How does plastics affect the environment

Click the green button. The total amount of plastic entering the marine environment is over 12m tonnes a year — according to a report by Eunomia in For comparison, a double-decker bus weighs about 12 tonnes.

Sea creatures can get tangled in plastic or mistake it for food, and the effects are often fatal. Harmful chemicals linked to plastic have been found in species from plankton to dolphins. The best alternative to single-use plastic is something that you can use over and over again — or something that can be easily recycled or composted. But it isn't always easy to know when you're buying plastic. It can be present in crisp packets , coffee cups and even teabags.

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Our reliance on plastic therefore prolongs our demand for these dirty fuels. Burning plastics in incinerators also releases climate-wrecking gases and toxic air pollution. How is plastic made? Plastic in the food chain Scientists have detected tiny plastics smaller than 5mm in salt, beer , seafood and human stools. Are microfibres in our food chain? And if we continue producing plastic at current rates, the amount could outweigh all the fish in the sea by Research also shows that more than coastal and marine species are directly affected by plastic waste through entanglement, ingestion, or damage to their habitats.

Additionally, a million seabirds and , marine mammals die annually because of plastic waste. When marine animals consume plastic, the toxins it contains breaks down inside their bodies. Some of these plastic toxins are linked to hormonal abnormalities, and developmental problems. But researchers are still trying to understand exactly how our health is affected when we consume plastic via fish and shellfish. One concern is that plastics in the ocean eventually degrades into nano-plastics , which are so small they could enter human cells when consumed.

In , experts called for more research into the effect of micro- and nano-plastics on human health. Undoubtedly, the biggest impact consumers can make is to reduce their use of single-use plastic, which contributes a significant share to plastic pollution in the sea. Recycling plastic wherever possible is also important.

Volunteering for group clean-ups of rivers and beaches helps to reduce the amount of loose plastic that makes its way into the sea. Supporting campaigns and policy changes that reduce the production of unnecessary plastics is crucial, too. This has led to huge successes in the past, such as the ban in the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries on using microbeads — tiny spheres made of plastic — in toiletries and cosmetics.

Similarly, in China government action on plastics led to a countrywide ban in on thin, single-use carrier bags.

Researchers and innovators are developing solutions to stop plastic getting into the sea. In the Chinese port city of Xiamen, university researchers are developing a camera surveillance system to identify plastic and forecast its trajectory downriver, so they can stop it before it enters the sea.

The European Space Agency is even using its satellites to track plastic waste from space , in the hopes of informing new policies that will limit plastic pollution. Advances in developing biodegradable plastics could also have a huge impact on ocean health: researchers are currently working on a bioplastic that degrades in seawater , which could ultimately reduce the amount of waste that accumulates there.

But the only way to truly solve this problem is to dramatically reduce the production of plastic, which means curbing our addiction to it.

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Because the world's growing production of plastics - about million tonnes annually - is not just clogging landfill sites and threatening our oceans and marine life; it's accelerating climate change.

Plastic is one of the most persistent pollutants on Earth. It's made to last - and it does, often for years or more. And at every step in its lifecycle, even long after it has been discarded, plastic creates greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to the warming of our world.

A report by the Center for International Environmental Law, released in May, concluded that the impact of plastic production on the world's climate this year will equate to the output of coal-fired power stations. Almost all plastic is derived from materials like ethylene and propylene made from fossil fuels mostly oil and gas. The process of extracting and transporting those fuels, then manufacturing plastic creates billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases.

But how we manage all the plastic that then goes into circulation is equally troubling. We used to rely on countries like China, Myanmar and Cambodia to handle our waste plastic.

It was convenient to bale it up and ship it offshore for someone else to deal with. However, the poorly-regulated incineration in those developing nations posed considerable threats to human health and the environment. Globally, in this year alone, researchers estimate that the production and incineration of plastic will pump more than million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

By , those emissions could rise to 2. Alarmingly, at least 8 million tonnes of discarded plastic also enters our oceans each year, and plastic pollution at sea is on course to double by Plastic has even been found in the deepest place on Earth - in the Mariana Trench, nearly 11 kilometres below sea level. In our oceans, which provide the largest natural carbon sink for greenhouse gases, plastic leaves a deadly legacy.

It directly chokes and smothers a host of marine animals and habitats and can take hundreds of years to break down. As it does, sunlight and heat cause the plastic to release powerful greenhouse gases, leading to an alarming feedback loop.