Although plastic bottles have made mineral water and other drinks easily accessible and portable, the price we have to pay for this luxury is extremely high. Plastic bottles are one of the major contributors to plastic pollution throughout the world. The manufacturing process of plastic water bottles itself releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contaminates the oxygen. Resultantly, it is difficult for people to breathe.
Not only do plastic bottles litter the landscape but the plastic does not decompose and remains in the soil for decades eventually disintegrating into microparticles. The microplastic particles are polluting the ocean and threatening marine life and biodiversity. Plastic waste is either consumed by seabirds, seagulls, and marine mammals, or they get entangled in the waste. It is estimated that 20% of sand is composed of microparticles across the world’s beaches and approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic are floating in the ocean. Some plastic waste also ends up in landfills and is responsible for chemical leakages, disruption of ecosystems, etc.
I request the government of Pakistan to either switch to glass bottles or implement strategies to reuse plastic bottles. To ensure that it is effective, people should be given an incentive to return plastic bottles to retailers. Companies should be encouraged to reuse bottles by thoroughly sterilising them. Also, companies should be told to collect non-usable or damaged plastic bottles that can be converted and used to manufacture other items. Given the deteriorating environmental conditions, the use of plastic bottles must be drastically reduced.
SHAHRYAR KHAN
PESHAWAR
