Plastics and the environment

contamination of the natural environment with plastic products

thumb|upright=1.3|Micro plastics of diverse shapes in sediments from four rivers in ‌white arrowheads indicate aluminium, glass and sand (white bars represent 1mm for scale) thumb|upright=1.3|Photodegraded plastic straw. A light touch breaks larger straw into microplastics.

gyre of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean

thumb|A woman picks up litter, while a man jogs alongside, with a garbage bag, at a plogging event in Kent, England

small pre-moistened, disposable piece of paper or cloth used for cleaning purposes like personal hygiene and household cleaning

Dutch inventor and environmentalist

composite materials made of wood fiber and thermoplastics

project to cleanse the ocean of pieces of plastic

environmental pollution by plastics

international agreement on plastics that will address the entire life cycle of plastics, from design to production and disposal

paper which has been coated by a compound or polymer

government campaign to discourage plastic shopping bag use

thumb|A plastic bucket used as an open-air flowerpot photodegraded after some years. Photodegradation is the alteration of materials by light. Commonly, the term is used loosely to refer to the combined action of sunlight and air, which cause oxidation and hydrolysis. Often photodegradation is intentionally avoided, since it destroys paintings and other artifacts. It is, however, partly responsible for remineralization of biomass and is used intentionally in some disinfection technologies. Photodegradation does not apply to how materials may be aged or degraded via infrared light or heat, but

thumb|The melting of plastic waste from campfires or high temperatures on beaches (1) is resulting in the formation of a new type of rock known as plastiglomerate (2). Formed plastiglomerate merges with surrounding sediment to create a compositionally different sediment layer (3).The emergence of this new layer is being used as physical evidence of a marker horizon for an Anthropocene Epoch (4). Plastiglomerate is a rock made of a mixture of sedimentary grains, and other natural debris (e.g. shells, wood) that is held together by plastic. It has been considered a potential marker of the Anthro

thumb|upright=1.2|A colony of limpets attached to a diving mask, found washed ashore on a beach

marine debris from plastic particles used to manufacture large-scale plastics

thumb|upright=1.3|Plastic mulch used for growing strawberries

The Indian Ocean garbage patch is a gyre of marine litter suspended in the upper water column of the central Indian Ocean, specifically the Indian Ocean Gyre.

Plasticosis is a form of fibrotic scarring that is caused by small pieces of plastic which inflame the digestive tract.

species of amphipod

fibrous marine material

releasing gas-filled balloons into the air

area of marine debris

uncrewed vehicle guided by an optical fiber

set of connected plastic rings that are used as packaging

photo-oxidation of polymers

Organisation with an aim to promote solutions that reduce and avoid environmental pollution from plastic waste, formed and run by members of the packaging, plastics and petrochemical industries

container ship built in 1973