Where does all the plastic go?

TOM POWELL

OPINION: The theme of this year’s Earth Day Picnic in the Park (April 21 at Pollard Park) is “Planet vs Plastics”, so let’s talk about plastic.

Ever wonder what happens to that plastic bag or bottle lying by the roadside?

Well, it depends upon where it ends up. If it stays out in the sunshine, it will become brittle from sunlight and break up into pieces. We’ve perhaps all experienced this in attempting to pick up a plastic bag that has been in the sun for a few months; it simply falls apart in our hands.

These small pieces of plastic will get blown around in the wind, breaking up even more, and gradually become as fine as dust. If very fine, they can actually enter our bloodstream through our lungs or our digestive track. That’s how “microplastics”, as they are called, end up in our bodies.

If the bag or bottle gets into a body of water, it might last a bit longer, but it will likely get bounced around and broken up there, as well. Fish and small invertebrates will confuse it for food and eat bits of it. Bacteria will start to eat it too, helping to break it up into even smaller bits. Along the way, these bits will absorb toxic chemicals present in the water; something scientists tell us they are known to do. As small fish eat invertebrates and bigger fish eat the small fish, the particles of the now toxic plastic will make their way up the food chain. At some point, they end up in your fish dinner.

Alternatively, the bag or bottle might get buried in soil. There it might be eaten and broken up by those same bacteria with a taste for plastic. Some of the waste products from the bacteria will be toxic chemicals, some of which will then be absorbed by other plastic particles. Microplastic particles in soil show increased uptake of toxic chemicals and metals, such as cadmium, which inhibit plant growth.

So, the unfortunate truth is that plastic waste in our environment tends to become finer and more toxic with time and will ultimately end up in our bodies or the bodies of other creatures. As you can imagine, if this goes on much longer it won’t end well for any of us.

Now, if someone were to pick up that bag or bottle and toss it into a rubbish or recycling bin, it will have a different fate. Plastic waste buried in landfill will break down and become more toxic, but it will be contained away from plants, animals and groundwater. Recycling it into new plastic is perhaps better, but only 30% of waste plastic gets recycled these days, so it has a good chance of making it back into the environment again.

It is important that we press our businesses to reduce the waste plastic they sell and use alternatives, as well as press our council to promote more plastic recycling. We need to stop the release of plastic to our environment. Otherwise, the risk to our bodies and to our environment is simply far too great.

If you’d like to learn more about Climate Karanga Marlborough, you can visit our website, at climatekaranga. org.nz.

GEORGE BLOCK Ever wonder what happens to that plastic bag or bottle lying by the roadside?

123RF We need to reduce plastic waste.