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Benjamin Clark Moser

Greg Martin

English 101 – Section 33

Friday December 4th, 2009

Plastics Have Made it Possible

Plastics are composed of what are known as polymers, very large molecules that are

made up of smaller molecules called monomers which are then made up of atoms. All plastics

are polymers but not all polymers are plastics, a natural polymer such as cellulose which is found

in cotton is obviously not a plastic. An important point to note about polymers synthetic or

natural is that the laws of physics still remain with both types and it is merely a difference in

arrangement of the atoms that allows for their differences(citation). The first man made plastic

came about in 1862 and was created by Alexander Parkes, Parkesine was a semi-synthetic

derived from cellulose and could be heated up and then molded into shapes that it retained once

cooled(citation). Another cellulose based plastic called celluloid was invented in 1868 as a

substitute for the ivory in billiard balls, Both parkesine and celluloid were never as popular as the

first synthetic plastic known as Bakelite.

Bakelite which was created in 1907 by Leo Baekeland and is composed of phenol-

formaldahyde became the first successful commercial fully synthetic plastic(citation). From this

point right after the turn of the 20th century plastics invention really took off and over the next

fifty years fifteen new classes of plastics were created. One of the most notable and famous for

many reasons is Polyvinylchloride which is now used in plumbing, health care and for many

more things. Also during the 20th century came about the invention Polyethylene Terephthalate,
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which is used to make water bottles. Some other common plastics created during this time

include polystyrene, and polypropylene. The history of plastics is rich and full of evidence as to

why plastics are so useful and have had a positive impact on the world even with a negative view

of plastics blooming in the late 20th century.

Ask a friend what they think of when you say the word plastic? Most would not say

miracle material or wonderful product. Instead these days they might say cheap, trash, dirty, and

a select view might even say deadly. The general public tends to a have a very negative view of

plastics and sees them as a cheap alternative to other materials. On the contrary though in many

cases there is no other material that could replace plastics in the roles that they play in our

world(citation). For example ever thought of using a metal toothbrush instead of a plastic one?

Norman Mailer though seems to believe that plastics are still no good, “I sometimes think there

is a malign force loose in the universe that is the social equivalent of cancer, and it’s

plastic”(citation). Plastics as a whole are viewed in this manner because of misperception of

what plastics really are and what a difference they make in our world.

The population is easily persuaded and even frightened by popular culture commentary

from authors and organizations that discuss the often false or vastly exaggerated “negative

effects” of plastics. This is why the general public thinks that plastics are a burden on society and

should be avoided as much as possible. Plastics have positively impacted the world because they

are so useful and unlike any other material known and therefore are invaluable to mankind, also

Plastics can be made inexpensively requiring less resources then other materials. Plastics are

safe and more environmentally friendly then similar materials despite what popular culture has

lead people on to believe.

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Plastics are without a doubt unlike any other material that has ever been discovered, there

are a huge range of applications of plastics in almost every aspect of life. The fact alone that

plastics are polymers makes them special because all polymers have three properties that make

them unique. Polymers are different because even though they contain weak chemical bonds

they are so large that the summation of all these weak bonds produces a very strong molecule,

this is known as summation of intermolecular forces. An example of this is to think of how a

gecko is able to climb vertically up glass, this is because of a summation of forces applied by

many tiny bristles on the bottom of there feet. The second property of polymers that makes them

unlike anything else is how the long chains of molecules can become tangled together but if a

force is applied these chains can align to form strong materials, this is called chain entanglement.

