Impact Of Polymer Waste And Climate Mitigation; A Review

Abstract

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines municipal solid waste, also referred to as solid waste, as consisting of everyday items use and throw away, such as product packaging, grass clippings, furniture, clothing bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, and batteries. Global waste sector emissions have grown steadily and are expected to increase in the forthcoming decades especially in developing countries because of the increases in population and GDP. It is estimated that there is a stock of 86 million tons of plastic marine debris in the worldwide ocean as of the end of 2023, with an assumption that 1.4% of global plastics produced from 1950 to 2023 has entered the ocean and has accumulated there. Some researchers suggest that by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish in the oceans by weight. In some areas there have been significant efforts to reduce the prominence of free range plastic pollution, through reducing plastic consumption, litter clean up, and promoting plastic recycling. As of 2023, the global mass of produced plastic exceeds the biomass of all land and marine animals combined. This large amount of plastic waste enters the environment, with studies suggesting that the bodies of 90% of seabirds contain plastic debris.