Apart from saving the landfill space, plastic recycling is also beneficial for the environment. This article provides some reasons for recycling plastic.
When it comes to recycling, plastic is one of those materials that are really vital. This is due to various reasons, the main being the environmental pollution caused by this non-biodegradable material. Studies show that natural degradation of plastic takes around 100 to 1000 years.
Plastic has emerged as one of the most widely used materials, across the globe. It is said that there are around 10,000 types of plastics, that are used for manufacturing a whole lot of products, right from pet bottles to kids’ toys and even clothes. This resulted in a substantial increase in plastic waste dumped all over the world. Studies show that a major chunk of the global waste is composed of various kinds of plastic, that can cause a negative impact on the environment. So, plastic recycling was introduced, to produce new products from discarded plastic scrap and waste. In other words, such recycling can be defined as a procedure, which is used for reprocessing such waste into new products.
How is Plastic Recycling Beneficial
The process of recycling is basically aimed at environmental conservation. It is a common fact that recycling paper saves lots of trees that are used for manufacturing paper. Likewise, plastic being a major contributor of global waste, can cause serious environmental concerns. This is due to the non-degradable nature of plastic that keeps it intact for a very long period. Plastic bottles, bags, and other such products can be seen floating in the rivers, lakes, and oceans. It can be said that such waste can be seen in almost all regions with human inhabitation.
- The first and foremost benefit of recycling plastic is conservation of petroleum, which is getting scarce. Large amount of petroleum is needed for making new plastic products, and around 40% of the petroleum consumption can be reduced by recycling old and discarded plastic.
- The benefits of recycling plastic include a reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases. In other words, greenhouse gases are emitted while burning petroleum, and if the amount of petroleum used in making plastic is reduced through recycling, the emission of these gases will also reduce.
- Even the landfill space can be saved through recycling. It is said that removal of one ton of plastic for recycling spares a landfill space of around 7.5 cubic yards.
- One of the important environmental benefits of recycling plastic bags and bottles is that, it saves animals, birds, and a wide range of aquatic creatures from death due to ingestion of plastic. The chemicals in plastic can also pollute the soil as well as water.
It is said that recycling one ton of plastic results in saving the energy used by two humans in a year, and the water required by a person for two months. It also saves around 2000 pounds of petroleum. Apart from that, various beneficial products are manufactured from recycled plastic. In short, plastic recycling is beneficial in many ways. So, stop throwing plastic, and take efforts to promote its recycling.
