Plastics – Boon or Curse: Plastics: a boon or bane? If we were to label the current epoch, we could call it the Plastic Age. Because plastic is light and simple to shape, it quickly replaced metals in everyday goods such as buckets, mugs, pipes, ropes, certain furniture, and a variety of other products like pencils, bottles, our spectacle frames, and even clothing materials.

People began to view plastic as a disposable commodity as it grew cheaper, and the new slogan ‘use and toss’ became a way of life. Plastic bags and bottles have become quite widespread in everyday life. The development of plastic was hailed as a triumph of human ingenuity – a blessing that, sadly, turned out to be a scourge. Plastic does not decompose since it is non-biodegradable; therefore, it becomes trash that harms the environment. Read on to know more about plastics – boon or curse.

What Is Plastic?

Plastic is a synthetic polymer consisting of monomers that are arranged linearly or may be cross-linked. These can be moulded and set into the desired shape when soft and then hardened to produce a durable product. Plastics are manufactured from the chemicals found in crude oil. Plastics can have bright, attractive colours. The term ‘Plastic’ was derived from the Greek word ‘Plastikos’, which means ‘to mould’.

Classification of Plastics

Plastics are mainly of two types:

1. Thermoplastic
2. Thermosetting plastic

Fig: Classification of Plastics

1. Thermoplastics: These plastics can be bent easily and get deformed on heating.  These can be softened on heating and moulded repeatedly to get the desired shape. These are polythene, PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), polypropylene, polyester, Teflon, polystyrene, perspex, etc. These are mainly used for making toys, combs, carry bags, bottles, and various types of containers.

Fig: Thermoplastics

2. Thermosetting plastics: These plastics can be heated and moulded once into shape and cannot be softened and moulded again on reheating. The chains of these plastics get highly cross-linked due to heating. Examples of these plastics are bakelite, melamine, etc. Bakelite is used for making electrical switches, handles of various utensils, etc., as it is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. Melamine can be used to make floor tiles, kitchenware, fabrics, etc., as it can resist fire and tolerate heat.

Fig: Thermosetting Plastics

Plastic as Boon and Curse

Plastic is very important in our life. We can’t even imagine our life without plastic. So many products that we use in our daily life are made of plastic only. So, it can be said to be a boon to human life, but there is another aspect of plastic that is a curse to humans. Excessive use of plastic can create many problems for humans as well as the environment.

Plastic as Boon and Plastic as Curse are mentioned below:

Plastic as Boon

1. Plastic is light in weight.
2. They are soft and can be moulded easily.
3. Plastic is cheap to produce.
4. Plastic is strong, tough, and durable.
5. Plastic is normally unbreakable.
6. They are used to make many daily usable products like buckets, bottles, pencil boxes, pipes, and so on.
7. They have industrial usage and are used to make many parts of machines.
8. They have a very good electrical insulating property.
9. Plastic is corrosion and chemical resistant.
10. Plastic is water-resistant and has adhesive properties.
11. Plastic is used in construction.
12. They are poor conductors of heat and electricity.
13. They are waterproof and airtight and are used to store several food items.
14. Plastics are widely used in the healthcare industry. Some of them are used in packing tablets, syringes, gloves, and many other instruments.
15. Teflon is a special plastic that is used in the non-stick coating on cookware as oil and water do not stick on it.

Plastic as Curse

1. Plastics are non-renewable resources.
2. They are toxic and produce toxic fumes when burnt.
3. Plastic is low heat resistant and has poor ductility.
4. Plastic is non-biodegradable.
5. They are responsible for choking the drains.
6. They are harmful to the environment by polluting it.
7. Recycling plastic is hard and very expensive.
8. Plastic ends up in harmful wastage and harmful to our health and can cause cancer also.
9. Some animals and birds in search of food consume some amounts of plastic, by which many of them end up choking.
10. Burning of plastic is a very slow process that releases a lot of poisonous gases into the atmosphere.

