A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids that are moldable. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, but many are partially natural.
Whether you are aware of it or not, plastics play an important part in your life. Plastics' versatility allow it to be used in everything from car parts to doll parts, from soft drink bottles to the refrigerators they are stored in. From the car you drive to work in to the television you watch when you get home, plastics help make your life easier and better. So how is it that plastics have become so widely used? How did plastics become the material of choice for so many varied applications?
The simple answer is that plastics are the material that can provide the things consumers want and need. Plastics have the unique capability to be manufactured to meet very specific functional needs for consumers. So maybe there's another question that's relevant: What do I want? Regardless of how you answer this question, plastics can probably satisfy your needs.
If a product is made of plastic, there's a reason. And chances are the reason has everything to do with helping you, the consumer, get what you want: Health. Safety. Performance. Value. Plastics help make these things possible.
Today it is said that plastic is extremely bad for the environment. It is one of man's worst inventions. Plastic is non-biodegradable. This means that waste plastic cannot be turned into any other substance that is eco friendly. Although tonnes and tonnes of plastic are burned in the most advanced incinerators, all that remains in plastic. It doesn't change into anything else, as many other materials do. Hence plastic waste is dangerous to the environment.
There are a handful of ways plastic is bad for our environment.
Plastic carry