- Burning of plastic waste → and its effect on global warming → already discussed Effect of Human Activities on Global Warming
- Plastic waste disposed in landfills:
- Harmful chemicals from plastic waste → buried in landfills → may be leached → into rivers and seas. They poison wildlife in sea or rivers
- Plastic waste → created from disposables → e.g. shopping bags → may be harmful to marine animals when they are washed into sea
- Plastic waste can be broken down → into microplastics → can be ingested by marine organisms + accumulate in their bodies → leads to biomagnification biomagnification of microplastics along food chain
Many animals → die → from feeding on plastic waste in landfills or in sea.
- Plastics are indigestable
- Marine life like turtles and dolphins die - when plastics block up their stomachs and intestines