Plastics/Health &Environment/Job opportunities

 Did you know, that world wide about 50kg of plastic is produced annually per person? with production doubling every ten years? 

Plastics are materials either synthetic or semi synthetic which uses polymer as a main ingredient.

Dominance of Plastic has caused wide spread environmental problems, due to their slow decomposition rate in natural ecosystems.

single-use plastics, which include grocery bags, containers and bottles, constitute the majority of plastic packaging. These plastics, which are designed for immediate disposal after use, are often discarded within the same year of production. Their increased use has contributed significantly to the increased generation of plastic wastes.

Plastic waste is one of the world's most pressing human health and environmental concerns. 

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

   Only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled. 

   A whopping 2 million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide. 

   One million plastic bottles are bought every minutes.

    73% of beach litter is plastic, even our drainage are filled and blocked with plastics.

Plastics when not recycled or disposed in a controlled manner, discarded plastic waste, generates greenhouse gas emissions when exposed to solar radiation both in air and water.

A research conducted by scopus 2020.with the title plastic pollution: shows that, plastics have propelled an increase in plastic pollution and have contributed to an array of major environmental problems, Plastic wastes, which contain flame retardants, phthalates and heavy metals such as lead and cadmium, can leach from landfills and bioaccumulate. Consequently, the ingestion of marine organisms by humans may cause cardiovascular diseases, reproductive abnormalities and obesity. In addition, discarded plastic bags, bottles and plastic straws have become iconic symbols of the global plastic problem, with most visible and disturbing impacts being the entanglement and suffocation of turtles, mammals and pelagic birds. 

countries, like Malaysia, outlined key plastic waste management policy initiatives including plastic alternatives such as biodegradable plastics. The ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change has implemented Malaysia’s Roadmap towards Zero Single-Use Plastics 2018–2030. Through this ground plan, pollution charges will be incurred by consumers and manufacturers of single use plastics. 

 encouragingly, some of the more progressive malesian companies and consumer brands have switched to recyclable and recycled materials and adopted the reuse model in recent years. Thus, increase in plastic recycling! 

Early 2021, Nigeria joined forces with world economic Forum's Global Plastic Action Partnership (GPAP) to fight plastic pollution, this is aimed at preventing further plastic pollution, creating jobs and increasing business opportunities. 

In 2018, Nigeria was estimated to have discharged around 200,000 tonnes of plastic waste into the ocean per year, while its annual plastics production is projected to grow to 523,000 tonnes by 2022. 

Nigeria's environment minister, Mohammed mahmood Abubakar said, 

Nigeria will work with Global Plastic Action Partnership based on a promising model launched in Indonesia, Ghana and Vietnam! This will reinforce the country's commitment and efforts towards addressing plastic pollution and safe guarding the environment. 

Certainly, Recycling of plastic will significantly reduce the impact of plastic pollution on the environment and its contribution to climate change. 

Aside the ease on health and environmental concerns, plastic recycling will create job opportunities, with abundant raw materials. So, create a career using plastics as raw material either via recycling or other means, to deminish the concentration of plastic wastes. By so doing you will be improving the environment and contributing or being a part of a strong economy.