waste has resulted from poor land plastic waste 54

management (Jambeck et al., 2015) .When accumulating on water resources, macroplastics 55

cause obstruction to solar radiations, release of toxins, anoxia and may be followed by 56

microbial colonization (Lamb et al., 2018). Besides these, they may injure and kill marine 57

species belonging to various domains of the animal kingdom via entanglement and ingestion, 58

cause unintended migration of non-native marine species n floating waste, and/or by settling at 59

the ocean beds as artificial hard grounds blocking natural gas exchange (Barnes, 2002; Derraik, 60

2002; Gregory, 2009; Lozano & Mouat, 2009; Moore, 2008). Microplastics add another 61

dimension to the growing concern for l=plastic pollution. By virtue of their small size they are 62

extensively bioavailable to the organisms and have marked their steady accumulation in almost 63



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all of the food webs (Teuten et al., 2009). There are numerous reviews available dealing with 64

microplastics, their accumulation and impacts they pose on the nature (Cole, Lindeque, 65

Halsband, & Galloway, 2011). On a serious note, plastic waste poses a global threat to our 66

envirionment, growing economy, businesses and security regimens depending on navigation 67

and more importantly human health (Pettipas, Bernier, & Walker, 2016). So what can be and 68

should be done to address the plastic pollution. Can we imagine and live a life without plastics? 69

Probable solutions 70

In the current efforts towards finding solution to this growing problem with plastic wastes, 71

approaches focus over either reducing, reusing, or recycling (the three Rs’) considerations to 72

plastic materials. Recycling however, itself is bound to many of the limitations adding two more 73

Rs that are Energy Recovery and Molecular redesigning have been introduced into warming 74

discussions in the general public and the scientific community (Thompson et al., 2009). Or may 75

be Reduce use of plastic (packaging, single use) and encourage more of reuse by recycling for 76

long term sustainable usage (building materials, roadways or medically important plastic etc), 77

followed by gradual ban or Restriction (a new R at the need of the hour) on production of 78

packaging plastic. So let us review and categorize some of the emerging solutions and try to fit 79

them within the Rs towards mitigating the crisis of plastic waste. 80

Especially for countries where recycling system does not exist and is yet to be enforced from 81

legislations, and where single use plastic bags and sachets are the predominant waste, a newer 82

community driven technology has been on the rise that uses Low Density PolyEthene (LDPE), 83

which is used in plastic bags, and other varieties of plastic waste into making building materials 84



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such as sand blocks and pavers (Kumi-Larbi et al., 2018). As investigated, such a material has 85

compressive strength comparable to C20/25 concrete and more than that of typical Portland 86

cement sandcrete and the best part is its production process uses no water. Moreover this 87

holds potential applications in fabricating roofing tiles, partitions and besides this generating 88

employements and entrepreneurship skills and environmental cleanup by controlling plastic 89

exit to oceans (Kumi-Larbi et al., 2018). In countries such as India, in view of the environmental 90

impacts of sand overdredging, sand extraction has been restricted all over the country Works 91

on similar lines have been evidenced in the literature (Coppola et al., 2018). 92

Another cost effective as well as energy efficient technology serves dual purposes, one by 93

solving the energy crisis by renewable fuel production and other by alleviating the plastic 94

waste. This uses visible light and quantum dot photocatalysts to photoreform common plastic 95

waste viz., polylactic acid, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane, converting them into 96

hydrogen gas (Fuel) and by products such as formate, acetate and pyruvate all of which are 97

organic (bioresources with potential applications respective to each) and nonharming to the 98

biosphere (Uekert, Kuehnel, Wakerley, & Reisner, 2018). Another study by Chow and 99

coworkers entails possibility to convert plastic waste into energetic materials via a light 100

controlled reaction and within one hour. Their method requires modification of surface 101

properties of the polymer by administering activation of supplemented chemical groups (Chow, 102

Wong, Chan, & Chan, 2018). Many other investigations on turning the plastic trash into useful 103

fuels which mostly work on pyrolysis and/or co-pyrolysis are ongoing (Owusu, Banadda, Zziwa, 104

Seay, & Kiggundu, 2018; Wan Mahari et al., 2018). 105



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Recently Canada has initiated a call towards minimizing its single use plastic waste to zero by 106

implementing reduction and recycling plans reclaiming its fitness to the global circular economy 107

(Walker & Xanthos, 2018). Well this is not new, and has been sensed as a game changer 108

especially when the world giant supplier of usable plastic commodities, China, refrained from 109

further imports of recycled plastics from developed countries (Walker, 2018). According to a 110

recent article in the Science magazine, since 1992 China has imported an estimated 45% of 111

global plastic waste. The author narrates in this piece on how bigger economies of the world 112

have exported the plastic trash to lower income countries lacking at well versed waste 113

management policies (Yeston, 2018). Many countries have banned single use plastic bags 114

