B. PLASTICS ARE NOW EVERYWHERE IN THE ENVIRONMENT
· Plastic pollution is amplified by microplastics
Plastics are not inert. When exposed to environmental elements such as ultraviolet rays, water and oxygen, their surface erodes and they break down to form microplastics and nanoplastics.
Microplastics leak into the environment throughout the plastics life cycle: when they are produced, through losses of industrial granules, when they are used, such as when plastic microbeads were used in cosmetics (a practice now banned in Europe), and this still occurs through tyre wear and the washing of synthetic fabrics, and when they reach the end of their life, through the breakdown of macroplastics present in the environment.
· Plastics have invaded the whole of the environment
They can be found 10,000 metres deep in the ocean, in the glaciers of the Himalayas, and even in the clouds, in the form of microplastics.
The presence of microplastics far from their source of emission is linked to the strong increase in mismanaged plastic waste, as well as their small size, light weight and persistence. The results of research into the tropospheric dispersion of microplastics show that particles contained in sea spray pass through the air and are carried over long distances.
Plastics have become an integral part of the environment. For example, a new rock formation, known as plasticomerate, has been discovered, with plastics forming one of its main components.