Harm of plastic waste to the environment

Plastic waste is very difficult to decompose in the natural environment. Each type of plastic has a different number of years of decomposition with a very long time, hundreds of years, sometimes up to thousands of years.

What is plastic waste?

Plastic waste is a term used to generally refer to products made of used or unused plastic and is thrown away.

Plastic waste includes: plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic straws, old plastic toys... These products are characterized by a long decomposition time, which can be up to hundreds or thousands of years.

What is plastic pollution?

Plastic pollution (plastic pollution) is the accumulation of plastic items in the environment and adversely affects the living environment, human and animal health.

The concept of "white pollution" may be quite unfamiliar to many people, but this is the phrase used by scientists to name the type of pollution caused by plastic bags to the environment.

If, after using plastic bags, people improperly handle them and release them into the environment, it will cause white pollution.

Harms and consequences of plastic waste to the environment

Animals that eat plastic waste can die, leading to the risk of extinction, causing ecological imbalance.

Plastic waste that is not handled properly will directly affect the air and water environment:

• When burned, plastic waste will produce toxic dioxins, furans, which pollute the air, cause poisoning, affect endocrine glands, reduce immunity, cause cancer, etc.
• When burying, plastic waste will make the soil unable to retain water and nutrients and prevent oxygen from passing through the soil, causing adverse effects on plant growth. Furthermore, it can contaminate water sources, causing the death of beneficial plant microorganisms in the ground. Plastic waste causes "white pollution" at tourist destinations, affecting the rest and relaxation space of people.

Halebioplastics suggests the use of conventional plastic replacement products with eco friendly plastics such as bio coffee plastics, bio starch.

“Bioplastic are raw materials created from the combination of natural ingredients such as coffee bean, starch, coconut fiber, etc., and PP/PE, therefore capable of decomposing into water, CO₂ and biomass, not polluting the environment, safe for human health.”