Abstract The global production of plastic has raised to 330 billion tons per year,
which is a huge concern in terms of environmental crisis and health issues. Currently
there are no devised mechanisms available on industrial scale and in nature by which
plastics can be degraded completely into harmless residues. Water constitutes
two-thirds of the planet, and almost 70–80% of it is polluted by plastic debris.
Marine organisms are facing alarming situations and awful scenarios due to the
water pollution caused by plastics. Micro- and macroplastics are the main entities
involved in polluting the water bodies, which besides the generation of different
health issues are a direct threat to the destruction of natural habitats to marine and
fresh water flora and fauna. Human activities, industrialization, and population burst
in recent years has contributed to high demands of plastics for the manufacturing of
different products most of which end up in oceans and fresh water bodies resulting in
their pollution.
We have reviewed that a three domains solution strategy can be employed to fight
plastic pollution and for the remediation of water pollution by plastics, which
includes (1) the implementation of science and technology to produce bioplastics
to replace the synthetic plastics saving our oceans and lakes from becoming plastic
repositories, (2) biodegradation of plastics using different microorganisms which
produces plastic degrading enzymes to degrade plastics is another excellent strategy,
and (3) community awareness and governmental policies. International agencies,
nongovernmental organizations, universities, and research institutes can help create
awareness in our society to combat water pollution by helping governments around
the globe to effectively formulate and implement new policies to counter water
pollution by plastics.
Keywords Biodegradation · Plastic pollution · Macroplastics · Microplastics ·
Nanoplastics · Bioplastics · Polyethylene terephthalate · Mono-(2-hydroxyethyl)
terephthalate · Biorefinery · Marine organisms
3.1 Introduction
Plastics are organic polymers which are synthesized or derived from natural sources
like organic substances for example crude oil, natural gas, and coal by polymerization processes (Dang et al. 2018). The finding of first synthetic plastic, i.e. Bakelite
in 1907, revolutionized our understanding of polymer science and technology, by
initiating the development of a number of polymers or plastic formulations and
techniques for their development (Frias and Nash 2019). Plastics are the top most
commonly used products in our daily life. Hand bags, shopping bags, water bottles,
and different products are all packed in some types of plastics; hence, our daily
encounter with plastic is far more than any other specific material (Porta 2019).
Invention of plastic was once seen as a marvelous victory, which has now turned into
an environmental crisis by causing pollution not only on land but also in our water
reservoirs such as lakes, ponds, rivers, seas, and oceans. Packaging, construction,
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F. Muneer et al.
which is a huge concern in terms of environmental crisis and health issues. Currently
there are no devised mechanisms available on industrial scale and in nature by which
plastics can be degraded completely into harmless residues. Water constitutes
two-thirds of the planet, and almost 70–80% of it is polluted by plastic debris.
Marine organisms are facing alarming situations and awful scenarios due to the
water pollution caused by plastics. Micro- and macroplastics are the main entities
involved in polluting the water bodies, which besides the generation of different
health issues are a direct threat to the destruction of natural habitats to marine and
fresh water flora and fauna. Human activities, industrialization, and population burst
in recent years has contributed to high demands of plastics for the manufacturing of
different products most of which end up in oceans and fresh water bodies resulting in
their pollution.
We have reviewed that a three domains solution strategy can be employed to fight
plastic pollution and for the remediation of water pollution by plastics, which
includes (1) the implementation of science and technology to produce bioplastics
to replace the synthetic plastics saving our oceans and lakes from becoming plastic
repositories, (2) biodegradation of plastics using different microorganisms which
produces plastic degrading enzymes to degrade plastics is another excellent strategy,
and (3) community awareness and governmental policies. International agencies,
nongovernmental organizations, universities, and research institutes can help create
awareness in our society to combat water pollution by helping governments around
the globe to effectively formulate and implement new policies to counter water
pollution by plastics.
Keywords Biodegradation · Plastic pollution · Macroplastics · Microplastics ·
Nanoplastics · Bioplastics · Polyethylene terephthalate · Mono-(2-hydroxyethyl)
terephthalate · Biorefinery · Marine organisms
3.1 Introduction
Plastics are organic polymers which are synthesized or derived from natural sources
like organic substances for example crude oil, natural gas, and coal by polymerization processes (Dang et al. 2018). The finding of first synthetic plastic, i.e. Bakelite
in 1907, revolutionized our understanding of polymer science and technology, by
initiating the development of a number of polymers or plastic formulations and
techniques for their development (Frias and Nash 2019). Plastics are the top most
commonly used products in our daily life. Hand bags, shopping bags, water bottles,
and different products are all packed in some types of plastics; hence, our daily
encounter with plastic is far more than any other specific material (Porta 2019).
Invention of plastic was once seen as a marvelous victory, which has now turned into
an environmental crisis by causing pollution not only on land but also in our water
reservoirs such as lakes, ponds, rivers, seas, and oceans. Packaging, construction,
90
F. Muneer et al.