1. What is plastic waste? What is disposable plastic waste?
1.1. The concept of 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, etc. These products are characterized by a long decomposition time, which can be up to hundreds or thousands of years. .
Plastic bottles account for the majority of plastic waste today
Plastic waste pollution is alarming. Plastic waste causes serious pollution to the marine environment.
1.2. Disposable plastic waste
Single-use plastic waste is products made of plastic, produced for the purpose of only being used once and then thrown away. It can be plastic cups, plastic spoons, plastic forks, styrofoam boxes, etc., which are disposable for human production and daily life.
According to the Environmental & Urban Newspaper, out of the total amount of plastic waste discharged into the environment, more than 50% is from single-use plastic, and this number is constantly increasing every day.
Because disposable plastic items are very convenient with busy lives because of their fast, compact and light nature, after using we do not need to waste time cleaning. But this convenience comes with great harm to the environment and our own health.
Disposable plastic cups are used most often in beverage stores, fast food and at events, picnics, etc.
2. What is plastic pollution?
2.1 Concept of plastic waste pollution
Plastic pollution (plastic pollution) is the accumulation of plastic items in the environment and adversely affects the living environment, human and animal health.
2.2. White pollution concept
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.
3. Actual situation of plastic waste in Vietnam
3.1. Status of plastic production and consumption in Vietnam:
Vietnam is currently one of the countries with the highest amount of plastic consumption in daily life in the world. The report of the Vietnam Plastics Association said that in 2015, Vietnam produced and consumed up to 5 million tons of plastic. This consumption figure has increased sharply in the period 1990 - 2018, if in 1990, each Vietnamese person consumed 3.8 kg of plastic/year, by 2018 this figure had increased to 41.3 kg of plastic/year. year.
3.2. Current status of plastic waste in Vietnam:
According to statistics of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, each year, Vietnam emits 1.8 million tons of plastic waste into the environment, of which 0.28 million - 0.73 million tons are discharged into the sea (ie accounting for about approx. 6% of the world's total marine plastic waste).
For example, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, about 80 tons of plastic and nylon are released into the environment every day. Of which, for every 4,000 - 5,000 tons of waste per day, 7% - 8% is plastic and nylon waste.
With such a situation of dumping plastic waste, soon Vietnam will sink in a sea of plastic waste and face the risk of serious "white pollution".
3.3. Current status of plastic waste treatment and recycling in Vietnam:
The treatment and recycling of plastic waste in Vietnam is still weak, outdated and has many limitations when up to 90% of plastic waste is treated by burying, burying, incinerating and only 10% remaining recycled (According to Mr. Dang Huy Dong – Former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment). While the treatment by burying, burying and burning has many disadvantages, it is harmful to the environment and people.
The problems that the treatment and recycling of plastic waste encounter can be mentioned:
The field of plastic waste treatment and recycling in our country has not been developed yet, the scale is still small, taking place mainly in a few small businesses. These units have limited investment capital, outdated technology, lack of plans, etc., so the effectiveness is not yet available.
Along with that, people lack awareness in sorting waste at the source, causing many difficulties for classification, treatment and recycling. For example, out of 3,000 tons of recyclable waste in Ho Chi Minh City, only 50-60 tons of low-quality recycled plastic can be obtained (According to statistics of the Vietnam Plastics Association).
4. Harms and consequences of plastic waste to the environment
Because the situation of plastic waste is rising to such an alarming level, the harm they cause to the environment is not small. Specifically:
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. For example, according to information from the Environment & Urban newspaper, plastic bottles decompose after 450 - 1000 years; straws, bottle caps will decompose after 100 - 500 years; toothbrushes decompose after 500 years…
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:
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