An example of this is to imagine a bowl of spaghetti tangled together and as you lift up the

noodles with a fork they align side by side. The third property of polymers that makes them and

consequently plastics unique is their ability to be either in a solid state or a liquid state depending

on the time scale with which they are observed over, this is known as time scale of motion. A

perfect example of this property is silly putty which if placed in a cup will take the shape of the

cup over time like a liquid. (citation)

Polymers help to make plastics different but what about how all the different uses of

plastics make them distinct among materials? Take a moment and think of how many plastic a

person encounters on a daily basis. Many parts on cars these days are made from plastics along

with almost every electronic device containing plastic as well as medical devices and sewage

systems. That is a brief idea of how involved plastics are in the everyday lives of all people and

that alone makes them useful and unique. Take for example a world known class of plastics call

Polyethylenes or PE’s for short. PE is the second most widely used class of plastics worldwide

with numerous applications. These applications range in size from use as household detergent
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and milk containers to industrial sized water and chemical drums. The applications do not end

there, PE is used in plastic bags and cling wrap as a film. PE is also used for irrigation pipes and

field liners in horticulture and as a cable insulator in electronics (citation). Without PE how

would we keep our electronics from shorting out or even shocking us? This plastic is unlike any

other material because it has properties that allow it to insulate cables to keep electronics

working efficiently and people safe.

Another world renowned plastic is known as Polystyrene or PS for short. PS is typically

manufactured into an expanded PS form which allows it to be used as a moldable packaging

material to protect items ranging from washing machines to Ferraris during transport. Expanded

PS is also used as an excellent insulator for buildings and more publically known as a food

insulator. The Authors Paul Painter and Michael Coleman of the book Essenstials of Polymer

Science and Engineering describe why PS is so useful and unique “These foamed PS containers

are very well designed and have properties that are close to ideal for their intended purpose.

They are lightweight, inert and have extraordinary thermal insulations properties. So your

“leftovers” remain hot and uncontaminated for a considerable time” (citation). Expanded PS is

an energy saving plastic that can keep food safe for people to eat without fear of consuming

unwanted bacteria. Because of plastics like PS it is clear to see why plastics are so very useful

and truly different than any other material.

The next incredible plastic that everyone has come in contact with knowingly or not is

Polyethylene Terephthalate also called PET. PET is a plastic most commonly used to make

plastic water and soda bottles. PET is very useful because of its light weight especially when

compared to other materials used in bottles such as glass. PET also has nice barrier properties

which allow it to keep the carbon dioxide a soda bottle from escaping (Citation). The reasons

PET has not fully replaced glass in the bottling industry is because PET does not have the
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oxygen barrier or UV resistant qualities of glass. According to the authors of a journal article

discussing the applications of plastics and there benefit to society “it will only be a matter of

time before oxygen and UV barrier issues are solved for PET, so that glass bottles can be fully

replaced”(citation). PET is a plastic that is constantly becoming more advanced with additives

that strengthen its structure and will allow it to stand up to the thickest, not to mention heaviest,

of glasses. PE, PS, and PET are just a few of the many notable plastics that have many uses in

our lives that they truly are distinct and invaluable materials.

Plastics are not only useful in our daily lives but they are also very economically valuable

to industries and economies. Plastics are good for the economy because they require much less

energy cost then the few other products that could do a comparable job to certain plastics. Many

plastics have no valid substitutes in their area of use but in a few different industries plastics

have traditional competitors. Take for example a plastic bag found in a grocery store which has

the traditional paper bag as a substitute. The American Chemistry Council, also known as ACC,

argues a plastic bag takes seventy percent less energy to manufacture than paper bags. There is

also more precise data from a study conducted by Boustead Consulting that stated the production

of 1,000 paper bags required 2,622 MegaJoules of energy while the same amount of plastic bags

required 763 MegaJoules of energy (citation). The reason for why this efficient manufacturing is

important is because energy costs money for manufactures, energy savvy products like plastics

saves companies money because plastics are more energy efficient then paper. This helps to

explain why plastics are so inexpensive and why paper cannot compete with plastics when it

comes to production energy savings.

When discussing a different kind of energy known as transportation energy, the energy

required to deliver the product to a store, plastics bags outdo paper again. The ACC mentions

that it takes seven trucks full of paper bags to equal the amount of plastic bags that fit into one
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truck (citation). This means that paper bags require seven times the amount of energy that

plastics do in order to be used. These statistics make it obvious that paper is not nearly as

financially efficient for corporations as plastics, which can help to streamline industries and

reduce energy costs.