(Xanthos & Walker, 2017) followed by implementing policy amendments towards reduced 115

use of drinking straws, plastic bottles and concepts of Extended Producer Responsible (EPR) 116

which renders the manufacturer or producer responsible for the product throughout its life 117

cycle. For a detailed view of 118

Attempts to impart biodegradability to plastics have also been made. In one such experiment, 119

biodegradable LDPE has been prepared using LDPE, corn starch and additives and 120

biodegradability was tested under soil burials for range of starch admixtures inferring some 121

promising results (Datta & Halder, 2018). 122

Another way would be to use plastic trash itself to retain other organic wastes from polluted 123

surroundings. Congo red is an azo dye used in textile, printing, dyeing and paper industries, has 124

a higher solubility in organic solvents (Vimonses, Lei, Jin, Chow, & Saint, 2009). Like all 125

benzedine derived dyes, Congo red is usually treated as a carcinogen and is not readily 126



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removable from polluted water bodies nearing industries. Recent work by Miandad and 127

cowrokers documents development of a carbon-metal double layered oxides nano-adsorbent 128

from carbon derived from disposed polystyrene (PS) based plastics, which can absorb more 129

than 300mg/g of Congo Red from solutions (Miandad et al., 2018). 130

Issues with Recycling 131

More than 50% plastic waste from developing countries constitutes household or domestic 132

plastic films. Recycling of the plastic waste, on one hand, appears to be very doable and 133

straightforward solution to management of plastic waste but on the other hand it actually lets 134

macrolpastic deterioration to microplastic which are easily and inevitably disseminated to the 135

open environment. Besides recycling revolution has been hyped more at words than in practice. 136

This is due to the unmatched recycling rate to that of fresh plastic production. Nevertheless, for 137

the sake and scope of discussing let us review what new has been done or studied in this 138

scenario. The highlights of a state of the art review on management of wastes from plastic 139

films by Horodytskya and coworkers showcase that plastic film recycling has numerous 140

limitations {Horodytska, 2018 #33}. First of all it being very sloggy at the rate unexpected, 141

secondly, due to contamination and thirdly, most critically, problems associated with sorting 142

from mixed master wastes. Moreover there is a need to perform life cycle assessment for the 143

recycled films to ascertain and characterize influence on the environment. 144

Conclusion 145

Most of the plastic waste generates from single use and discard plastic vessels used in 146

packaging various commodities of daily use (Yue et al., 2010). . Green industry discussions 147



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foresee that the only apparently successful mode of reducing and reusing plastic waste is to 148

educate people through awareness programmes. Many such programmes have aroused a sense 149

of environmentalism into the general public especially when buying goods and services. A 150

subset of them, the green consumers, are willing to pay more for carbon saving than carbon 151

intensive materials. 152

Ensuring continued green consumerism would require backing support by policies and 153

regulations from governments and responsible actions from the corporate world (Viswanathan 154

& Varghese, 2018). In this accord, there is a greater need to implement green marketing of eco-155

friendly products so as to reach out to the ever expanding consumer base. 156

Acknowledgement 157

The authors are thankful to the Department of Biotechnology, UIBT, Chandigarh University for 158

critical review of the manuscript. The views presented here do not reflect in part and/or as a 159

whole an outcome of any mandated research activity(s) of the institution(s) to which the authors 160

are and/or had been affiliated to but in actual are products of authors’ independent observations. 161

Andrady, A. L. (2011). Microplastics in the marine environment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 62(8), 162

1596-1605. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.05.030 163

Barnes, D. K. (2002). Biodiversity: invasions by marine life on plastic debris. Nature, 416(6883), 164

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Barnes, D. K., Galgani, F., Thompson, R. C., & Barlaz, M. (2009). Accumulation and 166

fragmentation of plastic debris in global environments. Philosophical Transactions of the 167

Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1985-1998. 168



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Chow, C.-F., Wong, W.-L., Chan, C.-W., & Chan, C.-S. (2018). Converting inert plastic waste into 169

energetic materials: A study on the light-accelerated decomposition of plastic waste 170

with the Fenton reaction. Waste Management, 75, 174-180. doi: 171

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2018.01.034 172

Cole, M., Lindeque, P., Halsband, C., & Galloway, T. S. (2011). Microplastics as contaminants in 173

the marine environment: A review. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 62(12), 2588-2597. doi: 174

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Coppola, B., Courard, L., Michel, F., Incarnato, L., Scarfato, P., & Di Maio, L. (2018). Hygro-176

thermal and durability properties of a lightweight mortar made with foamed plastic 177

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250

Figure 1: Gloobal Plastic production: (Pravettoni, 2018) Available at: 251

http://www.grida.no/resources/6923. 252



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Documents

Plastics: Being Social than Nonsocial? · 42 Problematic plastic 43 The problem is what we are witnessing as an aftermath in huge heaps of plastic waste piling 44 around us and much