In the medical industry, plastics are used to keep things sterile. Syringes and surgical implements are all plastic and single use. Glass is too dangerous and heavy. It would be a brave person who thinks that reusing a plastic catheter in a different patient is a good idea. The benefits of plastic extend into far reaching areas of our lives. Plastics protect our heads in the form of helmets. They keep us safer in our cars in the form of seatbelts, fuel tanks, windscreens and airbags.
Plastic also helps to insulate our homes and make them more energy efficient. Window trims, front door frames and cavity wall insulation materials are generally made from plastic. Food-wise, plastic keeps food fresh and affordable and helps to tackle the food waste problem. Shipping food in plastic is cheaper and less resource intensive than shipping it in glass. Many foods are wrapped in unnecessary amounts of plastic. Who remembers burning their behinds on metal playground slides heated up by the sun?
Or getting splinters from wooden swing seats? For the sake of our kids, there are some playtime benefits to plastic too! Using your bank card, sitting on the bus, driving to the station. They all involve plastic. Plastic bottles, straws, drinks stirrers, coffee cups and shopping bags. These are all bad news and there are so many reusable alternatives now available.
Instead, we need to take a balanced approach to the plastic problem. Demanding a plastic free world will only push the problem elsewhere. And sometimes, the alternatives are worse. Glass is heavy and takes more resources to ship. Greater fuel economy means fewer stops at the gas station and less fossil fuel usage. Because plastics are light and sturdy, product packaging has become more streamlined. Lids are getting smaller and packages are getting lighter, which winds up contributing to fuel economy as well — when trucks don't have as much weight to haul, they don't use as much gas!
While paper products degrade much faster than plastic, they also require a vast amount of natural resources to create. Many trees and a significant amount of water and energy are needed to produce paper products, and the manufacturing process creates a lot of waste that can be difficult to remove. While plastics also require resources and energy to be created, they make up for it by being easier to recycle and having a far longer lifetime.
Along with vehicle construction, plastics are also being frequently used as building materials for both commercial and residential properties. Plastic windows and other building parts can filter UV rays in order to keep buildings cool in the summer while also locking in heat to keep them warm in winter.
This means it takes less money and energy to keep our homes and workplaces comfortable, which contributes to massive savings every year and a reduced environmental footprint. In the UK, more patents are filed each year in plastics than for glass, metal and paper combined. There are constant innovations occurring with polymers that can help revolutionise industries. These include shape-memory polymers , light-responsive polymers and self-heaing polymers.
Aerospace The cost-effective and safe transportation of people and goods is vital to our economy, cutting the weight of cars , aeroplanes , boats and trains can cut fuel consumption dramatically. The lightness of plastics therefore makes them invaluable to the transport industry. Construction Plastics are used in a growing range of applications in the construction industry. They have great versatility and combine excellent strength to weight ratio, durability, cost effectiveness, low maintenance and corrosion resistance which make plastics an economically attractive choice throughout the construction sector.
Electrical and Electronic Applications Electricity powers almost every aspect of our lives, at home and in our jobs, at work and at play. And everywhere that we find electricity, we also find plastics. Packaging Plastics is the perfect material for use in packaging goods. Plastics is versatile, hygenic, lightweight, flexible and highly durable.
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