A STUDY ON AWARENESS OF PREVENTION ON PLASTIC USAGE AMONG PUBLIC WITH REFERENCE TO SALEM

Plastic is a cost-effective, durable and easy to manufacture material and its usefulness and convenience has resulted in its ever-increasing demand. The demand for plastics has also been filled by the rise of the ‘use-and-throw’ culture resulting in much of the plastics being designed to be disposed after just one use. These single-use plastics, mostly used as packaging material, account for a substantial chunk of the total plastics manufactured today. However, most plastic is nonbiodegradable and it takes up to a thousand years for certain types of plastics to decompose resulting in accumulation of plastic waste, much of it ending up in oceans, causing adverse consequences marine life. The scale of plastic pollution has become alarming with millions of tones of plastic waste existing in oceans today. Single-use plastics are the responsible much of this plastic waste and individual consumption behavior and habits must change to reduce their demand. Presently more than 120 states across the world have some form of regulation on the use of certain types of single-use plastic.