SOCIETAL BENEFITS OF PLASTICS - Plastics and Environmental Sustainability - page 179

5
SOCIETAL BENEFITS OF PLASTICS
When they first became commercially available, plastics were widely
considered a miracle material, an exceptional example of engineering
ingenuity of that generation. The promise of plastics in the future world
was foreseen with surprising accuracy in the first technical volumes devoted
to the material (Yarsley and Couzans, 1944). Plastics have indeed exceeded
that expectation achieving the unique status of an indispensable material
for modern lifestyle 1 including that in the developing world. Gaining such
widespread use and consistent increase in volume production in a few
decades suggests significant societal benefits to be associated with plastics
(Andrady and Neal, 2009). Recently, however, serious questions have been
raised as to their desirability as a material in several application areas. These
concerns range from potential health hazards from additives leaching out of
packaging plastics in contact with food to the occurrence of microplastics in
the world's oceans posing a threat to the marine ecosystem. Despite these
concerns, continuing growth of plastics and its consistent replacement of
conventional materials is progressing unabated.
Advantages of using plastics in place of competing conventional materials
are clearly demonstrated in at least three broad application areas: (i)
energy-savinguses,(ii)usesthatconservematerials,and(iii)usesthatassure
consumer health and safety. Value of plastic devices is apparent in medical
and public health applications. The disposable syringes, tubing, gloves and
other plastic devices are low cost, disposable and can be readily sterilized.
Plastic clips and sutures used for wound closure and bags for storage of
blood provide a very valuable societal benefit. These benefits are consistent
with the sustainability criteria discussed in Chapter 2 . But societal benefits
are not accrued in all applications of plastics. Also, the perceived benefits
and adverse effects are of course limited to the current state of knowledge;
lead paint and Freon aerosol cans were considered very desirable positive
developments at the time they were introduced to the market. It was decades
later that their environmental limitations were recognized and regulatory
controls were introduced to limit their use.