Rasheda Vereen
Literature Synthesis 2.0
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar
14 October 2009
Literature Review/Synthesis 2.0
The petrochemical industries, also known as the plastic industries, are human-created synthetic materials: materials that humans cannot live without. Ever since the mainstream introduction of synthetic materials into domestic and international markets following World War II, plastics is widely used because of its versatility, diversity, longevity, and superior weight-to-strength ratio. The superior qualities of plastic have allowed it to replace cotton, wool, wood, metals, and glass in packaging, building materials, motor vehicles, electric equipment, mainstream consumer products, and in clothing (U.S Department of Commerce, 1985). However, this widely used and beloved material comes with a price, its waste.
The problem with plastic waste first became apparent in the 1970s and 1980s with recognition by the Chemical Rubber Company (CRC) and the United States Senate. In 1972, the CRC first recognized that there were problems with the disposal of plastic in the traditional waste disposal methods of incineration and land filling. The CRC stated that plastic incineration releases chemicals that are known carcinogens, respiratory irritants, atmospheric irritants, and central nervous system damagers. Simultaneously, the CRC also recognized that plastic was inert in landfills which would create a constant and ever growing need for landfill space(Bonds et al, 1972). In 2007, 12.1% of all incoming municipal solid waste was plastic, a percentage that has continued to steadily increased since the industrialization of plastic (EPA, 2008). In 1987, the U.S Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation published a report entitled “Marine Plastic Pollution Prevention Act” which recognized that plastic waste was increasing in both domestic and international waters and that this waste was harming both humans and marine ecosystems(U.S Senate, 1987). Although the publications from the CRC and U.S Senate are both a few decades old, these problems are more salient and still exist today. In the wake of the waste disposal problems presented by incineration and land filling, recycling has become a favored alternative waste disposal method. Recycling is politically favored and is endorsed by many environmental interest groups. Recycling keeps plastic waste out of landfills and continues the life cycle of the synthetic material (Albertsson et al, 1992). However, recycling also has many problems associated with it. Currently, recycling rates are 6 percent for all plastics in comparison to recycling rates of 50 percent for paper, 37 percent for metals and 22 percent for glass (Watson, 2009). The low plastic recycling rates prevents the establishment of markets for recycled plastic which sequentially does not establish a recycling infrastructure of collection, sorting, compression, and then conversion to a product (U.S Congress, 1992). The nonexistence of an infrastructure keeps recycled plastic resin more expensive than virgin recycled resin leaving no incentive for manufactures to buy recycled plastic (Albertsson et al, 1992). In addition, plastic does not have a long-lived recycled lifetime, where often, plastic can only be recycled once. (Royte, 2005) There is currently no optimal waste disposal for plastic and neither land filling, incineration, or recycling can offer a sustainable waste disposal method with minimal environmental effects or market longevity.With no sound waste disposal in mind, it seems as though we have reached a dead end; the solution for the plastic waste problem may not exist in the disposal method but rather in production or consumerism.
The plastic waste disposal solution could exist in consumerism or production. A simple solution in consumerism may exist in a reduction of plastic usage and consumption or in reusing plastic products. These methods have been politically charged and advertised as a solution to the plastic waste problem but it is not nearly emphasized and romanticized like recycling. Reduction and reusing will limit the amount of plastic consumed; however, it will not permanently end the plastic waste disposal problem. Another permanent solution could be to go back to the way things were, using biodegradable materials like wood and glass or using longer term materials like metals. Another solution that has been gaining in press and popularity is bioplastics and biopolymers. Bioplastics and biopolymers are “plastics” that are produced from renewable resources like food crops, starches, and cellouses rather than the traditional petroleum-based plastics. The bioplastics market is miniscule in comparison to the petrochemicals marketplace; however, bioplastics are gaining in capital and popularity (Preston, 2007; Cohen 2009). Critics of bioplastics suggest that food crops should be used to feed people and not to produce materials or plastics. It is also suggested that reliance on bioplastics could failin light of a bad crop season. However, biodegradable plastics have a probable future; along with reduction and reuse of petrochemical plastics, the plastic waste problem could be solved.
Albertsson, Ann-Christine, and Samuel J. Huang. Degradable polymers, recycling, and plastics waste management. New York: M. Dekker, 1995. Print.
Blue Vinyl. Dir. Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold. Bullfrog Films, 2002. DVD.
Bond, Richard G., Conrad P. Straub, and Richard P. Prober, eds. CRC handbook of environmental control.Cleveland: CRC, 1972. Print
"Plastics | Common Wastes & Materials | US EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 21 Sept. 2009. <
Cohen, Deborah L., “Green bottler takes aim at entrenched water market” Reuters.com. 30 Sept 2009. Web. 8 Oct 2009. <
Chiellini, Emo, and Roberto Solaro. Biodegrable polymers and plastics. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum, 2003. Print.
Preston, Holly H. "Bioplastics have a small but growing market." New York Times. 2 Nov. 2007. Web. 8 Oct. 2009. <
"Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 12 Mar. 2009 <
Royte, Elizabeth. GarbageLand On the Secret Trail of Trash. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 2005
United States. Department of Commerce. Business Analysis. The U.S Plastics and Synthetic Materials Industry Since 1958. 1985
United, States. Plastics recycling problems and possibilities : hearing before the Subcommittee on Environment and Employment of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, One Hundred Second Congress, second session, Washington, DC, February 25, 1992.Washington: U.S. G.P.O., For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales Office, 1992. Print.
United States. Cong. Senate. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. 100 Cong., 1st sess. S. Rept. 100-266.
Waston, Tom"Home & Garden | Where can we put all those plastics? | Seattle Times Newspaper." The Seattle Times | Seattle Times Newspaper. Web. 28 Sept. 2009. <