There's no escaping the fact that plastic is everywhere these days. Tons and tons of plastic materials are created and manufactured as products, or packaging for products, that are sold in stores every single day. Almost everything we purchase, from toys to water and soda bottles, to household goods, to entertainment movies, comes wrapped in, contains, or is made up of some sort of plastic. Even containers that we will reuse - hopefully a lot more than once - has been molded from a combination of chemicals to form heavier duty plastic. So what does it all mean? How much energy consumption does it take to manufacture and produce the plastic that is consuming our world? What kind of impact do plastics have on the environment?
According to the Ecology Center, "the raw material for all packaging plastics is ethylene." Ethylene is a chemical result of either natural gas or crude oil and takes a lot of energy to produce since it is created from non-renewable resources. During manufacturing, ethylene requires both high and low temperatures to seperate the gases for it's creation. "Producing ethylene consumes at least 20 megajoules (MJ) per kilogram of ethylene produced. Twenty MJ would run a 100-watt of power - a megajoule is equal to one million joules. Once the ethylene is created, it is then combined with "solvents, co-monomers, additives, and other chemicals that will participante in planned chemical reactions." Once those reactions are complete, the mixture is called a "resin", which is then made into plastic products like containers, packaging, and other such products.
The number one plastic produced globally is called: PET or PETE. You can find this type of plastic in bottled water, sodas, or mainly any sort of soft drink or juice at the store. The interesting part is? If all these non-renewable resources were not used during plastic production, "it could either be conserved or used for other applications such as a generating electricity."
By now, you are well aware of the implications plastic products can bring in both humans and the environment. When thrown away or improperly disposed of, plastic bits and pieces end up in landfills, on roadsides, and even become floating pieces of garbage in our oceans. And because of the chemicals it takes to create plastic, eventually they break down and become toxic to natural ecosystems, animals, and even human life. Again, the Ecology Center gives a great overview of how the environment is affected: "Plastics are very stable and therefore stay in the environment a long time after they are discarded, especially if they are shielded from direct sunlight by being buried in landfills. Producing a 16 oz. PET bottle generates more than 100 times the toxic emissions to air and water than making the same size bottle out of glass."
So how do we cut down on all this waste? Fortunately, cities across the country have been step ping up and implementing curbside collection programs in communities to properly dispose of plastics and other man-made products that otherwise end up in the garbage. However, although these methods are an important step in the right direction, it still does not solve the problem mass production of plastics. The only thing that can ease this problem is reducing waste and investing in sturdier plastic containers that are made with less chemicals and can be reused multiple times, therefore reducing the demand and production for disposable containers.
