Skip to main content

Challenges Faced by the Plastic Industry

With all multitude of roles played by plastic in our lives in the 21st century, it is hard to imagine a life without this material. Because many plastics are based ultimately on crude oil, there is a continuous rise in the cost of raw materials and this increasing cost is something that chemical engineers are trying to work around (Johnson, 2015). If we used small amounts of plastic, the challenge wouldn’t be that big, but no, we use them in astounding quantities. In a small island like Britain, about 8 billion disposable plastic bags are used annually! We are literally drowning into plastic, being unable to get rid of them.


Another domain of concern is that of environmental degradation. Getting rid of plastic is a daunting task. Burning is not an option as this entails the release of toxic chemicals like dioxins. Plastic disposal is a critical issue that needs to be addressed, we need to adopt more sustainable strategies in plastic disposal. This issue is currently being addressed through enhanced public awareness, enhanced recycling policies, and materials research. We need to strike a balance between environmental and human safety, and the benefits that accrue to the use of plastic.
Ultimately, converting to petroleum-free construction materials for use in smart and sustainable plastics will become a necessity, driven not only by health and environmental concerns but by the world’s steadily declining oil supply (Impact of plastics on human health and ecosystems, 2010).

Works Cited

Impact of plastics on human health and ecosystems. (2010, March 20). Retrieved from http://www.News-Medical.net

Johnson, T. (2015). Uses of Plastics. Retrieved May 17, 2015, from Composite.com: http://composite.about.com/od/Plastics/a/Uses-Of-Plastics.htm
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Popular Posts

Princess Qajar - The Revolutionary Persian Princess

Zahra Khanom Tadj es-Saltaneh commonly referred to as Princess Qajar was a princess and memoirist of the Qajar Dynasty. Princess Tadj was one of the best known daughters of the Persian king, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar who ruled Persia from 1848 to May 1896. The Persian princess was born on February 4, 1883 and died on January 25, 1936, in Tehran, at the age of 52. Princess Qajar revolutionized beauty standards with her full look and ragged unibrow, and her unmistakably evident mustache. She was a true epitome of beauty at her time. Princess Qajar was declared a symbol of beauty in Persia and was coveted by many men. Thousands of men wanted to marry her, 13 of whom committed suicide upon being rejected by the princess. Princess Qajar eventually married Amir Hussein Khan Shoja'-al Saltaneh and had they had four children - two boys and two girls. They later got divorced in 1907 after enduring an unloving arranged marriage - she married Khan when she was 13. The princess argued f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Lehman Brothers Scandal (2008)

Company Background : Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a firm specialized in the provision of global financial services. It was founded in Montgomery, Alabama, in the United States of America. The company had headquarters in New York City, New York, in the U.S. It ceased operations in 2008. The founders were: Henry Lehman, Emmanuel Lehman and Mayer Lehman. What Happened? Lehman Brothers hid over $50 billion in loans disguised as sales. They allegedly sold toxic assets [1] to Cayman Island Banks with the understanding that they would eventually be rebought. How they were caught : Their bankruptcy led to the discovery of the fraud. They filed for bankruptcy in 2008, which is the largest bankruptcy ever recorded. Their case was larger than that of Enron, Washington Mutual, WorldCom and GM combined.  On September 15, 2008, Lehman brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection  (Montgomery, n.d.) . Their bankruptcy filing came in as a blow to the financial indu...
1 comment
Read more

The finger-cutting tradition of Indonesia's Dani tribe

The death of a loved one is always an extremely painful thing to bear, and people of different cultures grieve in diverse ways, some more unique than others. A typically unique way of grieving is that of the Dani (an Indonesian tribe). Finger-cutting is a fundamental part of grieving for women of the Dani tribe, and pertains to their women only. According to The Globe and Mail, an estimated 250,000 Dani tribe members live in a town named Wamena, in the extremely remote central highland area of Papua Province. Wamena is only accessible by plane.  Upon the death of a loved one, the top joint of one of a woman's fingers would be amputated, and smear ashes and clay across their faces. Prior to amputation, a string would be firmly tied to the upper half of the woman's finger for 30 minutes, to cause numbness. This was to reduce the pain from amputating the tip. In most cases, the responsibility of cutting off the top joint of the finger is assigned to one of the woman's...
1 comment
Read more