Table 4.

The comparison of the available techniques and approaches for the removal of plastic wastes

Sample no	Techniques/Approaches	Advantages	Disadvantages
1	Adsorption	Low cost and low maintenance technique low, less energy consumption	Effective for the micro plastic present in aqueous medium; Not effective for reducing high volume of plastic waste
2	Photocatalytic degradation	Complete degradation of plastics like LDPE, PS; Effective for microplastics and nanoplastics	High energy consumption; Not effective for reducing high volume of plastic waste
3	Coagulation	Effective for microplastics present in aqueous medium	Not effective for reducing high volume of plastic waste
4	Micro-organism	Breakdown the plastic sponge and assimilate it like any other food	Produce GHGs like methane, carbon dioxide in decomposition; Decomposition may take ample days
5	Landfill	Deals with high volume of plastic waste; Low cost; Reduced transportation distance; No energy consumption	Leaching of chemicals to soil and ground water; Occupy large space
6	Incineration	Reduce high volume of plastic waste; Energy recovery; Require minimum land area	Require high capital cost; High energy consumption; Causes air pollution
7	3 R- reduce/reuse/recycle	Reduces the requirement of new plastic; Save money; Consumption of less energy in recycling rather than production of new plastics	Unconsciousness can affect reuse of plastic waste
8	Conversion of plastic waste in carbon based materials	Reduce volume of plastic waste; Availability of new materials at low cost	Needs energy consumption; Limited to small group of population; Needs skilled and well trained personal for the conversion of plastic waste