Another major competitor of plastics when it comes to packaging, especially in the

bottling industry, is glass. Susan Felke a professor of packaging at Michigan State University

mentions “There are a number of studies that have showed that even though plastics are made

from petroleum, they use less petrol-chemical energy than glass" (citation). The reason for this

interesting point is again because of the compared weights. The weight of a material is

particulurly important in the delivery step from a bottling facility to a grocery store. The

transportation of the packages requires fuel and the less weight a vehicle has the more fuel

efficient it is and the more money the company saves. A 1.5 L glass bottle is around five to six

times heavier than the standard plastic bottle made of PET. It is pretty obvious to see which of

these two materials, glass or plastic, saves more money for a company allowing for greater

profits and the answer is plastics! As well as being valuable to the economy by providing

inexpensive and efficient materials plastics can be helpful to the environment as well.

The environment is very important to human life on earth, without a healthy environment

species can become extinct and more uncomfortable living conditions can arise for humans from

people-induced climate changes. For this reason humans have to find ways to ensure the

environment stays as clean as possible and attempt to leave no trace so altering of eco-systems

can be minimized. Plastics are important in attaining a healthy environment because they

conserve energy in numerous ways.

To begin the general public seems to believe that plastics create a drain on natural

resources. Plastics are petroleum based and because of this people often assume that they are
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wasting a precious natural resource that is non-renewable. Petroleum is a non-renewable

resource but that is about the only portion of this idea that the general public has correct. In no

way are plastics creating a drain on petroleum and in fact of the world’s total oil production

about four percent is used to produce plastics. Another two to three percent of the world’s oil is

used to make petro-chemicals. If these two uses of the world’s oil supply are a drain on natural

resources then what is the other ninety three percent that is used as fuel for that big truck out

front?(citation) A nescesity so people can be the coolest person on the block? Any person who

drives a car on a daily basis should not be able to say that plastics are a drain on natural resources

because there vehicle and others like it are more than thirty times more draining on one of the

world’s non-renewable resources. In fact plastics actually help to conserve and save energy in so

many ways that many are oblivious too. As cited in Paul Painter and Michael Coleman’s book

the plastic packaging of a good actually protects the energy that was originally invested in order

to create and distribute that good “ it takes about 15.8 MJ to bake and distribute a loaf of bread,

but only about 1.7 MJ to produce the packaging used to protect it! Before materials were

packaged in this way tremendous quantities were lost to “spoilage.””(citation). There are even

more examples of how plastics conserve energy, as previously mentioned plastics are becoming

increasingly more prominent in the automobile industry because they are durable enough to be

used for certain car parts, are cheaper then metal, and also weight considerably less. Less weight

on a motor vehicle translates to better gas mileage and better gas mileage means more non-

renewable resources and energy is conserved (citation). Plastics not only conserve energy and

precious resources but they contribute to a smaller impact on the environment by humans in

other ways also.

In the manufacture of plastics monomers are combined often along with additives to

enhance properties to create polymers which are then heated into a polymer melt. In the case of
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a plastic bottle this in then put into an injection molding machine to form the plastic bottle. In

this mixing of the monomers and additives to form polymers the chemistry is such that there is

always some additional monomer or additives that remain unreacted in the polymer. In the past

there were never any questions about whether this was safe or not for humans but recently there

have been studies that have made claims deeming certain plastics dangerous and unsafe.

The main reason these claims have been made is because of studies that concluded that over

time some of the leftover monomer or additives could leach out of the plastic and be consumed

by humans. This thought worried scientists because some of the common monomers and

additives were suspected of being harmful to humans. The public was notified in such as way

that of course alarmed them and thus mass hysteria breaks out because studies alerted the public

of such things as water bottles exposed to heat could release Bisphenol A, a potentially harmful

chemical into your water(citation). When it comes to this particular case concerning Bisphenol

A also known as BPA it was confirmed that it leaches from water bottles into the water overtime

and more rapidly if the bottle is exposed to high heat(citation). The European Food Safety

Authority have set a permanent total daily intake(TDI) limit on additives such as BPA and in a

statement said “People’s dietary exposure to BPA, including that of infants and children, is

estimated to be well below the new TDI”. The actual amount of BPA that finds its way into

foods or beverages from plastics is said to be extremely small and are at or below the limits set

by the FDA(citation). In the words of Paracelsus “the dose is the poison” and the amount of

BPA that humans are in taking is nowhere near the amount that would be enough to cause

harm(citation). Because the amounts of additives such as BPA are so small and regulated by

organizations such as the FDA plastics are and will remain safe for everyone.

