Saturday, February 25, 2006

A post on Plastics

People litter - plastics do not create the nuisance we see in developing countries.

A phrase that has been engraved in my heart from a theme out of a plastics exhibition many years ago is still raw. Plastics have become an inevitable part of our daily lives. Sustainable development of mankind rests on economic growth, social progress and protection of our environment and natural resources. There is little chance of protecting the environment without a greater sense of mutual responsibility.

For development and looking into the future, one should move away from the emotional view that governs and blinds environmental groups.

One should base decisions on facts, which are the unbiased and impartial science.
For example, plastic packaging is such a topic that people mistakenly believe that there is some other natural material better for the environment.People are wrong. Plastic bags are lighter and create up to 60-80 per cent less waste by volume than paper bags.
  1. Lighter bags mean less transportation costs, which means less use of natural resources and, lesser pollution due to less vehicles.
  2. Biodegradable plastic films exist - PLA is there and is eco friendly in nature and degrades into Carbon Dioxide and Water.It is costly and faces several export restrictions to developing countries.
Plastics allow highly efficient manufacturing processes (up to more than 99 per cent efficiency) that increase productivity by 20 to 30 per cent and reduce capital expenditures compared to other material and the advantage goes on.There is hardly any waste due to use of plastics by many industries in various sectors like FMCG,Construction,Automobiles,Space,Power,IT, etc.

Problems arise due to dumping of used materials by many developed countries,E-waste is the best example here and victims of e-waste dumping are China and India and SE Asian countries.See www.BAN.org and read all about the ewaste problems.More is going to come next as many consumer electronic items will become obsolete thanks to TV over IP!

It is important to think about all those steps in a product's life cycle-not just what happens when a product's useful life is over-to get a true picture of its environmental performance.

During their life cycle, plastic bags require about one-third less energy to make than paper bags/cloth bags (even human stitching consumes energy).

Paper bags use high amounts of wood, petroleum, and coal. A single paper bag uses the energy equivalent of 550 KJ of wood as feedstock. It also uses 500 KJ of petroleum and 350 KJ of coal for process energy. The total amount of energy used by a single paper bag is 1,680 KJ.

Fifty-three billion-kilowatt hours of electricity is saved annually by improvements in major appliance energy efficiency made possible by plastic applications. Without the benefits provided by plastics insulation, these appliances would use up to 30 per cent more energy.

Plastic bottles are
14 times lighter than glass, give a 48 per cent fuel saving in transport over glass and require less energy for production than glass.

Plastics have moulded the modern world and transformed the quality of life. There is no human activity where plastics do not play a key role, from clothing to shelter, from transportation to communication and from entertainment to healthcare. We truly live in a 'Plastics age'. Our daily lives would be very much poorer without these benign and environment friendly materials. Nature has produced 'plastic' like materials for centuries. Silk and cellulose are examples of natural polymers.

India ranks eighth in the world with per capita consumption of 4.1kg of plastic.The world average is around 20 kg.Growing population and consumption in India has put severe pressure on our natural resources and fragile ecosystems. The material needs of our population are growing and plastics offer a cost-effective, environment friendly solution. The long life and desirability of plastics, which have made them a material of choice for many applications is seemingly seen a disadvantage when it comes to disposal. However, when handled properly, plastics do little damage to the environment.

Plastics have the advantage that they can be easily reprocessed and recycled. We should use it to our advantage to convert it into various other end products like road construction, insulation panels and other products. Environmental groups will always be there and I respect their concerns as long as it is based on facts and not on emotional grounds. Preserving the environment is a matter of fact and not emotion. Facts not fiction help to save our environment.

Plastics in agriculture - Agriculture is a driver of growth for the plastics industry as there are many applications of plastics in agriculture :

  1. Pipes
  2. Drip irrigation
  3. Hay Bale wraps
  4. Low tunnels
  5. High Tunnels
  6. Row Covers
  7. Silage Bags
  8. Yes - Totally biodegradable PLA will be grown in India too one day.
One cannot imagine food storage without plastic today - simply put plastics have saved many a food item from going waste.

Plastics usher progress who will be able to imagine a world without computers and the internet today-only plastics,computers and electronics have made Internet,IT and Telecom what it is today!

There are any number of advantages of using plastics today - one cannot imagine toffees without plastic film or waking up and getting dressed without plastic - count for yourself how many plastic items one touches every day and then ask - what am I doing to help the industry solve problems?

Be the change you want to see in the world and help all make the world a better place and use plastics responsibly.I am a Plastics Engineer myself and in a way am sick of this plastics bashing I hear from time to time and most of it is false.