At this time the issue of plastic products is the order of the day and for this reason we want to talk a little. It is a very extensive topic so we have a broad analysis. We must know the pros and cons of this material and in this article we are going to talk about uses and abuses of plastic.

But what is plastic? Chemically speaking, plastic is the substance formed by organic macromolecules called polymers. With these properties are achieved that with other materials can not be achieved, such as color, light weight, pleasant touch and resistance to environmental and biological degradation. It must be clear that plastic is a state of the material that occurs when a synthetic material (in this case it could be the polymer) is viscous or fluid after heat has been applied in a solid state. This state of matter is ideal for different production processes since it can be easily manipulated.

The characteristic properties of most plastics are:

• Are cheap.
• They have low density.
• They are waterproof.
• They isolate the electricity.
• They insulate heat, although they are not resistant.
• They are resistant to corrosion and weathering.
• They resist the action of many chemical factors.
• Some are recycled better than others that are not biodegradable or easy to recycle.
• They are easy to work.
• In some plastics their combustion can be very polluting.

The most common plastics are Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), High Density Polyethylene (PEHD), Polyvinylchloride (PVC), Low Density Polyethylene (PELD), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS). That we can also often see them identified with a number which has been assigned to them.

Although it is known that there are more than six hundred different plastics and more and more, this is due to the alloys that are made between them or with other materials to achieve new and more beneficial properties for the products, we call these types of plastics technical plastics.

Well, and can we recycle them? The answer is yes.

Plastic is a material that can be recycled, we must be careful because if what we do is consider it as a waste, nature will not assimilate it until after five hundred years. But if we make a good treatment (pick it up, clean it, select it by type of material and melt it again) it can be reused and give life to new products without having to extract or less reduce oil to create new plastics. And in this way fossil fuel consumption is reduced and less CO2 is generated.

In any case, more and more work is being done to create biodegradable plastics to favor the reduction of the contaminating effect. These plastics are manufactured from natural materials often from agriculture (potato starch, starch …), microorganisms or biological monomers from renewable sources.

If we put ourselves in context, with the creation of plastic virtually all fields of the industry were revolutionized. Then new products could be produced at a much lower cost and in a much faster way. This was also a revolution for consumers as they could buy the same product but at a lower price which favored a compulsive and conscientious consumption.

CONCLUSION

It is very easy to criminalize plastic, but the fault is not of the material itself but of the use and abuse that people have made. Keep in mind that the abuse of single-use containers, the non-recycling of these and bad practice in general is causing us to have a polluted sea where fish and marine animals are consuming plastic and as a result we end up consuming microplastics .

We need more awareness, both from the industry and from the consumers.

I leave a link to a game to encourage recycling: https://www.lafactoriainteractiva.com/games/Jocs/JocdelReciclatge/index.html