Single use plastics - case study of cigaratte butts

Prednosti plastike su neporecive. Materijal je jeftin, lagan i jednostavan za izradu. Te su osobine dovele do procvata proizvodnje plastike tijekom proteklog stoljeća. Ovaj će se trend nastaviti kako će globalna proizvodnja plastike rasti u sljedećih 10 do 15 godina. Istraživanja pokazuju kako se svijet ne može nositi sa količinom plastičnog otpada koji se proizvodi, osim ako se ne preispita način proizvodnje, korištenja i gospodarenja otpadnom plastikom. U konačnici, suočavanje s jednom od najvećih pošasti zaštite okoliša našeg vremena zahtijevat će od vlada da to reguliraju, poduzeća da inoviraju i pojedince da djeluju. U ovom radu je objašnjena je problematika same plastike za jednokratnu upotrebu. Koje probleme stvara po okoliš, od čega se sastoji te koja je to plastika za jednokratnu upotrebu najčešća. Zatim je pregledana i obrađena legislativa Europske unije o gospodarenju otpadnom plastikom. Detaljnije je objašnjen način na koji Europska unija želi pokušati smanjiti upotrebu plastike te što direktiva zapravo promiče i zabranjuje. Nadalje pregledom i obradom stručne literature dobivamo uvid u neka od istraživanja koja su do sad napravljena u pojedinim zemljama. Istraživanja nam daju neka od mogućih rješenja za smanjenje broja opušaka cigareta u okolišu ili kako barem smanjiti njihov broj te samim time i štetan utjecaj na okoliš. Za potrebe ovog diplomskog rada provedeno je istraživanje u sklopu kojeg je prikupljen otpad nastao pri čišćenju ulica i pješačkih zona. Cilj istraživanja bio je utvrditi sastav ove vrste otpada i utvrditi količinu opušaka cigareta.The benefits of plastics are undeniable. It is cheap, light and easy to make, which has led to a boom in plastic production over the past century. This trend will continue as global plastic production is expected to grow in the next 10 to 15 years. Research shows that the world can't cope with the amount of plastic waste produced unless the method of production, use and management of waste plastics is reconsidered. Ultimately, facing one of the greatest environmental pollutants of our time will require governments to regulate it, businesses to innovate, and individuals to act. This paper explains the problems disposable plastics creates for the environment, what it consists of and what the most common disposable plastics is. The EU legislation concerning waste plastic management has been reviewed. . The paper describes the way in which the European Union wants to try to reduce the use of plastics and what the directive actually promotes and bans is explained in more detail. Furthermore, by reviewing professional literature, we get an insight into some of the research that has been done so far in particular countries. Research gives us some of the possible solutions to the reduction of the number of cigarette butts in the environment or how to at least reduce their number and harmful impact on the environment. For the purposes of this thesis, research was conducted in which waste generated during the cleaning of streets and pedestrian zones was collected. The aim of the study was to determine the composition of this type of waste and to determine the amount of cigarette butts