Written by Rishikesh Umamaheswaran - Editor: Kata Krnács
Picture this, you wake up one day to find out all the plastics in the world have vanished. Your toothbrush is gone, the LED bulbs don't work anymore, and the plastic insulation around electric wires has also disappeared, causing potential electrical shocks. Without plastic, our modern world would resemble the 1850s. Medicinal products like syringes and hygiene items would cease to exist. Computers, smart devices, and even satellites in space would be non-functional. The very device you are holding in your hand right now, to read this article would not have been possible without plastic.
It can be said that Plastic, along with ammonia and cheap energy, have been the backbone of sustaining an 8 billion population. The synthesis of plastic is a pinnacle of human engineering, enabling the creation of countless essential items. In a way, plastics help us live the sophisticated lives we take for granted.
Now you might be thinking, this is not what I feel about plastic at all. I thought plastics were one of the most devastating pollutants in the world. They are in landfills, they are in oceans and they are now even inside the human body (Microplastics).
And I agree that plastics are becoming a menace. However, the problem lies not in the production of plastic or its use but rather in its disposal. Let me explain!
The main reason why plastics are so cheap is that, even though we refine crude oil to make gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, we have a byproduct naphthalene which gets produced after refining.
Even though naphthalene is just around 2.5% of the end product, it doesn't have too many "large volume" uses apart from making plastics. Naphthalene does have industrial uses like resins, and surface reagents but we produce way more than we use. When we refine around 80 million barrels of oil a day, this 2.5% quickly adds up. This is why virgin plastics are so cheap compared to recycling.
It doesn’t stop there, we currently don't have a unified way to tackle the sheer amount of plastic we produce and consume worldwide. In 2023, we humans had created around 390 megatons of this material.
This is equivalent to the weight of 65 Great Pyramids by weight. Just in one year!!
The shocking thing is nearly 85% of this plastic accumulates in landfills every year. I couldn't find exact numbers but, by estimates, the world is sitting on nearly 10 Giga Tons of plastic waste.
But what caused this huge amount of plastic production?
One factor certainly is consumerism and fast fashion websites like Temu and Shein which offer substandard products at dirt cheap prices. These websites trick the human mind into compulsive online shopping, as it feels so good to order something online and wait for it to reach your mailbox. Just like a kid during Christmas, the anticipation of receiving a delivery box at your doorstep creates dopamine. Think about the last time you bought something online, but ended up never really using it. Amazon and other companies have figured this out and use science to keep you hooked on their platform.
Second is the lack of recycling infrastructure. Till now the majority of governments have not spent on R&D to tackle this problem. Opting instead for short-term solutions like landfilling. This approach exacerbates global warming due to methane emissions from mixed landfills. Moreover, more often than not, virgin plastics are much cheaper to produce than recycled plastics in the case of no producer responsibility.
Third is the lack of incineration facilities. Some plastics cannot be recycled due to safety and sanitation reasons, things like medical plastics and hygiene products should be incinerated to mitigate health and environmental risks. However, the lack of incineration facilities creates a significant bottleneck.
I know what I am going to do,
“I am going to buy products that use Biodegradable or Bio-plastics. - I am doing my part !!”
If you are thinking this as you read or believe in this, let me walk you through some well-kept secrets in the industry that the traditional media won't touch upon.
Bio-Plastics:
Bioplastics are derived from biosources like maize and starch but are chemically similar to the regular plastics that you use. If you compare a fossil fuel-based plastic and a bioplastic, they are both chemically one and the same. It does not decompose and has all the same negative characteristics. The difference is that you didn't pump oil out of the ground to make it.
Biodegradable plastics:
These are plastics like PLA, and PHA that can be decomposed by microorganisms to form water, carbon dioxide (or methane), and biomass under specific conditions*. Underline the word specific conditions because these plastics, while better than their traditional counterparts, still require facilities and controlled conditions to decompose them. Conditions like access to oxygen, moisture at 60 to 70%, and a set temperature between 50°C to 60°C. (link) If a biodegradable plastic reaches a landfill, chances are it will not get the required air or contact with the said specific microorganisms to decompose it in reasonable times. It will surely decompose but would take a longer time.
So what is the actual solution then?
Effective solutions are not complex but require concerted effort:
Plastics inherently are neither good nor bad. They have a lot of uses, they are what make the modern world look and feel modern. But responsible disposal is one of the things which the world is currently missing. Don’t get fooled by the greenwashing of bioplastics and biodegradable plastics. Recycled plastic is much better than both of the above.
I hope this article gave you a good introduction to the world of plastics. If I made you rethink some of your assumptions, then that is wonderful. Try to do your responsible part and share this article with people you know.
Knowledge is the only way for us to move forward with saving the world, one piece of plastic at a time!
Recommended Reading:
Plastics have a lot of nuances, explore these to dive deeper into the topic.
A short video about the production of plastics:
Not all plastics are recyclable:
References:
U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) (n.d.). Refining crude oil: Inputs and outputs. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/refining-crude-oil-inputs-and-outputs.php
Umamaheswaran, R. (2024). Energy and climate change. Sustainability Advocates. Retrieved from https://www.sustainabilityadvocates.dk/blog/energy-and-climate-change
Statista. (n.d.). Plastics industry. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/5266/plastics-industry/#statisticChapter
Plastic Overshoot Day Report (2023). Plastic overshoot day. Retrieved from https://plasticovershoot.earth/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EA_POD_report_2023-V3.pdf
Plastics Recyclers Europe (2023). Plastics recycling industry figures 2023. Retrieved from https://www.plasticsrecyclers.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Plastics-Recycling-Industry-Figures_2023.pdf
Reloop (2024). Factsheet performance May 2024. Retrieved from https://www.reloopplatform.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/RELOOP_Factsheet_Performance_May2024_Web.pdf
Bonilla Prado, P. L. (2024). Landfills and climate change. Sustainability Advocates. Retrieved from https://www.sustainabilityadvocates.dk/blog/landfills-and-climate-change
Europlas. (n.d.). How biodegradable plastics break down. Retrieved from https://europlas.com.vn/en-US/blog-1/how-biodegradable-plastics-break-down-