Plastic, the origins, problems and future: A concerning picture.

C. Serno, 24 june 2021

Plastic, it has been around of just a couple of decades and by now most of us are familiar to the phrase 'save the turtles' or to the images of seas of with plastic debris. Those clichés can feel like a far away thing, but is it really that far? We use it all around us and what is plastic actually? We will explore this in the following paragraphs.

A term for a variety of materials that at some stage in manufacture are capable of flow such that they can be extruded, moulded, cast, spun or applied as a coating. Synthetic polymers are typically prepared by polymerization of monomers derived from oil or gas, and plastics are usually made from these by addition of various chemical additives, there are many different types (Thompson, Swan, Moore, & Saal, 2009).

Around 1907 Leo Baekeland invented the first fully synthetic plastic, which marked the beginning of the plastic era. Plastic productions speeded up in World War II originally because of its ability to preserve (Science History Institute, 2019; Thompson et al., 2009).

it was also lightweight and it was easy to make. Product manufacturers started replacing the originally used packaging with plastic ones to spare costs, since it was less costly to make, the applications of the material are endless (PSF, 2020), could be transported more easily and made consumers more likely to buy because of its convenience.

There was a turning point about the effects of plastics which weren’t deemed entirely positive anymore after plastic debris in the oceans were observed in the 1960s (SHI, 2019). More and more concerns about plastic arose, since it turned out plastic lasts forever (SHI, 2019). People just started seeing the negative effects of plastic on the environment. It ended up in nature, where animals were hurt because of ingesting pieces of it or becoming entangled in plastic, this was especially true for marine life (Thompson et al. 2009). For those who think it is a faraway problem and ‘only’ hurts animals, eventually it ends up in our own systems and can hurt ourselves. Through drinking water or diet we can ingest the microplastics, which could lead to health problems. Vethaak & Leslie (2016) show in their study that the plastic particles can even cause lung and gut injury. Furthermore, the chemicals that are added to the plastics to enhance performance, can transfer to humans, which can further disrupt our health (Vethaak, & Leslie, 2016; [SC(2] ). The transfer can happen through ingestion or even touch: For example toddlers putting plastic toys in their mouths, drinking from plastic water bottles or eating from other food that is packaged in plastic (Thompson et al. 2009). We can conclude that plastic can not only form a concern to us in the way of removing biodiversity, but also form a direct health concern (Vethaak & Leslie, 2016).

Knowing this, it is even more concerning that 10 percent of the waste we generate is plastic (Thompson et al., 2009). Of all the plastic we use, 40% is used just once (PSF, 2020; Thompson et al., 2009). Usually it is in packaging, but plastic can also be in items that we do not realize are from plastic, like care tires and polyester clothing.

In the 1980s a solution came to the front, which is still the most popular solution to plastic: recycling (SHI, 2019). However, a youtuber by the name of Shelbizzlee, addresses that recycling might not be the solution to solving the plastic issue, but rather the contrary. Most plastics then and now still end up in landfills or the environment directly, despite recycling being added (SHI, 2019). Even if we would try to recycle everything, there are many types of plastic, most of which can’t be recycled. From the plastics that can be recycled, they can only be recycled up to a number of times. Let’s say a plastic item is being recycled. Those same particles can then only be recycled a couple of times before the quality is firmly degraded to which they cannot be recycled anymore.

Next to the fact that not everything is being recycled, and the option is limited to a certain amount of times, Shelbizzlee also adds that recycling itself reinforces the idea that plastic is sustainable, thus keeping the high consumerist system in place. The solution 'recycling' was actually invented by the fossil fuel companies themselves in the times that plastic became to be known as an issue, in order to have an excuse to keep making plastic (SHI, 2019).

References

Plastic Soup Foundation. (2020, 4 mei). Cause of Plastic Pollution in the Environment. Geraadpleegd van https://www.plasticsoupfoundation.org/en/plastic-problem/plastic-soup/cause-plastic-pollution/

Science History Institute. (2019, 20 november). History and Future of Plastics. Geraadpleegd van https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics#:%7E:text=The%20Development%20of%20New%20Plastics,the%20rapidly%20electrifying%20United%20States.

Thompson, R. C., Swan, S. H., Moore, C. J., & vom Saal, F. S. (2009). Our plastic age. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1526), 1973–1976. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2009.0054

Vethaak, A. D., & Leslie, H. A. (2016). Plastic Debris Is a Human Health Issue. Environmental Science & Technology, 50(13), 6825–6826. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b02569