Introduction to War on Plastics

Today, plastics are everywhere. It is undeniable that most of the materials we

use in everyday life are made of plastics. Well, not all plastics are causing impurities in
our environment, in fact, plastics are beneficial to human lives. Lots of medical
equipment that saved millions of people are made of plastics. Plastic reduces gas
emissions and saves on fuel because the lightweight nature of plastic allows cars to be
more fuel efficient. We also benefit from plastics in our home. From the appliances we
use, food storage, clothe storage like cabinets, drawers, orocan boxes, water bottles,
and what have you. However, there is a certain type of plastic that harms our
environment. This is what we basically called Single-use plastic, and single use plastics
actually make up 40 percent of all plastic trashes in the world. From the world single,
these are the plastics that we usually dispose right away after one single use such as
drinking bottles, grocery bags, garbage bags, food wrappers, plastic packaging and
many many more. Because of these, we have Plastic Pollution.

Question is, how do we get a chance to use these materials, plastics, without
even having to learn where did they come from or how did they originate? So, initially, I
want to discuss the basic, what is a Plastic?

What is a plastic?

Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use

polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be
molded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes.

Origin of Plastic

For centuries, billiard balls were made of ivory from elephant tusks. A full set of
16 billiard balls, would require at least one or possibly, 2 elephants worth of ivory.
Billiard balls were getting more expensive and elephants were getting rare.

The idea that any wealthy places in the world might contain a billiard table
available for anyone to play threatened the possibility of elephant’s population to
deplete.

In 1867, Phelan and Collender Pool Supply Company offered 10,000 US Dollars
to anyone who could come up with a substitute material for billiard balls. That worked as
well as ivory, but could be produced more quickly and sustainably than dead elephants.

A scientist and inventor, named John Wesley Hyatt, accepted the challenge. He
invented a new material celluloid (made from nitrocellulose), a flammable solid, created
by mixing cotton with nitric acid to create a hard shiny white sphere, as a substitution for
ivory, the essential material in producing Billiard Balls. Apparently, Nitrocellulose can be
very dangerous because it explodes in a warm breeze. But luckily, some replacements
started creeping in like Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC, Bakelite, polystyrene, polyester, and
nylon. These materials are which consist all plastics we see today. These are called
Polymers

Polymers are any substance or material composed of very large molecules. They
are chains or sometimes 3d networks of repeating organic units called monomers.
Polymers make up many of the materials in living organisms and are the basis of many
minerals and man-made materials.

Basic Types of Plastic

1. Celluloid- the first synthetic plastic material, developed in the 1860s and
1870s produced by mixing nitrocellulose and camphor. At first, celluloid became
a substitute or inexpensive imitation of ivory, tortoiseshell, and even linen. It is
useful in producing cheaper jewelries, combs, and grooming items that were
manufactured in ivory tones to look like a real ivory.
2. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)- Another of plastic synthesized by Eugen Baumann in
1872. PVC is mostly used in construction as it is characterized as being rigid yet
flexible type of plastic. Examples of products that are made of PVCs are pipes
and fittings, roofing and ceiling systems, power data and telecoms wirings and
cables, and even the vinyl records.
3. Bakelite- In 1907, a Belgian chemist, Leo Baekeland developed a new type of
synthetic plastic that is less flammable than celluloid. It is hardy new polymer that
is produced by combining phenol, waste product of coal tar, and formaldehyde.
Some of the products that are made from Bakelite are jewelry boxes, lamps,
desk sets, clocks, radios, telephone, and variety of game pieces such as chess
and poker chips.
4. Polystyrene- a synthetic aromatic hydrocarbon polymer made from the monomer
known as styrene. Is developed in 1920’s that played a huge role in a wide
variety of consumer products. Since polystyrene is hard, it can be used in
appliances such as refrigerators, AC, microwaves, and others. It is also widely
used in manufacturing car parts. It can be used too foodservice packaging
typically insulates better and keeps food fresher longer. Polystyrene is also used
in medical equipment and paraphernalia like test tubes, tissue culture trays, Petri
dishes, test kits and etc. Furthermore, polystyrene is resistant to water damage.
5. Acrylic- is a transparent plastic material with outstanding strength, stiffness,
and optical clarity. Acrylic sheet is easy to fabricate, bonds well with adhesives
and solvents, and is easy to thermoform. It has superior weathering properties
compared to many other transparent plastics.
6. Nylon- Nylon refers to a group of plastic called “Polyamides”. It is a synthetic
thermoplastic polymer commonly used in injection molding applications. It's a
versatile, durable, flexible material often used to as a more affordable alternative
other materials like silk, rubber, and latex. Some other benefits of nylon
polyamide include: High melting temperature.
7. Polyethylene- developed in 1933 and is the most common used plastic today. As
of 2017, over 100 million tonnes of polyethylene resins are being produced
annually, accounting for 34% of the total plastics market. Products under
 Polyethylene are plastic bottles, grocery bags, construction film, bubble wraps,
and many other more. Unfortunately, the low-density polyethylene are the most
single used plastics in the market. Many millions of tons of single use LDPE are
produced each year and much of it ends up in our rivers and oceans since it is
non-biodegradable, causing Plastic Pollution.

