EFFECTS OF PLASTIC POLLUTION ON LAND

Humanity now produces over more than 200 million tonnes of municipal solid plastic waste annually. This is equal to around 523 trillion plastic straws, which, if laid lengthwise, could wrap around the world approximately 2.8 million times (Dalberg, 2021). Unfortunately, waste management systems are inadequately prepared to deal with this large volume of plastic waste, resulting in an average of 41% of plastic waste being mismanaged.

Generally, the disposal of this waste was done through open dumping, which consequently led to the proliferation of dumpsites that posed significant risks to neighboring communities and the environment.

Even though safer methods of waste disposal, such as recycling, are being explored and gaining popularity, especially in high-income countries, recent reports indicate that roughly 3.5-4 billion people around the globe are served by such dumpsites.

Ideally, these sites were meant to be sanitary landfills where a clay and/or plastic liner was used to isolate waste from groundwater, and a daily covering of soil added on top to reduce the waste's exposure to air. However, this has not been the case in most countries.

Most landfills fall in the unsanitary category where they are not fenced, records are not kept, no measures have been taken to control leachate and waste picking is allowed.

An estimated 4,900 million metric tons of plastic have accumulated in these landfills and the environment since 1950. It is therefore important to look in depth at what effects these plastics have on the environment and society in general.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

One of the greatest effects feared to emanate from mismanaged plastics is Climate Change caused by Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHG).

It is believed that greenhouse gas emissions from landfills are mainly derived from organic waste, such as discarded food, paper, and wood as they decompose. However, it has also been found that plastic dumped into the landfill also contributes to emission of these gasses after photodegradation (exposure to light) happens and further evidence reveals that these emissions increase as the plastic breaks down further.

This is in addition to emissions related to landfilling plastic, primarily from the fossil fuel use associated with the sorting and handling of the wastes prior to landfilling and the transportation of the waste from the collection point to the landfill.

This is not forgetting that open burning of plastic also has severe negative impacts on the climate, as the waste is burned without the presence of air pollution controls. Open burning of waste releases an air pollutant called black carbon, which has a global warming potential up to 5,000 times greater than carbon dioxide.

Soil Pollution

The presence of plastics can cause a series of toxic effects on soil organisms through complex interactions. For example, microplastics have been found to seep into the soil and change the physical structure of the soil, thereby limiting its ability to hold water.

Additionally, plastic pollution and the release of associated additives can also influence a variety of soil invertebrates, such as earthworms, nematodes, isopods, collembolans, and snails, increasing their mortality, negatively affecting their growth and locomotion, reproduction, and causing oxidative and antioxidative stress (Chen et al., 2020; Huerta Lwanga et al., 2016; Kim et al., 2019; Selonen et al., 2020; Song et al., 2019).

These effects often lead to reduced productivity due to contamination of the soil.

Human Health

It is no longer debatable about the negative impact plastics have had on the human body.

Scientific literature is linking chemicals in plastic and damage to human health at every stage of the plastic life cycle, including workers and "fence-line" communities that live next door to plastic production and waste disposal sites (Landrigan et al., 2023; Merkl and Charles, 2022; UNEP, 2021c).

During the production phase, it has been studied that transforming fossil fuels into plastic resins?releases carcinogenic and other pollutants with documented negative impacts on the nervous and reproductive systems, among other adverse health impacts.

At the end of life, Macroplastics are considered to cause the most direct impact, with chemicals leaching from plastics linked to a number of cancers and fumes from open burning of plastics with inadequate emission standards believed to be responsible for a number of respiratory and neurological diseases.

Meanwhile, microplastics have been found in human fecal matter, placentas, and even breast milk. However, this is a relatively new area of research with limited data, and the World Health Organization has so far stated that there is not enough evidence to conclude how much of a threat microplastic particles pose to human health.

Animal Health

Not only do plastics pose a danger to the environment and humans, but animals are also not spared from this scourge. When swallowed by domestic animals, they do not decompose in their digestive tracts, thus leading to bloating, an array of adverse health effects, and eventually death by starvation. This often has dire economic consequences for farmers.

When swallowed by wild animals in national parks and animal reserves, the consequences are equally fatal, and this has an economic impact on a country since they are a source of income from tourists.

Conclusion

Overall, to avoid the hazards that come with plastic, it is becoming increasingly evident that we need to reduce the production of virgin plastic and, more importantly, ensure we do not direct plastic to landfill or open burning, but instead focus on reusing and recycling the plastic in a circular economy.

This is why, TakaTaka Solutions is actively working with waste pickers across the country as we strive to reduce the plastic that ends up at landfills and are so far collecting over 20 tonnes of plastic a day through our buyback center initiative.

Join us next week as we discuss the effects of plastic on the ocean and other water bodies.