"DO YOU EVER FEEL, LIKE A PLASTIC BAG?"
Yes, we do feel like plastic bags sometimes, drifting around aimlessly. We also feel like the ultimate abject matter at times - once desired, then discarded and reviled. Indeed, the lyrics from Katy Perry's famous song "Fireworks" pretty much summarised the fate of plastic bags; first made, then desired and finally rejected by humans. In fact, this problem generalises not only to plastic bags but also to other plastics as well -from the chair you are sitting on now, the bottle you have been drinking from, and the food packaging you just threw away from your take-out meal.
1973
PET Beverage Bottles
1954
Styrofoam invented
1926
Vinyl (PVC) invented
1946
Tupperware invented
1941
PET patented
1909
Bakelite: first fully synthetic plastics
1933
Polyethylene (most common plastic) discovered
1937
Polystyrene
introduced
1962
Plastic Grocery Bags Invented
1976
Plastics: world's most widely used material
1988
Recycling code system adopted
1997
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: discovered by
Capt. Charles Moore
Brief History of Plastics
Adapted from : (Decker, 2014)
Miracle Material: Plastic
Indeed, ever since Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic that was introduced in the 1909, the plastic age evolved. More and more innovations continued. New and rare to plastics, many industries first initiated massive production to aid military needs during the World War II. After the war ended, these huge capacity factories switched their production focus to consumer products. With new technology and increasing demands, economics of plastic changed; making the cost of plastics lesser and cheaper, alongside advertisements blowing up the convenience of using plastic disposables. Hence by 1976, plastic use was rampant as disposability became the way of living.
PLASTIC
Plastics are made for its durable and long-lived characteristics, which makes it extremely difficult to degrade. Biodegradation is the process where microorganisms decompose waste into water vapour and carbon dioxide. However, plastics break down in a different process. In sunlight, most plastics can break down into smaller pieces over time; which doesn't completely disappear, giving rise to another global waste problem; microplastics.
Plastics & Health
Image Source: MastersDegree.net
WHAT GOES AROUND
COMES AROUND
Less than 5mm, microplastics are particles formed when larger plastic pieces are broken down in the ocean. Plastic microbeads in exfoliating shower gels, toothpaste or cosmetic products that wash down the drain are also major contributors to the estimated 93-236 thousand tons of microplastics found in the ocean (van Sebille et al., 2015).
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DDT and BPA are well-known harmful toxins that can stick to microplastic particles, which enters the food chain when ingested by bird and fishes, and eventually humans.
Image Source: Ocean Conservancy