Consuming plastic

'The plastic age heralded the world free from moths and rust and full of colour... nations more independent from natural resources' (Yarsley & Couzens, 1945).

I never thought that I'd research the history of plastics during a degree in Geography, but here I find myself with 12 google chrome tabs open with varying titles from 'Plastic Statistics' to 'A European History of Plastic'. Knowledge of the evolution in the production, content and in particular the disposal of plastic seems extremely prevalent to understanding the impacts that plastic has on the worlds oceans.

Given that plastics are a purely modern phenomena the material has a relatively short history, but regardless of time the scope of its impact on the modern world is huge.

The first recordings of plastics in use refer to the use of natural materials such as rubber gum and cellulose in the 1820s. From its origins in natural materials plastic evolved to the earliest synthetics between 1900-1929, where pre modern plastics were recognised as long chain molecules (an element of extreme significance when considering plastics decomposition times). From the 1930s plastic emerged as a leading world industry, given its versatility and inexpensive production costs it revolutionised most industries. Use of plastic material is evident in all industries, spreading in consumption across the world.

As can be seen in figure 1 during the 20th century the production and demand of plastic increased exponentially, coinciding with humanity's increase in population and consumption. Contemporary production of plastics provide for a wide variety of markets and an even wider variety of products. Global production of plastics rose to 288 million tonnes in 2012, a 2.8% increase compared to the statistics of 2011.

(Figure 1. graph courtesy of Plastics Europe)

So if plastic is used to produce mostly everything, what happens to it when its no longer of use to us? When you upgrade your ipod? When jelly shoes goes out of fashion? When your trusty Asda shopping bag gets a tear in rendering it a completely useless sheet of orange plastic?

This will be followed up in the following blog...