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Plastic Waste (Environmental/Health/Economic Dimension (Plastic debris in…
Plastic Waste
Environmental/Health/Economic Dimension
Plastic debris in the ocean
Lose#1: Destruction of ocean habitat
Lose#3: Micro-plastic in the ocean food chains
Lose#2: Death of marine animals due to ingestion of plastics and entanglement in plastic debris
Plastic in the landfill
Lose#4: plastic can release harmful chemicals and contaminate the surrounding soil
Lose#5: chemicals released from plastics can seep into surface water and groundwater
Lose#6: Harming the species that drink the water
Lose#7: Plastic pollution in the drinking water/tap water (a 2017 study found that 83% of tap water samples taken around the world contained plastic pollutants
Incineration of plastics
Lose#8: If not incinerated properly, a harmful amount of toxins can be released through air and waterways
Benefit#1: transforming waste to energy
Production of plastics
Lose#9: Energy and water use in the production process
externalities: the price of plastic products do not reflect the costs of recycling and disposal
Lose#10: Plastics are generally made from petroleum
Cultural/Ideological Dimension
Perception of economy and nature
We often take nature for granted and view nature as resources to be exploited
Solution#1: We can learn from the indigenous perspectives, acknowledging the interconnection between human beings and nature (human as part of nature)
Popular perception that exploitation of nature can bring economic growth and job creation
Solution#3: Finding the alternatives that benefits both economy and environment, such as adopting to biodegradable plastics
Solution#4: Embracing the concept of degrowth economy and sustainable development
Solution#2: calculating long-term benefits and costs: the destruction of environment will damage the economy in the long run
Consumer Culture
Advertisement of sing-use plastic products, such as bottled water and plastic packaging
Solution#5: educating consumers about the global impacts of their consumption behaviours
Political/Social Dimension
Plastic waste export to Southeast Asian countries
Spatial fix of capitalist mode
Lose#10: Informal recycling workers
health issues of being exposed to plastics toxins
low-wage; no welfare
Feminization of workers (women tend to work in the informal recycling sectors in the developing world)
Policies
Solution#6: Single-use plastic ban in UK, India and a number of countries