How does extracting plastic affect the environment?

Answer 1

Plastic is made from polymers derived from oil and other natural sources as well as recycled plastic.

Since it is not a natural resource, as are stone or coal, it cannot be extracted by mining or pumping it from a reservoir.

About 'extracting plastic from the environment' -is this finding and removing plastic which is in garbage or litter from the environment and the effects of this action?

If so, the type of plastic and the environment it was removed from will have differing impacts on the environment.

Each of these situations would have a different impact as to location, type of environment, urban or rural, wildlife affected, human population affected, agriculture or livestock changes etc. I will add a short description of potential impacts.

1. Removing plastics from a landfill that contains mixed garbage.

This disrupts the surface and exposes buried plastic and other material to surface weathering. The environmental impact depends on what is done to sort and use the plastic and how the area is restored.

2. removing plastic bags, containers and bits from the ground and from places where the wind has carried the plastic

This reduces the amount of plastic that animals and people come in contact with. Big piles in waterways may disrupt flow. Bags of noxious fills may leak into water/ soil. Since animals that eat plastic or become entangled in plastic are likely to die, removing the plastic would end this. Removing bags of waste and plastic requires that something be done with the recovered material and that the pollution from these before removal be cleaned up. It may take a great deal of work and energy to complete this task; this is also an impact on the environment.

3. removing plastic from beaches and freshwater lakes

This is of great benefit to fish and birds by reducing their risk of eating or getting entangled in plastic; it would increase fish harvest and promote bird reproduction.

4. removing plastic from the ocean, especially from the big plastic accumulation in the Pacific Ocean.

Its is not clear what the effect of fine to coarse plastics have when floating in the ocean, other than oceanic birds eat plastic and then die of malnutrition.

On the whole, my best guess is that the environment would be able with active restoration to return to the state it had before plastic was invented, if all other conditions are held constant.

Please let me know if this answered your question