Plastics are not recyclable.There are many types of plastics but they fall into two major group,thermoset and thermoplastics. Thermoset plastics are rigid {hard} plastics that is used to make toys and electronic appliances. These plastics will partially burn and take millions of years to break down. Thermoplastics are easily melted down and can be recycled. However, thermoset plastics burn with an acrid smell, produces dioxins, and products with flame retardants release many toxins. As a result, these can cause severe health problems like cancer, neurological damage, birth defects and child developmental disorders.
Where do this plastics go?. Firstly we use an average of 100 kilos of plastic packaging every year. Less than 10% of the plastic used is recycled. The remaining 33 million tons goes to waste, with 22-43% ending up in landfills, and the rest being destroyed or littered.thermoset plastics take 200 to 400 years for decomposition. Secondly the plastics that are not recyclable end up in the landfills and the oceane. Thermoplastics In the landfill, can take 10 years, to 50 years to fully degrade. Dumps, and landfills plastics blow over to streams and rivers, and are carried to oceans or are washed up on beaches.Eighty percent of marine waste comes from land sources and an additional 20% is dumped by ocean liners and platforms.
Does it affect us? The toxic chemicals in thermoset plastic interact with water and drain into the ground and pollute groundwater, harming wildlife and people.Thermoset Plastic uses bisphenol A (BPA), a carcinogen, and more recently bisphenol S (BPS) and bisphenol F (BPF) as hardening agents that can cause a high risk of cancer. Other chemicals are added as flame-retardants or coloring agents which can affect hormone activity and asthma .Acid and BPA, contained in food packaging and medical devices, are mostly found in 90% of premature babies.
Lastly the largest impact of plastics has been on marine ecosystems.10% of plastics produced end up in the oceans. As a result, Three hundred species of animals ingest plastic mistaking it for food, for example sea-turtles mistake thermoset plastics for jellyfish. Nearly 100,000 animals die every year, some starve to death as plastics fill their bellies and there is no place left for food.
