Why is plastic harmful for the environment?

In a recent notice in October 2021, the UGC has asked colleges to reduce the use of plastics on campus. The notice specifies what type of plastic is the worst - single-use plastics and disposable plastic waste – both of which pile up as waste on any campus. Another notice had been issued in 2019. It asked colleges to run awareness programmes about the dangers posed by plastic.  The current notice also states that awareness may also be raised through the recently notified Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021. 

What are the threats posed by plastic?  
What is so bad about plastic that the government has to pass a ruling against it?  
In one word: plastic is immortal. Unlike paper packets, cloth bags, or jute sacks, plastic does not decay. It can continue intact for decades, perhaps centuries.  

But then, glass does not decay either. So why is a plastic bottle any worse than a glass one? For one, glass can be broken. But torn pieces of plastic just continue living on as small pieces of plastic.  

What’s more, plastic releases several dangerous chemicals wherever it is. Plastic is made up of petroleum by products. Depending on its composition some are less harmful, some more, but plastic is not harmless.  

One final point – plastic is not digestible either – and on consuming, it releases poisonous chemicals that can kill the creature who has eaten it.  

How are these properties harming the environment?  
Very few types of plastic are recyclable. So each time we carefully deposit plastic trash in the trash can, we are adding to an un-decayed mountain of plastics at various garbage dumps across the world.  

Much of this plastic is falling into drainage channels, canals, rivers, ponds and underground sewerage system, clogging it up. It’s tough to believe, but plastic clogged drains are one of the obvious reasons for urban flooding in India today!  

The worst affected are animals, especially sea animals. According to Forbes, there are an estimated 270,000 tons of plastic floating through our seas, threatening 700 marine species, some of which are being pushed towards extinction.  Animals don’t know plastic is not food. So they eat it, feed it to their young ones, and die horrible deaths. None of us want small innocent creatures to die. So let’s say no to plastic.