What is white pollution?

White pollution refers to plastic products such as packaging bags, agricultural mulch films, disposable tableware, and plastic bottles made of polystyrene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and other polymer compounds that are discarded into solid matter after use. waste. Because they are thrown away randomly, they are difficult to degrade and cause pollution to the ecological environment and landscape.

Potential harm of white pollution

1. Excessive land occupation. Plastic waste also stays in nature for a long time, generally up to 200-400 years, and some up to 500 years.

2. Pollution of the air. Plastic, paper scraps and dust flew in the wind.

3. Pollution of water bodies. Plastic bottles and lunch boxes floating on rivers and seawater, and plastic bags and bread paper hanging on branches above the water not only cause environmental pollution, but if animals accidentally eat white garbage, it will harm their health and even cause damage to their digestion. It cannot be digested and will starve to death.

4. Fire hazard. White garbage is almost all combustible, and methane and other combustible gases are produced during natural accumulation. Fire accidents occur frequently when exposed to open flames or spontaneous combustion, often causing heavy losses.

5. White garbage may become the nest of harmful organisms. They can provide food, habitat and breeding place for rats, birds, mosquitoes and flies, and the residues therein are also the source of infectious diseases.

6. After waste plastic packaging enters the environment, it is difficult to degrade, causing long-term and deep-seated ecological and environmental problems. First, waste plastic packaging mixed in the soil affects the absorption of nutrients and water by crops, which will lead to reduced crop yields; secondly, if livestock eats the plastic film, it will cause digestive tract diseases and even death of livestock.

7. Bacteria will breed in landfills and pollute groundwater.

Extended information

Control of white pollution

Controlling white pollution has become a challenge that humans cannot delay. There are two main solutions: First, Reduce use, and the second is scientific recycling.

1. More than 40 countries and regions around the world have banned or restricted the use of disposable plastic bags. Disposable plastic straws are also included in the scope of regulation, and some cities have banned the use of plastic straws. Many catering giants have stopped using plastic straws and switched to alternatives.

2. Another idea is to develop more scientific and low-cost recycling technology. Most plastic waste ends up in landfills, incineration or into nature. Recyclable plastics are generally broken down into pellets through mechanical processing and then remade into new plastic products. One solution for plastics that are difficult to physically recycle is chemical recycling, which removes the chemicals and other ingredients added during the manufacturing process and turns the plastic back into pure oil.

Baidu Encyclopedia - White Pollution

People's Daily Online - Find a new outlet for plastic waste