For many years, there has been serious push back against plastic, and for good reason – it’s bad for the environment. There’s absolutely no denying that ever since plastic was invented, and the world adopted a single-use, disposable mentality, the earth has suffered greatly. There are now an estimated 75 to 199 million tons of plastic waste throughout the world’s oceans, with 33 million pounds being added yearly.
The plastic waste situation is clearly out of control, but there’s another side to plastic that benefits society.
Here are three reasons we actually can’t live without plastic.
1. We need plastic to keep food fresh
While there are plenty of ways to keep food fresh at home without using plastic, the same can’t be said for the food industry as a whole. The way food manufacturing and delivery systems are set up wouldn’t work without plastic. Even the delivery of fresh fruits and vegetables to local grocery stores relies on plastic at some point in the process, even if it’s just being stored in plastic crates. Because of how lightweight plastic is, using other materials, even for transporting food, wouldn’t work.
The food industry also uses various forms of plastic to keep ingredients and even entire meals fresh while on the delivery truck and when stocked in the store. However, there are specialty plastics, like Plantic (see kuraray.us.com), which are made from renewable and sustainable sources and are biodegradable. The existence of these types of plastics makes the situation a little better.
Unless you’re growing all of your own food and never rely on grocery stores for any of your ingredients, you’re dependent on plastic, even if only indirectly. Also, at this point, it would be impossible for the entire world to become completely self-sufficient enough to stop buying food from the store, so our society needs plastic to a large degree to keep people fed.
2. It’s impossible to eliminate plastic completely
One of the main reasons we can’t live without plastic is the fact that it’s impossible to eliminate it from our lives. It’s already integrated into the construction and manufacturing process for just about everything you can buy. Even home appliances, like washers, dryers, refrigerators, and coffee makers are made with plastic parts.
Even when people personally stop using plastic and refuse to buy anything that comes in a plastic package, those people still rely on and engage in activities that involve plastic. For example, plastic is used in construction for electrical wiring, wall coverings, waterproofing, pipes, valves, hinges, fittings, flooring, and more. Chances are, plastic-free people are still enjoying the benefits of plastic just by living in their homes, dining at restaurants, going to school, and using electronic devices. It’s impossible to live a plastic-free life in today’s society.
3. Medical advancements rely on plastic
Plastic is used in the medical industry to a high degree. For instance, plastic is used to make syringes, surgical gloves, catheters, prescription drug bottles, IV tubes, and other one-time use components. Thermoplastic medical-grade polymers are commonly used in medical devices, like joint prostheses and oxygenator membranes.
Single-use plastic is the easiest way to maintain a hygienic environment for patients and deliver proper care. Plastic is easy to either dispose of and sterilize, and can even be coated in microbe-resistant materials. Although, there are some things that can be replaced with reusable items, like surgical basins and sterilization wraps, says NationalGeographic.
Unless someone creates a replacement material that is lightweight and has all the benefits of plastic, it’s going to remain a problem because our healthcare system depends heavily on the use of plastic.
Plastic is here to stay
Whether or not you agree with the use of plastic, it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. It seems like an insurmountable obstacle to both eliminate all the existing plastic waste polluting our oceans and planet, and stop using it altogether.
The idea of creating a biodegradable alternative to plastic is noble, but it won’t matter because nothing biodegrades in a landfill (source). When trash goes to a landfill, it gets sealed in an air-tight environment intentionally designed to preserve the contents as long as possible, which means even if a new material replaced plastic right now, it would still meet the same fate.
If someone created a biodegradable plastic alternative, we’d need to create the necessary facilities to break it down, and then require everyone to separate their trash to ensure the material goes to a proper facility. Considering the fact that we’ve had biodegradable plastic for a long time and most of it ends up in landfills, it’s safe to say we’re a long way from realistically replacing plastic.