Plastic pollution is a growing global issue primarily due to increased consumerism and single-use plastics, significantly impacting marine life and human health through ingestion and contamination of food sources. The Government of India has initiated measures to combat plastic use, emphasizing recycling and reducing single-use items since October 2019. Key contributors to plastic waste include packaging and differences in product lifetimes, with harmful plastic accumulation notably observed in oceanic gyres, particularly in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

1. PLASTIC POLLUTION
The Impact of
plastic
pollution on
are oceans and
what we can
do for it ?
BY – ANANYA JADHAV

2. Plastic pollution is a global problem that is growing exponentially due to both
an increase in consumerism and an increase in the number of plastics used to
manufacture the things we use on a daily basis.
INTRODUCTION

3. PLASTIC USED IN OUR DAY TO DAY LIFE

4. Many of these items are single-use items, which are used once and then tossed
in the trash.

5. POLAR REGIONS EQUATOR

6. It usually ends up in the environment in some manner or form, with a great deal
of it eventually ending up in the ocean. Within the plastic pollution sphere, one of
the most pressing environmental challenges that we are facing today is marine
plastic debris

7. Marine land-based debris

8. “
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT ?

10. Impacts on marine environment
The most visible and disturbing impacts of marine plastics are the ingestion, suffocation and
entanglement of hundreds of marine species. Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fishes
and turtles, mistake plastic waste for prey, and most die of starvation as their stomachs are filled
with plastic debris. They also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and
internal injuries. Floating plastics also contribute to the spread of invasive marine organisms and
bacteria, which disrupt ecosystems.

11. The Health Impact of Plastic Pollution on our Wildlife

12. Impacts on food and health
Invisible plastic has been identified in tap water, beer, salt and are present in all samples collected in the world’s
oceans, including the Arctic. Several chemicals used in the production of plastic materials are known to be
carcinogenic and to interfere with the body’s endocrine system, causing developmental, reproductive, neurological, and
immune disorders in both humans and wildlife.
Toxic contaminants also accumulate on the surface of plastic materials as a result of prolonged exposure to seawater.
When marine organisms ingest plastic debris, these contaminants enter their digestive systems, and overtime
accumulate in the food web. The transfer of contaminants between marine species and humans through consumption
of seafood has been identified as a health hazard, but has not yet been adequately researched

13. Impacts on climate change
Plastic, which is a petroleum product, also contributes to global
warming. If plastic waste is incinerated, it releases carbon dioxide into
the atmosphere, thereby increasing carbon emissions.

14. Impacts on tourism
Plastic waste damages the aesthetic value of tourist destinations, leading
to decreased tourism-related incomes and major economic costs related
to the cleaning and maintenance of the sites.

15. OBJECTIVES

16. The government of India decided to ban single use plastics and take a number of measures
to recycle and reuse plastic, from 2 October 2019.
The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Government of India, has requested
various governmental departments to avoid the use of plastic bottles to provide drinking
water during governmental meetings, etc., and to instead make arrangements for providing
drinking water that do not generate plastic waste

18. “BEAT PLASTIC POLLUTION”

20. Say NO to Plastic Bags ​

21. Bottle your Own Water

22. Say No To Straws

24. OBSERVATIONS

25. How much plastic does
the world produce?
In 1950 the world produced only
2 million tonnes per year. Since
then, annual production has
increased nearly 200-fold,
reaching 381 million tonnes in
2015. For context, this is roughly
equivalent to the mass of two-
thirds of the world population.
The short downturn in annual
production in 2009 and 2010
was predominantly the result of
the 2008 global financial crisis —
a similar dent is seen across
several metrics of resource
production and consumption,
including energy.

26. Packaging was the dominant use of primary
plastics, with 42 percent of plastics entering the
use phase.
Building and construction was the second
largest sector utilizing 19 percent of the total.
Primary plastic production does not directly
reflect plastic waste generation, since this is
also influenced by the polymer type and
lifetime of the end product.. Plastic waste
generation is strongly influenced by primary
plastic use, but also the product lifetime.
Packaging, for example, has a very short ‘in-use’
lifetime (typically around 6 months or less). This
is in contrast to building and construction,
where plastic use has a mean lifetime of 35
years.
Packaging is therefore the dominant generator
of plastic waste, responsible for almost half of
the global total.
In 2015, primary plastics production was 407
million tonnes; around three-quarters (302
million tonnes) ended up as waste.

27. Which oceans have the most
plastic waste?
The distribution and
accumulation of ocean plastics is
strongly influenced by oceanic
surface currents and wind
patterns. Plastics are typically
buoyant – meaning they float on
the ocean surface –, allowing
them to be transported by the
prevalent wind and surface
current routes. As a result,
plastics tend to accumulate in
oceanic gyres, with high
concentrations of plastics at the
centre of ocean basins, and much
less around the perimeters. After
entry to oceans from coastal

28. Garbage patches are large areas of the ocean where litter, fishing gear, and other debris - known
as marine debris - collects. They are formed by rotating ocean currents called “gyres.” You can
think of them as big whirlpools that pull objects in. The gyres pull debris into one location, often
the gyre’s center, forming “patches.”

29. 5 Gyres – The Oceans Garbage Patches
There are five gyres in the ocean. One in the Indian Ocean, two in the Atlantic Ocean, and two
in the Pacific Ocean. Garbage patches of varying sizes are located in each gyre.

30. THE PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH
The most famous of these
patches is often called the
“Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” It
is located in the North Pacific
Gyre (between Hawaii and
California). “Patch” is a
misleading nickname, causing
many to believe that these are
islands of trash. Instead, the
debris is spread across the
surface of the water and from
the surface all the way to the
ocean floor. The debris ranges
in size, from large abandoned
fishing nets to tiny
microplastics, which are
plastic pieces smaller than
5mm in size. This makes it
possible to sail through some
areas of the Great Pacific
Garbage Patch and see very
little to no debris.

31. Use a razor
with
disposable
baldes,
rather than
a
disposable
Make your
own
deodorant

32. Choose to skip pre-packed
bread and other baked goods

33. If you can, avoid meat
and fish sold in
polystyrene trays
Switch to glass bottle
alternatives of milk, stock and
fruit juice

34. The popular and well-known
concept of "5R" refers to reduce,
reuse, recycle, recover (resource
generation) and refuse,
particularly in the context of
production and consumption of
plastic. The aim of the waste
hierarchy is to extract
the maximum practical
benefits from products and to
generate the minimum amount
of waste.
Recycling allows for production
and consumption with reduced
depletion of natural resources
and energy, and can reduce the
negative impact on the
environmental system (air, water
and soil).
5R:
Reduce,
Reuse,
Recycle,
Refuse
Recover.

37. “If we are doubling what we are putting into the ocean on a ten-year basis, there’s no
way to keep up… It would be as if you were vacuuming your living room, and I’m
standing in the doorway with a bag of dust and a fan. You can constantly keep
vacuuming, but you could never catch up.”
THANK YOU