Plastics can contribute to minimizing the detrimental impact of humans on the

environment, because of their excellent packing efficiency, they reduce the volume of waste that
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is being dumped into landfills. Plastics are often seen as the “bad guy” when it comes to waste

because everyone believes that they generate the most trash and overflow landfills when in fact

this perception that the general public has could not be more false. Professor William Rathje

from the University of Arizona says that out of 160 million tons of waste produced in the United

States yearly fifty percent is paper products(citation). Half of all the trash in the United States is

paper products, plastics do not even come close to that amount. In stark contrast to filling up

landfills there are many government initiatives all over the country that encourage people to

recycle their plastics. Recycled plastics can be used in lots of other products, for example PET

bottles can be recycled and shredded up to make fleece jackets. A lot of similar types of bottles

can also be made into plastic fencing or park benches for homes or recreational areas. Plastic

bags can even be recycled in part because of the polyethylene polymers they are constructed of.

When it comes to recycling there is not a material that is easier to recycle then

polyethylene(citation). Opponents of plastics believe that recycling is not effective because not

enough people do it and not all plastics are recyclable. As mentioned above the plastics that are

produced in high volumes and are discarded the most frequently such as bottles, bags, and

packaging material can be recycled. This means that unless people are reusing these plastics or

recycling them they are just going into the trash and sitting in a landfill for a very long time.

Recycling plastics is imperative to keeping the environment clean and has presented challenges

to governments on how to raise awareness of the importance of recycling. Recycling is an

imperative step in reducing plastic waste, regardless of how small it is in comparison to paper,

and making plastics more sustainable. Recycling must be pushed harder by corporations,

organizations, and the government in order to truly be effective and begin to make noticeable

differences that the public can see. In the United States recycling has not become routine enough

for the public and therefore it happens less than it should. For example the city of Boston only
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recycles 12 percent of the recyclable plastics in the city(citation). This number could be much

higher if there weree stronger initiatives and programs to jumpstart recycling, especially in the

densely populated areas where the most waste is produced. Recycling needs to become a

routine, like dropping the kids off at school, for the public to catch on and really get into a habit

of making plastics more sustainable. Many people like to blame plastics as if it’s the fault of the

material for the lack of recycling. Obviously it is not on the shoulders of the material to ensure it

is tossed into the recycling bin, it is on the shoulders of people to take the steps toward living a

more environmentally friendly life. Plastics are useful, crucial for efficient economies, and are

safe for both people and the environment.

When compared to all the traditional materials including wood products, glass, and

metals, plastics are clearly the most versatile. This wonderful material can be used in the areas

where these traditional materials had been used for centuries. For example Metal pipes can be

replaced with PVC. Wood siding on a house can be replaced with inexpensive and termite proof

plastic panels. Light weight PET plastic bottles can save more energy than heavy glass bottles.

Plastic can replace traditional materials like metal, wood products, and glass because it has clear

advantages over each of these and that is why plastic is so important and why it should be

celebrated. Plastics in many areas are the only applicable material and therefore are used almost

exclusively in electronics and medicine for example. The best way to put how vitally important

plastics are and the difference they have made on humanity is accomplished by a thought on the

impact of plastics by Dr. N. C. Billingham “From packaging materials, through fibers, foams and

surface coatings, to continuous extrusions and large-scale moldings, plastics have transformed

almost every aspect of life. Without them, much of modern medicine would be impossible and

the consumer electronics and computer industries would disappear. Plastic sewage and water

pipes alone have made an immeasurable contribution to public health worldwide.”(citation).

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Plastics make it possible, from versatile materials that have numerous applications, through

economically efficient and inexpensive products, to a safe material for people and the

environment.