For a long time, improper waste management has been polluting oceans and landfill sites with plastic that will never break down. The waste to water ratio of water bodies is devastatingly alarming. In turn, this is having a detrimental impact on marine life.
It is no secret that our planet is in trouble. We’re facing a climate crisis, and a big part of the problem is the amount of waste that’s clogging up our landfills and oceans.
This kind of pollution can cause entanglement, suffocation, and ingestion of toxic chemicals by wildlife. It is estimated that 100M marine animals and turtles die each year. In addition to the harm caused to wildlife, it also negatively impacts our own health.
It has become apparent that plastic is a major source of pollution in our oceans, land, and food. Most people don’t realize that the plastic they’re throwing away will never break down. It will sit in landfills and eventually make its way into the ocean, harming sea life and wildlife.
The Solution to the Problem
There is a lot of activity and talk in the blogosphere around solutions to the plastic problem that is being faced worldwide. Most of these solutions are generic for the most part, and do not give a clear picture of what is happening with plastic waste in each country. Yet, there are some interesting solutions on how we can eliminate plastic from our lives.
Plastiks is a green startup that is creating a blockchain-based global recycling platform. It has the potential to facilitate the process by making it easier to recycle plastic, where we can track where our materials go and make sure it’s being recycled properly. This would reduce the amount of contamination caused by plastic and help to protect our planet.
The company has made a simple, smart-manufacturing platform to capture plastic waste, filter out contaminants, and reshape it. Artists and companies that are committed to the environment can join the platform to create a profile to show their commitment. Plastiks is building a recycler network based on a mobile app called Valora. The platform manages the entire recycling process, from sourcing and sorting, to recycling and reshaping. In addition, it allows every stakeholder to show their commitment to increase plastic recovery and recycling.
Plastic waste is a big problem in our oceans, and the only way to keep track of it is by tracing the waste that has been generated. With the crisis oceans are facing, IBM has now joined hands with The Plastic Bank to help monetize ocean plastic and create a blockchain-based application and IBM Cloud to help end the ocean plastics issue. Here, you can earn rewards for recycling, with The Plastic Bank already having contributed to the recycling of over 2 billion bottles.
The initiative is helping to combat plastic pollution by providing an incentive for people to recycle instead of throwing it away. This new system is a great example of how blockchain technology can help make a real impact in the world.
Is Recycling the Way to go?
If more people are encouraged to recycle, then we can start to make a dent in the amount of plastic waste that’s plaguing our planet. Plastic is a substance that can be recycled over and over again, so it’s important to encourage people to recycle. We can help to reduce pollution and preserve our planet for future generations.
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