People discover various materials from time to time that break the boundaries of traditional materials. Plastic is a revolutionized material, and is referred to as “a material with 1,000 uses”. This review summarized up-to-date research on plastic and its waste pollution. Plastic has a domain throughout human life with its versatile properties such as lightweight, high durability, flexibility, and low production cost. This article describes the applications, benefits, production, consumption, and classifications of plastics. Plastic commercialization began with the Second World War and grew all over the world within less than a century. The global annual production of plastic is more than 359 million tons. Despite all the benefits, plastics cause severe environmental and public health issues. Accordingly, this study addresses the major issues of plastic waste on the environment and human health. Plastics can degrade into micro to nano sizes, and those fine particles are more spreadable in air, water, and soil. Therefore, both terrestrial and aquatic animals go through various negative impacts such as ingestion, entangling, ulcers, low reproduction, and oxidative stress. Microplastics also degrade human health due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, birth defects, cancer, etc. The closing contains the developed end-of-life options (e.g., recycling and reprocessing, incineration with energy recovery, modification reuse, value addition, and landfilling) of biodegradable and non-biodegradable plastic wastes. Several international, regional/national level legislations and policies/concepts (e.g., plastic trade, 3R policy, and circular economy) are available to manage plastic and plastic waste generation. Plastic waste management is also discussed offering practical insights and real-world scenarios. Solutions and challenges in effective plastic waste management guide to create a more sustainable and environmentally responsible approach. Finally, this review article highlights the importance of judicious decisions and the involvement of all stakeholders to overcome the plastic waste crisis. 

The world of plastic waste: a review

Plastic or microplastic pollution is a global threat affecting ecosystems, with the current generation reaching as much as 400 metric tons per/year. Soil ecosystems comprising agricultural lands act as microplastics sinks, though the impact could be unexpectedly more far-reaching. This is troubling as most plastic forms, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), formed from polymerized terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG) monomers, are non-biodegradable environmental pollutants. The current approach to use mechanical, thermal, and chemical-based treatments to reduce PET waste remains cost-prohibitive and could potentially produce toxic secondary pollutants. Thus, better remediation methods must be developed to deal with plastic pollutants in marine and terrestrial environments. Enzymatic treatments could be a plausible avenue to overcome plastic pollutants, given the near-ambient conditions under which enzymes function without the need for chemicals. The discovery of several PET hydrolases, along with further modification of the enzymes, has considerably aided efforts to improve their ability to degrade the ester bond of PET. Hence, this review emphasizes PET-degrading microbial hydrolases and their contribution to alleviating environmental microplastics. Information on the molecular and degradation mechanisms of PET is also highlighted in this review, which might be useful in the future rational engineering of PET-hydrolyzing enzymes.

/pdf/an-overview-into-polyethylene-terephthalate-pet-hydrolases-3o4qlnvn.pdf

An Overview into Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolases and Efforts in Tailoring Enzymes for Improved Plastic Degradation

Nutrient composition of Nigerian palm kernel from the dura and tenera varieties of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis).

Evaluation of Some Minerals and Toxicants in Some Nigerian Soup Meals

The quantity of plastic materials produced worldwide is progressively increasing. For instance, annual global plastic production has increased from 1.5 to 390.7 million metric tons from 1950 to 2021. Meanwhile, inefficient management strategies have resulted in huge plastic waste disposal (i.e., in the form of macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics) in the environment in a hostile manner. In particular, such uncontrollable waste discarding paves the entrance of plastic pollution into the environment as microplastics (μPs) after the degradation of macroplastics. In this respect, marine environments are the most typical regions prone to μP pollution. These ubiquitous emerging pollutants can also adsorb other pollutants, such as organic materials, toxic heavy metal ions, and pathogens, from the environment and transfer them into living organisms. The main theme of the present study is to compile information on how μP pollution affects the marine ecosystem, with a particular emphasis on the following key factors: (i) the types and sources of μPs, particularly those entering the marine sinks; (ii) the mechanisms leading to μPs' degradation; (iii) the poisonous effects of μPs on marine biota and humans; (iv) the fate of μPs in the marine environment, including their transportation routes and deposition modes, and (v) recent developments in the characterization, separation, and removal of μPs from the marine environment. The information presented here would be practical for developing effective μPs' risk management plans. 

Microplastic pollution in the marine environment: A review

http://www.cell.com/article/S2405844022012725/pdf

Sustainable plastic waste management in a circular economy

The industrially significant parameters of cocoa butters from the F3 Amazon, Amelonado, and Trinitario species of cocoa, cultivated in south-eastern Nigeria were studied. The cocoa samples were collected from three different vegetation belts in the region. Three locations were selected to represent each of the belts selected for the study. There were no substantial variations in saponification values, iodine values, acid and fatty acid values, either among species or among locations.



The Ca, Na, K and P contents of the husks were substantially higher than those of the beans for all species and all locations. For each of these elements there appeared to be an effect of location, which is the subject of continuing investigation. The pod husk appears to be a good source of P and K which might be used to supplement other sources of these minerals as plant nutrients.

Industrially important parameters and mineral composition of cocoa: A comparative study of cocoa pod husks and beans from plantations in south-eastern Nigeria

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Sustainable plastic waste management in a circular economy

Industrially important parameters and mineral composition of cocoa: A comparative study of cocoa pod husks and beans from plantations in south-eastern Nigeria