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Plastic has revolutionized human lives to a great extent. The growing population has given rise to increased demand in the production of on-the-go single-use plastic wares; which include plastic water bottles, shampoo bottles, caps, cutlery, the list is endless. These plastic wastes pile up in the garbage and are disposed of in landfills, dumped in oceans or are incinerated. There is an atrocious amount of plastic being produced and disposed at a rapid rate. A study led by IMAS researcher Dr. Jennifer Lavers found the beaches on the Indian Ocean island to be populated with 238 tonnes of plastic, including 977,000 shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes. A similar study garnered worldwide interest, conducted in 2017 on remote Henderson Island in the South Pacific reported the highest density of plastic debris in the world. According to Dr. Laver, remote islands which do not have significant human populations depositing rubbish nearby are an indicator of the amount of plastic debris circulating in the world’s oceans. It is estimated that there are now 5.25 trillion pieces of ocean plastic debris. Plastic pollution is a well-known threat to wildlife, and its impact on human is tremendous. Co-author to the study, Dr. Finger identified that the only viable solution is to reduce plastic production and consumption while improving waste management to stop plastic from entering oceans in the first place.
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