Why is it difficult to reduce plastic?

Plastic is a flexible polymer material that can be used in a variety of areas. It is easy to produce and lightweight. We use plastic products to help make our lives cleaner, easier, safer and more enjoyable. We find plastics almost everything. Our houses, cars, toys, screens, medical equipment are all dependent on plastic. Plastic is very easy to manufacture. By mixing some polymer materials with adhesives, plastic can be formed and moulded into bottles, plates, toys, etc. However, plastic is made from un-sustainable materials like coal, gases and crude oil. Thats why manufacturing it may be easy but bad for the planet. Plastic is also non-biodegradable. It can take around 1000-3000 years to decompose and in this process they release dangerous chemicals and turn into micro plastics. The big question is why plastic is irreplaceable. The bottom line is new replacements for plastic are in the works but none of them have been economically viable. At a macro level, the world economy is heavily dependent on inter country, inter-continental trade of goods. For such transport of goods over long distances, plastics serves the best. For the last few decades our economy is so heavily depended on plastic that a replacement of plastic can prove disastrous. This is because Large industries such as the All India Plastic Manufactures Association will crash and a drastic impact will be seen on the trade market. This can have a cascading effect to all the lower level industries which can include major decline in employment for the millions that work in such industries. The micro reason is that plastic checkboxes almost everything. It’s safe, light, cheap and easy to produce. For example transporting honey in plastic bottles would be cheaper and lighter than having it in glass bottles. Thus a single unit of honey delivered to the consumer at the cheapest price with relative safety. Such instances prove how plastic is irreplaceable.

References:

Sehgal, D.R. (2020). How does a plastic ban affect the economy and preserve the environment? [online] iPleaders. Available at: https://blog.ipleaders.in/plastic-ban-affect-economy-preserve-environment/#:~:text=A%20plastic%20ban%20law%20increases [Accessed 18 Jul. 2021].

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