How Plastics are made?

Injection Molding is a manufacturing process that allows for parts to be produced in
large volumes. It works by injecting molten materials into a mould. It is typically used as
a mass production process to manufacture thousands of identical items.

Plastic sheets are made by squeezing molten polymer through a narrow slit in a process
called film casting

Plastic bags are made by a process called blown film extrusion. Polyethylene pellets are
melted down, blown into a thin material, and manufactured into bags.

Plastic Pollution

Now that we’ve learned enough about plastics, we shall jump into Plastic Pollution, the
main course of our discussion.

Plastic Pollution is the accumulation of synthetic plastic objects/particles such as plastic

bottles, grocery bags, garbage bags, food wrappers, and many more in the Earth’s
environment that detrimentally affects humans, wildlife, and their habitat.

Indeed, Plastics have saturated our environment. Today almost everything is at least
partly made from plastic. Our clothes, phone, computers, furniture, appliances, houses,
cars, almost everything. Plastic has long ceased to be a revolutionary material, instead
it became trash.

Plastic takes between 500 and 1000 years to break down.

Since synthetic Polymers are so durable, plastic takes between 500 and 1000 years to
break down. It invaded the habitat of the animals we eat and now, it is finding its way
inside our body.

Question is why is there a Plastic Pollution? What are the main causes?

As plastic is composed of major toxic pollutants, it has the potential to cause

significant harm to the environment in the form of air, water, and land pollution.

Basically, Plastic pollution happens when plastics are gathered in a certain place, and
have begun to negatively impact the natural environment and create problem for plants,
wildlife, and even the human population. Furthermore, there are 4 major causes of
plastic pollution.

Major Causes of Plastic Pollution

1. Plain old Trash

Plastic is everywhere, even on those items you may not expect it to be. Every
time one of these items gets thrown away or washed down a sink, the toxic
pollutants have more of a chance to enter the environment and do harm. Trash
dumps and landfills are unfortunate major problems, as they allow pollutants to
enter the ground and affect wildlife and groundwater for years to come.

2. Plastic is overused
As plastic is less expensive, it is one of the most widely available and overused
items in the world today. Rapid urbanization and population growth increase the
demand of cheap plastics. Since it is an affordable and durable material, it is
utilized in every other way possible, from packaging materials to plastic
bottles and containers, straws to plastic carry bags.

3. Improper Plastic and Garbage Disposal

The disposal of plastic is often mismanaged; it ends up in landfills. This may
sound a bit confusing, but because plastic is meant to last, it is nearly impossible
to break down. Burning plastic is incredibly toxic and can lead to harmful
atmospheric conditions and deadly illnesses. Therefore, if it is in a landfill, it will
never stop releasing toxins in that area.

Even recycling doesn’t cut down on plastic, as it essentially uses the existing
plastic, albeit in a new form. The process of recycling plastic can also lead to
plastic irritants being released in a number of ways.

4. Fishing Nets
Fishing industry help contribute to the plastic pollution. The nets used for certain
large-scale trolling operations are usually made of plastic. These nets spend long
times submerged in water leaking toxins at will, but they also often get broken up
or lost, left to remain wherever they fall. Pollutants enter the water and fish of the
area.

5. Natural Caused
Wind erosion and rain transport plastics that are very light into sewers, streams,
river, and finally in oceans. Besides, natural disasters such as floods should also
be considered as other causes of plastic pollution.

How did the pandemic intensify the Plastic Pollution?

Although the pandemic had a positive effect on improving air quality, it still become a
threat in Plastic Pollution. In fact, here are some of the reasons why and how did the
pandemic intensify the Plastic Pollution.

1. Disposal of Masks and Gloves everywhere.

The practical problems with gloves and masks finding their way into our rivers
and oceans is that they can easily be mistaken for jellyfish, a favorite food of sea
turtles.  Because of their elastic components, masks also have increased risks of
entanglement for a wide variety of fish, animals and birds.

2. Supremacy of Online Stores during Pandemic

Due to series of lockdowns and quarantines, only online stores were expected by
consumers due to the widespread closure of physical stores. Amazon, Lazada,
Shopee, and many various Online Stores and Logistic Companies primarily use
bubble wraps and plastic packaging for the parcels causing to produce more
plastics that are not even biodegradable. Thus, contributing to Plastic Pollution.

3. People buy on groceries more often.

Due to economic crisis, it made average consumers become more price-
sensitive. Affordable goods like grocery items and instant foods are taking
precedence over environmentally friendly ones like eating in restaurants or
buying raw foods like meat in the market. Groceries come in plastic are usually
budget friendly making those grocery items as the go-to for shoppers that are
strapped for cash, contributing a lot of usage of single-use plastics and to be
disposed in the environment eventually.