Cause of plastic pollution

Humans, however, have invented plastic which will always be ‘unnatural’ in the environment because of an important property: it never goes away anymore.

 

Making plastic is inexpensive and the applications of the material are endless. Because plastic is so widely used, millions of tons end up in the environment, causing sever pollution. And not just because someone leaves a piece of plastic on the street instead of putting it in a waste bin. Plastic leak during the entire life-cycle.

Single use plastics
Of all the plastic we use, 40% is thrown away within 20 minutes. Every year we use billions of bags, bottles, trays, and food packaging. Supermarkets are full of it. Some people are careless with packaging and leave it behind as litter. But there are also many places where people have no other option because there is no waste collection system. It is without a doubt that even if most people do their best, much of that single-use plastic enters the environment because it is legally landfilled, or illegally dumped elsewhere.

Other causes of plastic pollution
It is not just about single-use plastic. Often people do not realize that they pollute the environment with plastic. For example, car tires are made of rubber and plastic which wears out while driving. That means that through this friction, thousands of microplastics are released in the air.
In addition, machine washing and drying of synthetic clothes create millions of microfibers that end up in the drainage system.
Our plastic fashion (almost 80% of our garments is synthetic) and our sneakers release also plastic fibers wearing them.
Personal care products and paint can contain microplastics that wash away in wastewater. In addition, there is a kind of plastic which is also incorporated into cigarette filters and even into chewing gums.

 

The pathways 
Plastic is now found all over the world. On the highest mountains, the deepest trays in the ocean, on the North and on the South pole and even in snow, clouds and rain.