Effects of Plastic on Environment

1. The plastics do not decompose on their own. It takes hundreds or even thousands of years to get them decomposed. So, the careless way of disposable plastics on roads blocks the drains sewers causing dirty drain water on the roads. When heavy rains occur, the choked drains and sewers cannot carry away all the rainwater quickly, and hence a flood-like situation is created mainly in the areas where drains and sewers are present.
2. The plastic objects float on the seawater after being dumped. Sometimes the marine animals get confused by these objects and consume them as their food. This plastic waste gets stuck in the alimentary canal of the marine animals due to their bigger size. This waste creates a block in the food path, and the animals may die due to starvation or infection.
3. Plastics are responsible for creating global warming. All plastics are mainly made from toxic materials like benzene and vinyl hydrochloride. These chemicals can cause cancer. The burning of plastics releases many poisonous gases into the atmosphere and causes air pollution.
4. The chlorinated plastic releases many harmful chemicals into the surrounding soil, which then seep into the groundwater or other surrounding water sources and the ecosystem. This can harm the species that drink the polluted groundwater.

Ways to Minimise Overuse of Plastics

We can minimise or reduce the overuse of plastics by following ways:

1. We should reuse plastic bags while going shopping, thus reducing the number of bags used.
2. We should use paper bags to reduce the use of plastic bags.
3. We should use jute bags or cotton bags while going shopping.
4. We should segregate biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste and dispose of them accordingly.
5. We should never dispose of or throw plastic bags or plastic articles into water bodies, sewage systems, roads, streets, or on barren lands.
6. We should collect thermoplastics separately and send them for recycling.
7. The process of incineration or burning plastics at very high temperatures reduces the volume of wastes and provides a useful supply of heat energy.

Recycling of Plastic

To save the environment from harmful uses of plastic, we have to follow 3Rs- Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Reduce the use of plastic and reuse harmless plastic to help reduce its overproduction. Recycling and reusing plastic materials are the most effective perspective to reduce the environmental impacts of open landfills and open-air burning that are often practised to manage domestic waste.

Many recycling bins can be placed in cities and on beaches in coastal areas to accelerate the prevention and reduction of plastic pollution. The plastic recycling methods involve collecting, sorting, shredding, washing, melting, and reorganisation and formation of new products.

Fig: The Process of Recycling of Plastic

Plastics-Boon or Curse: Summary

Even while plastic appears to be a highly helpful material, it may be quite dangerous when burned since it emits poisonous fumes. Microbes cannot degrade plastics since they are non-biodegradable. They’re bad for the environment and take hundreds of years to degrade. Plastic bags discarded carelessly on roadways and elsewhere end up in drains and sewage pipelines.

Drains and sewage systems become clogged as a result, and water pours onto the roadways. Animals have been known to eat plastic bags and die in agony. Bags gathered by rag pickers are occasionally reused after being washed. The use of recycled plastic bags to store food might be hazardous to human health.

Plastic is a polymer in which the monomers are arranged linearly, or they may be cross-linked. The main two types of plastic are thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic. Plastic is a boon to humankind. They are used to make many daily usable products like buckets, bottles, pencil boxes, pipes, etc. They are used as carrying bags to carry many things. They are cheap and easily available. Plastic is also a curse to humankind as plastic is non-biodegradable, can’t be recycled, and is a waste that causes many health problems.

FAQs on Plastics: Boon or Curse

Q.1. What is plastic?
Ans: Plastic is a polymer in which the monomers are arranged linearly or cross-linked.

Q.2. Why is plastic a boon?
Ans: Plastic is a boon to humankind. They are used to make many daily usable products like buckets, bottles, pencil boxes, pipes, etc. They are used as carrying bags to carry many things. They are cheap and easily available.

Q.3. What are the harmful effects of plastic?
Ans: The harmful effects of plastics are:
1. Plastic ends up in harmful wastage and harmful to our health and can cause cancer also.
2. They are toxic and produce toxic fumes when burnt and cause pollution to the environment.

Q.4. Write two ways how we can reduce the use of plastics?
Ans: 1. We should reuse plastic bags while going shopping, thus reducing the number of bags used.
2. We should never dispose of or throw plastic bags or plastic articles into water bodies, sewage systems, roads, streets, or barren lands.

Q.5. Which type of plastic is banned in India?
Ans:  Polythene bags of less than 50 microns are banned in India.

Study the Characteristics of Plastics

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Environmental Pollution: Types, Causes, and Effects	Introduction to Pollution: Definition, Types, Causes & Effects
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