Cold, hard, synthetic and resilient, plastic is imposing on our health and the health of the environment we reside in. It builds up in landfills and in public parks in the form of water bottles and food packaging tossed away by busy families. It has the power to destroy wild habitats. It poisons the groundwater we use to drink and irrigate the crops we consume. It can carry invasive species, like barnacles, tubeworms, and algae. Worst of all, it takes up to 1,000 years to degrade, and when the plastic finally manages to fade away, it plays no beneficial part in the health of the environment.
Many people do not see any flaws in the smooth texture and fantastic performance of the plastic products they purchase as consumers. The consumer nation purchases so many plastic items that they may not necessarily realize how much they are disposing of and pay less attention to what they recycle. Plastic is not in everything, of course, but it is found in food and beverage containers, insulation, packaging, clothing, toys, buildings, cell phone and beauty product containers, among other products. Plenty of these items are designed for single use purposes, which has led to a mass buildup of plastic in landfills and in the environment.
Besides a slow rate of degradation, the current reign of plastic is bad because the leaders in the plastic industry are based on petroleum. In fact, about sixteen percent of petroleum produced from oil wells is devoted to plastic and other chemical product. There are several types of synthetic, petroleum based plastics on the market today including Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High-Density Polyethelene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polystyrene (PS). Each type of plastic has a special job it executes; PET #1 and HDPE#2 plastics are usually found in water and detergent bottles and milk jugs, and are said to be recycled easily. LDPE is a plastic that is similar to PET, PS is used to make insulation products or packaging, PVC is found in building materials, and PP is found in flooring products. Petroleum plastic is everywhere, but it is not being recycled as quickly as it is growing in number.
David Barnes, a lead author and research for the British Antarctic Survey, said that “One of the most ubiquitous and long-lasting recent changes to the surface of our planet is the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics,” Even worse, according to the California Integrated Waste Management Board, in 2002, 107 billion pounds of plastic were produced in North America alone. As the production of plastic rises, the price and demand of crude oil follows suit. Adding to the issue is that many plastic products are single-use items with very long life spans. It has been estimated that the amount of plastic that was manufactured in the first ten years of this century will be near the amount produced in the entirety of the previous century. With a rapid increase in plastic production and a slow degradation process, we might soon be up to our ears in water bottles and plastic bags.
The future negative effects that petroleum based plastic promises do not sound appealing in the slightest. However, there are solutions to the possible problems humans and the environments they depend on face in terms of plastic.
One major solution is the utilization of bioplastics, otherwise known as “green” plastics or environmentally friendly plastic resins, as an alternative material to petroleum based plastics. Companies such as Innovia, NatureWorks, Cereplast, Novamont and Toyota produce bioplastics made from renewable materials like corn-based Polylactic Acid, wood-pulp, sugars, starches from tapioca, wheat and potatoes, vegetable oils and cellulose. The materials do not require petroleum to be made, emit no toxins when burned, and are “biocompostable”. Biocompostable means that if provided the proper environment, they would degrade within the span of 1-14 months. Products that can be made from bioplastics include eco-friendly plastic include films that seal in heat or are used for packaging, beverage cups, clothing, carpet, upholstery fabrics.
Bioplastics are versatile, but do require proper composting environments to completely degrade.
To encourage the use of bioplastics and to help with the low recycling rates, recycling centers should add composting components to their facilities, and there should be a national mandate on recycling. I suggest the national mandate follow the example set by the Bottle Bills implemented in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan , New York, Oregon, and Vermont.
The basic provisions for a this type of bill are an initial small charge on plastic containers that qualify when purchased, usually about five to ten cents, which is refunded when the containers are returned to a recycling center. In these eleven states, there are higher rates of recycling than in other states without the bill. If this method was put into action nationally, the increase in recycling would be immense.
With these more sustainable solutions in mind, all that needs to be done is some in depth consideration by companies and debating in the United States Senate. The choice is between initial cost of alternative solutions and the environment we reside in. I hope the latter wins.
