There is no doubt that climate change is one of the most critical environmental challenges India faces today. The effects of climate change are affecting agriculture, water resources, forests, biodiversity, health, coastal management, and a temperature rise. In India, the main effect of climate change is a decline in agricultural productivity. Climate change will add to the pressures already placed on India’s ecological and socio-economic systems by global warming.
Climate change is primarily caused by the accumulation of trace gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), Dioxins, furans, Mercury, and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the atmosphere, which is generated by human activities like burning fossil fuels and low-value plastic waste. Climate change is a critical issue for India because a large percentage of the country’s population depends on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, forestry, and fisheries for their livelihood. The severity of livelihood issues in India has increased due to the adverse effects of climate change. Climate change would place additional stress on ecological and socioeconomic systems already under enormous strain from rapid industrialization, urbanization, and economic development.
Due to its cost, availability, and comfort, plastic is the most popular packaging material for food. Our society generates large amounts of waste in the form of plastics that persist in the environment for a long time and cause damage. Low-value plastic waste accounts for approximately one-third of municipal waste. Some potential sources of plastic chemicals reaching the environment are wastewater, sludge from sewage treatment plants, landfill leaks, and local, regional, and global transport of plastic waste chemicals. When waste is disposed of and burned in an open area, carbon dioxide is emitted.
Every day, we encounter low-value plastics. They are the flimsy plastics that make up single-use shopping bags, condiment packets, candy wrappers, and thin layers of packaging. Since many of these plastics are mixed with other materials, like foils, or contaminated with food waste, they are difficult to recycle. By melting and reprocessing low-quality plastic, it is possible to recycle it, but this is a costly process that produces lower-value materials that are unlikely to generate a profit.
Globally, plastic pollution has been on the rise for the past several decades, which has had a major negative impact on the integrity of ecosystems everywhere. These pollution sources are enumerated from low-value plastics that pose a threat to several marine animals, clog rivers, threaten wildlife, leach out chemicals, and affect human wellbeing as well. The study suggests that India is already facing cascading effects of the rise in temperature, due to the plastic debris accumulated particularly on beaches, this would result in an increase in local maximum temperatures of nearly 3°C.
When plastic waste is burned in open pits, toxic gasses, such as furan and dioxin, are released into the air to cause air pollution.
Plastic pollution is linked to decreased crop productivity, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption, and other ailments due to toxic chemicals that leach out of plastic. As a result of plastic chemical intoxication, plants continue to decline and it causes soil pollution.
Plastics are responsible for 6 percent of global oil consumption and will be at 20 percent by 2050. Because of the energy-intensive processes involved in removing and distilling oil, the production of plastics emits large quantities of greenhouse gas. Mismanagement of plastic waste could have serious negative impacts on the climate, as well as on livelihoods and ecosystems. We need targeting, innovative approaches to solve this problem.
Jagruth Tech Pvt Ltd takes care of low-value plastic waste in a productive way.
Jagruth Tech Pvt Ltd. Is the authorized plastic waste recycler & collector approved by Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) and Pollution Control Broad (PCB). We support and help you with upcycling plastic wastes and consultancy, and returning those into the proper loop. It all starts with a simple collection and upcycle. We love to make useful products by low-value plastics upcycling them.