A Beginner’s Guide to Plastics

Over the course of the last century, the surface of our planet has undergone a radical transformation involving the accumulation and fragmentation of plastics, following the proliferation of plastic manufacturing from the mid-twentieth century (Barnes et al., 2009). Plastics today are ubiquitous, being found in our food packaging, pens, and even our facial cleaners. However, despite the convenience of plastic within modern life, the high disposability and single-use of plastics, along with low recovery of discharged material, has contributed towards the accumulation of plastic within our environments (Rocha-Santos and Duarate, 2015; Narancic and O'Connor, 2017).

More than a simple aesthetic issue, plaguing small countryside towns in the form of persistent litter, plastic debris has emerged as a grave threat towards terrestrial and marine environments (Rochman et al., 2013; Duis and Coors, 2016). Recent research on the implications of plastic debris has opened a new academic field of studying microplastics.

Plastics are produced from synthetic materials comprised of polymers, formed using petrochemicals, including natural gas and petroleum. The chemical qualities of monomers provide idiosyncratic properties for plastics inducing different sizes, shape, density and degradability, all of which create long-term potential implications for the environment (Wright et al., 2013; Pham and Reisser, 2017).

How do we define plastics debris though?

Size is not an issue for plastic definitions! A plethora of definitions are readily available to identify plastics based from their debris sizes. Microplastics are defined, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the broad definition of sample particles rendered smaller than 5mm (Rocha-Santos and Duarate, 2015). However, some academics affirm that a value of 1mm is ‘a more intuitive value’ for evaluating microplastics (Van Cauwenberghe et al., 2013). Alternative plastic debris definitions involve macro-debris and mega-debris. Macro-debris are defined as samples rendered 20mm in diameter while inversely, mega-debris are defined according to samples of 100mm in size (Barnes et al., 2009).

What are the recent plastic trends?

During 2015, the global production of plastic superseded 322 million tonnes, with the packaging segment alone accounting for 39.9% of total plastic produced globally. The single largest contributors towards plastic production involve the world’s economic superpowers, with China accounting for 27.8% and both the EU28 and the United States equally contributing 18.5% towards the world’s plastic production annually (Narancic and O'Connor, 2017). The worrying trend of global plastic production has witnessed a 20-fold increase since the 1950s, helping to create plastic pollution equivalent to 5 trillion plastic pieces (Glaser, 2015). Plastic now remains one of the largest anthropogenic impacts within our environment, with persistent implications for centuries, following its adopted use within our consumerist society (Dris et al., 2016).

Figure 1: A sole Chinese labourer at the site of a recycling plant located in the Dong Xiao Kou village, on the outskirts of Beijing (Source: Fred Dufour, AFP, Getty)

A positive relationship between plastic abundances and human population density has long been purported, with human population increases likely contributing towards increased global accumulation of plastics across our environments (Rocha-Santos and Duarate, 2015). A current business-as-usual economic scenario envisages that with increases in plastic consumption from consumers, by 2020 there will be 220 million tonnes of plastic discarded annually (Wagner et al., 2014). Disputed trends have emerged regarding mega-plastic and macro-plastic debris accumulation rates, with both uniform increases and decreases recorded (Barnes et al. 2009). Moreover, the spread of plastics from hydrodynamic and anthropic factors, along with geographical conditions, provides an unprecedented risk to the environment (Rocha-Santos and Duarate, 2015).  

Old problems, new solutions:  

This blog will discuss the innovative, emergent solutions towards solving the plastic endemic. However, as one of these solutions has been in print media this week, I thought now was a good opportunity to give a brief overview! The sophisticated solution towards the plastic endemic involves the incorporation of biodegradable counterparts to replace conventional plastic components, utilising microbial biotechnology to address plastic pollution within the environment (Bioplastics, 2016; Narancic and Connor, 2017). The process counters post-consumer plastic waste through incorporating degradable materials, with minimal impact upon the environment. Check out this post from the World Economic Forum for further information! 

In the next few weeks, this blog will seek and intend to evaluate the environmental implications of plastics on both terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Moreover, we’ll also evaluate alternative solutions to tackle the plastic endemic. 

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