City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Plastic pollution, edited by Justin Healey

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationscharts

index present

non fiction

Plastic pollution

edited by Justin Healey

Plastic products and packaging are integral to modern daily life. Plastic is durable, cheap, light and can be flexible or rigid, with multiple uses however plastic is also making the planet a victim of its own success. Plastic pollution has become an epidemic, afflicting land, waterways, coastlines and oceans. More than 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the world's oceans each year, killing marine life as it breaks down into billions of microplastic pieces, without decomposing. Consumption of plastic has increased exponentially, but while recycling is well established, only a small proportion of plastic is recovered for recycling or energy recovery. How can we reduce the amount of plastic waste, increase recycling and minimise impacts on the environment? What are governments, industry, retailers and consumers doing to eliminate the use of plastic packaging to reduce landfill waste and ocean pollution? This book offers confronting facts on the impacts of plastic, but also features strategies aimed at tackling plastic pollution. Now is the time to save our planet from the growing perils of plastic