Careless handling of plastic refuse leads to the degradation of land and ocean resources, Vasudevan Rajagopalan, an expert in plastic refuse management, has said.
Mr. Rajagopalan, a recipient of the Padmasree award, was speaking after inaugurating a national conference on marine debris at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, on Wednesday.
The two-day conference is being organised by the Marine Biological Association of India (MBAI).
The systematic processing of plastic can convert it into an environmentally beneficial and energy-saving resource. If processed scientifically, plastic would emerge as a resource with multiple developmental applications, he said.
Plastic has been effectively used for making roads. Currently, roads running into a distance of one lakh kilometres have been laid in India using plastic. Plastic needs to be mixed and heated in conducive temperature for making roads. It’s an eco-friendly process, he said.
In her lead talk, V. Kripa, Principal scientist of the institute, said oceans will have more plastic refuse than fish by 2050.
It is estimated that there would be 850 million metric tonnes of plastic in ocean by the period against the projected 812 million metric tonnes of fish, she said.
Recent studies have suggested that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean including the 269,000 tonnes that float on the surface, she said.
Debris ranging from cigarette butts to large plastic sheets are posing serious threat to the sustainability of coastal and marine ecosystems.
Coastal waters are contaminated with plastic debris. As the coastal waters are considered the nursery of several fish species, the presence of large quantities of plastic in the areas will impact fishery resources, said Dr. Kripa.
N.G.K. Pillai, former director-in-charge of the institute, presided over the function. Gayathri Handanahal of the Waste Impact Trust, Karnataka, K. Sunil Mohammed, secretary, MBAI, and Ms. Kripa, who is also the convenor of the conference, spoke.
