Introduction
In modern days, plastics are used for various functions; they are used as packing bags, in electronics, clothes among others uses. Plastic is any organic material that when heated and pressure applied, it can expand and after it has been cooled it retains that shape it had been subjected to. The first plastic that can be put in good use was called, celluloid, it was discovered in 1869 by American inventor John W. Hyatt. However, plastic only came to be of use in 1909, when American chemist L. H. Baekeland produced Bakelite (Kinnane, 2002). Plastic is a polymer of molecular mass which can be in natural or artificial form. In most cases petroleum and natural gases are the raw material used to make plastic. There are numerous advantages that plastics have on human life as well as some dangers that it poses to human life. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using plastic in day to day life.
Advantages of Using Plastics
Plastic is a strong component that can be strengthened to build different products according to their use. Despite this it is cheap to produce. Plastics are used in packing bags which uses thin plastic and at the same time it can be used in making tanks which require relatively thick plastic. This flexibility assists it to be utilized for different functions.
Plastic is a light yet strong product that can be used with things that need to be light but strong. Such products include laptops, Electronic gadgets, and packaging materials. Its strength and lightness make it preferred to other products like metal. A packing bag is required to be light but one that can protect the goods inside. Sometimes transparency is required in packaging and plastic can be used for all these (Fenichell, 1996).
Cost of producing plastic is relatively cheap compared to its substitutes. It can be produced in a laboratory with freely available products and thus goods that include the cost of packaging are relatively cheap. Take an example of aluminum cans, they are expensive to produce and not freely available.
It can be molded into different shapes and sizes to fit the needs of the user. When plastic is subjected to heat, pressure, and a certain shape molder, they create the shape required after cooling off. This can be utilized for different uses. One of the marketing strategies is to ensure that products are attractive to the end user. When plastics are used, they can be shaped in a way that will attract the end user. It thus assists the producer by being flexible; when molded it can give different shapes like sheets, pipes, boxes or plates to fit the needs of the user. The word plastic was derived from a Greek word plastikos which means easy to be molded. This is the character that has given it this wide usage (Landrock, 1998).
Plastic chemical composition is less reactive with products. Unlike its supplements like metal, plastic does not react with products that are put into it. For example, chemicals can be kept in plastic containers since they will not corrode the container the case that it would have been if they were kept in iron containers. Water is another product that is stored in plastic since plastics does not react with water and thus it becomes a good storage facility.
It can be reused. Plastic can be put to use more than once, this is due to its durability factors. It is a strong compound that can be used again. Paper bags are good examples whereby they can be used for more than one time before they lose value. It is also odorless; this makes it applicable for food products.
It can be recycled. The world is faced with limited resources; these resources deplete with time and thus when a product is to be recycled, it is to the benefit of a country. When they have been recycled they can be used to mold other products or molded back to their original use (Birley, 1988).
Disadvantages of Using Plastic
Plastic is a durable product that does not decompose fast. It is not biodegradable and thus when disposed it offers a great danger to life. One of the ways that have been used to dispose plastics is by burning the product; when burnt it produces harmful gases and also adds to ozone layer destruction. When ozone layer is destructed, it leads to global warming; It is estimated that between 1906– 2005, earth’s surface temperatures raised by 0.74 ± 0.18 °C (Ernesto & Zedillo, 2008). In 1998 Kyoto protocol was developed as a preventive measure to further global warming.
When plastic is disposed on soils, it takes a long time before it can be degraded and thus reduces the salinity of soil. It is the major component in garbage points. When disposed in water bodies it can choke and kill living organisms living there. Most plastics are produced from oil; however oil is on the decrease. This makes the product unreliable in the future since the availability of oil to produce it is not guaranteed (plastic pollution, 2010).
Recommendations to the Disadvantages of Using Plastics
To protect the environment the recyclable ones should be recycled and those that cannot be recycled should be disposed in the most appropriate way possible. They should be disposed in a way that will not harm the environment. Depending on the kind of waste that a company produces, the way that waste can be recycled is determined. Plastics are the easiest ones to recycle since they can be molded to other plastic materials. They can be used for the same company or as raw materials in another. Other products can be reused again and again; they should be reused to avoid using other materials for the same course.
One of the major problems with recycling of plastic is the fact that it is a labor intensive activity where human capital will be required to collect and sort waste products (Porteous, 2000).
Conclusion
Plastics are used for various functions; they are used as packing bags, in electronics, clothes among others uses. Its commercial use was in 1909. There are numerous advantages of using plastic products; they include its weight, its durability, its flexibility, and strength. However, the disadvantages associated with it are mostly in environmental damage. To mitigate the disadvantages, there is need to reuse the products, recycle them, and develop measures that put them in proper use.
Reference List
Birley, A. et al. (1988). Plastics Materials: Properties and Applications. New York: Wesley publishers.
Ernesto, Z. and Zedillo, E. (2008). Global warming: looking beyond Kyoto. Washington: Brookings Institution Press.
Fenichell, S. (1996). Plastic: The Making of a Synthetic Century. New York: Harper.
Kinnane, A. (2002). DuPont: From the banks of the Brandywine to miracles of science. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Landrock, H. (1998). Handbook of plastic foams: types, properties, manufacture, and applications. New Jersey: William Andrew.
Plastic pollution. (2010). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.
Porteous, A. (2000). Plastics, recycling. In Dictionary of Environmental Science and Technology. Web.