Plastic is one of the cheapest storage and packaging materials. It is much cheaper than wooden, metal or glass containers. The total cost of manufacturing plastic containers is low; therefore, they are available at much lower prices. Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic materials that use polymers as the main ingredient.
Its plasticity allows plastics to be molded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptability, combined with a wide range of other properties, such as being lightweight, durable, flexible and economical to produce, has led to its widespread use. Typically, plastics are manufactured through human industrial systems. Most modern plastics are derived from chemicals based on fossil fuels, such as natural gas or oil; however, recent industrial methods use variants made from renewable materials, such as those derived from corn or cotton.
More than a third of consumption goes to packaging applications (with common products such as plastic containers and bags) and another third or more to construction products, including common products such as plastic tubes or vinyl liners. Plasticizers are a particular group of additives that have raised concerns; however, there are many types of plasticizers (e.g., plastic consumption differs between countries and communities, and some form of plastic has been introduced into most people's lives). In the food and beverage industry, plastic containers and bottles are always in greater demand than other materials; this is mainly due to the great flexibility of plastic and its ease of use. When comparing plastics with other discarded materials, such as lignocellulosic paper, plastics, due to their chemical resistance, are particularly persistent in the environment and it is this longevity that makes it very difficult to find the origin of plastic waste.
Biodegradable plastics are plastics that degrade (break down) when exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet radiation, water or moisture, bacteria, enzymes, or wind abrasion. Text taken from Drowning in Plastics: Marine Litter and Plastic Waste Vital Graphics, of the United Nations Environment Program. Plastics have the advantage of having a high strength-to-weight ratio, allowing for minimal material use (and low cost) in packaging design (Figure 3b), which illustrates the use of plastic and glass containers for the same product). The use of plastics in buildings and constructions, textiles, transportation and electrical equipment also represents a substantial part of the plastics market.
Most of the plastic produced has not been reused or is unable to be reused, either because it is captured in landfills or persists in the environment in the form of plastic pollution and microplastics. The noun plasticity refers here specifically to the deformability of materials used in the manufacture of plastics. The world's first fully synthetic plastic was bakelite, invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland, who coined the term plastics. However, plastics, by their very nature, store carbon and this energy is retained when plastics are reused and recycled.
The plastics industry includes the worldwide production, compounding, conversion and sale of plastic products. Public and private transportation vehicles can now contain up to 20 percent plastic, usually in package racks, door liners, steering wheels, electrical and electronic devices, and newer aircraft, such as the Boeing Dreamliner, are designed with up to 50 percent of plastic.
