What happens to a plastic bottle after being thrown into the trash?

The current plastic waste crisis is a concept that is no stranger to most of us.

With millions of tons of plastic waste being released to the oceans each year causing great damage to the environment, humanity is now gradually becoming more responsible in each of its actions. We are aiming for a more recyclable society, trying to sort out garbage before throwing it . All to reduce the amount of waste to the environment, and are worthy of respect.

Millions of tons of plastic waste are released each year, causing heavy pollution to the environment.

But is that enough? Are we still using plastic, just throwing in the right place, is the right place classified?

In fact, if you know what happens to a plastic bottle after putting it in the recycling bin, you won't think so anymore.

91% of plastic waste is not recycled

A plastic bottle after being put in the trash can be taken to some recycling plant. It will be cleaned, crushed, and "processed" into small plastic pellets - also called nurdle.

Nurdle will then be sold to manufacturers, becoming raw materials to continue creating other plastic products - such as nylon bags, toys, shoe soles . Overall, it is a solution that helps Humans still have plastic to use without producing too much new plastic.

Plastic bottles can come here.

But the tragedy here is that the human species releases too much plastic waste, recycling plants cannot meet all. This leads to the situation where the bottle that is expected to be recycled must be exposed to the garbage dump.

And that is the story that happens with the majority of plastic waste being released in the world.

But it can also expose me to the landfill.

According to CNN, 91% of plastic waste has not been recycled. As for plastic bottles, IBISWorld figures show that every year, human species emit 2.7 billion tons, but only 30% are recycled. And in that 30%, only one fifth is converted into food industry.

Recycling plastic members? The story has not stopped here

Even the newly recycled plastic pellets are not the perfect solution.

Talk a little bit about the nurdle . These are plastic pellets ranging in size from 1 - 5mm, which are the most basic materials in the plastics industry. The reason is because such plastic pellets are very packed, save space, and are also easier to melt. Today, from bottled water to plastic on TV, all are made thanks to nurdle.

These plastic particles also cause many problems for the environment.

However, because the form is so small that during transport, the nurdle plastic pellets have leaked out of the environment, through rivers and water pipes . in quantities up to billions of bricks.

Scientists call it "mermaid tears", and think this is a very suitable nickname. Because when it comes to the ocean, these plastic particles endanger the life of the animal in the most horrible way, to the mermaids if they are true, they must also shed tears.

With its small size and eye color, nurdle easily penetrates the food chain of the ocean animals. When they enter the body, they begin to allow organic toxins to accumulate, causing the body to become poisoned. These toxins are also very sustainable, can exist for years, leading to the impact on the whole ecosystem.

Nurdle seeds easily enter the food chain of animals in the ocean.

Nurdle particles can be so toxic that those assigned to clean up the beach are also advised not to touch them with bare hands. This means that sunbathers on the beach during this period will not be happy.

The story became even worse, when an estimated 53 billion plastic beads were out of the environment each year in Britain alone. That number is enough to produce 88 million plastic bottles.

The real problem is not just throwing away

The above story is not intended to encourage you to litter indiscriminately or to abandon garbage classification. The problem is that in parallel with that, we need to reduce the number of uses of plastic, to reduce the burden on the environment.

You dispose of garbage in the right place, that's a precious thing. You sort the standard garbage, it's even more valuable. But if you waste less garbage, then the Earth really thanks you.