Waste of Plastic Bottles

Background

Plastic bottle waste causes pollution. The buildup of plastic in the environment is referred to as pollution. Plastic bottles take too much time to degrade, usually 500 to 1000 years (Law et al., 2010, p.1835). Currently, the number of plastic bottles that are being recycled represents almost 24 percent of the total number of plastics being produced. Lands, waterways and oceans are unfavorably affected by plastic bottle wastes. According to K?hn, Rebolledo and Franeker (2015), living organisms, especially the aquatic ones, may sometimes get entangled with the waste bottles or digest particles from the wastes, which affects their health (p.75). Efforts to reduce plastic bottle consumption and waste is greatly encouraged.

Get a price quote

Type of service

Type of your assignment Type of paper

Title

Academic Level

Urgency

Number of pages

1st Order 15% OFF

Total price: 00.00 00.00

Paper Features

• Free bibliography page
• Free title page
• Free formatting (APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago/Turabian)
• Free revision (within 2 days)
• Free from AI-written content
• 24/7 support

Format

• Approx. 300 words/page
• Font: 12 point Times New Roman
• Double and single spacing
• 1 inch margin
• Up-to-date sources
• Any citation style

Research question

The environmental problems, caused by waste bottles.

Research justification

There are a lot of plastic bottles being produced, which relates to their wide use. The bottles are used in a wide range, from households to industrial use. Only about twenty-four percent of all the bottles that are produced in the industries are recovered. Bottles that are not reused or recycled are left discarded, leading to an increased amount of waste bottles. Lazarevic, Aoustin, Buclet and Brandt (2010) state that waste bottles’ recycling reduces their quality thereby necessitating the production of new bottles instead of recycling them (p.246). Waste bottles then find their way to landfills and water bodies.

Hypothesis

An increased amount of waste bottles, left in the environment due to lack of reuse, recycling and reduction.

Theoretical Framework

Waste bottles in water bodies pose a threat to marine life. Oceans and seas are polluted with waste bottles, which are produced on a large scale and only few of them are recycled. Several sea birds and marine animals are killed annually because of the pollution. Waste bottles can float and drift for many years before concentrating in ocean gyres. Waste bottles can take 500-1000 years before degrading. Production of bottles causes global warming as well. Statistics show that production of one ton of plastic bottles leads to the emission of three tons of carbon dioxide, reflecting 0.1 percent of greenhouse gas emissions each year (Law et al., 2010, p.1835). Carbon dioxide causes the greenhouse effect and hence global warming (Hoffmann & Sgr?, 2011, p.479). Waste bottles contaminate the environment. Redundant use of the bottles leads to excess amount of waste, which becomes difficult to be discarded. Normally, waste bottles are discarded in landfills. Bottles might be cheap when being bought but in the long run they become very expensive when their waste is considered.

Data collection

Bins for waste bottle collection were placed in each room of the participants. The participants included my husband, a baby, a nanny and me. The bottles for each week were collected and grouped. The research took two weeks, between 3rd April and 16th April. Collected waste bottles included those for water, beverage, lotions, cooking oil and margarine.

Analysis

Week one data collection

Week two data collection

Discussions

The use of plastic bottles should be reduced at all costs in order to decrease the pollution and global warming effects, caused by them. The use of reusable bottles and stainless steel cans instead of plastic bottles should be taken into consideration. Using stainless steel cans and reusable bottles can greatly reduce the use of plastic bottles, which will, in its turn, reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during their production process. Hence, it can help saving the planet from global warming and help save money used for the purchase of oil. Reusing waste bottles can also cut on costs on purchasing new ones. Banning of use of plastic bottles should be encouraged. Alternatively, the tax on plastic bottles could be raised to discourage their use. Educating the public on the dangers of excess plastic bottle waste should be encouraged to enlighten the people. Parents should also get involved and enlighten their children on the dangers of plastic bottle wastes. More people should volunteer in city cleanups. The city cleanups should be encouraged more often to reduce the landfills. More bottle bins should be placed on the streets. Production and usage of reusable bottles or mugs for beverages should be encouraged.

Research Summary

Topic

Bottle waste

1. Research

• Background
• Research question
• What are the environmental problems caused by waste bottles?
• Research justification

The amount of waste bottles that are being produced is larger than that of the ones that are reused and recycled.

• Theoretical framework
• Effects of waste bottles on water bodies
• Effects of waste bottles on global warming
• Effects of waste bottles on land and environment

2. Data collection

• Method of data collection; use of collecting bins in each room of the participants.
• The total number of bottles counted
• Duration of two weeks (3-16 April)
• Participants included my husband, a baby, a nanny and me.

3. Analysis

Week two data collection

4. Discussion.

• Use of environmentally friendly materials
• Reuse and recycling of waste bottles
• Educating people on proper bottle waste management
• Introducing bills to reduce or to ban plastic bottles
• Volunteer programs to clean the city
• More waste bins on the streets.