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العربية Some biodegradable polymers are not as robust and stable as the traditional plastics they are theoretically meant to replace; sometimes they do not even degrade as promised and risk adding to the other things we throw away.
Although it is possible to recycle plastics in large quantities, the problem is that some types can be easily melted and reshaped, while others cannot. For example, bottles used for soft drinks are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a plastic that can be reused to manufacture polyester fiber. However, if during the recycling stages a different variety of plastic is present, for example a thermosetting plastic, chaos ensues.
One of the reasons why the recycling rate is so low — only about 25% in Europe and 10% in the United States, compared with 80% for steel — is that the process is too complex and would require consumers to sort seven different types of plastic (indicated by the codes on packaging) instead of throwing them all into the same bin.
Another issue is that virgin material, namely the pellets resulting from the cracking of ethylene produced in factories around the world, is so inexpensive that recycling brings no economic advantage.
Here is the paradox: these plastics are the product of an oil industry so thrifty that it does not want to waste even the bottom of a barrel, determined to turn every single drop into goods and profit. An industry that has encouraged the creation from scratch of entire sectors and materials.
We have been overwhelmed by mountains of cheap plastic, literally disposable. In doing so, what were originally waste products that refineries recovered so they would not be wasted ultimately truly became waste: refuse abandoned on beaches, along roads, at sea, and in landfills.
