A GREENER APPROACH FOR PLASTIC AGE
We live today in what is rightly known as the “Plastic Age”. The reason beingthat plastics have become a part of our everyday life, right from the time weget up in the morning to the time we go back to sleep. What is this plasticactually? It is nothing but a material composed mostly of organic molecules.Well known examples are: Polyethylene, Polypropylene etc.
The number of articles or products manufactured from plastics and used by us areendless but to name some of them viz: Brushes, buckets, plates, combs, cosmeticspackaging and many more. The unique property of plastic is that it is lightweight, easily processable, easy for transportation, can be coloured anddesigned as per our requirements. All these properties have given it a uniqueadvantage as compared to other traditional materials such as metals, wood,paper, ceramics.
Why are people searching for an eco-friendly alternative to traditionalmaterials? The answer is related to some very serious environmental issues. Ifwe consider wood, paper then we are aware that they are being obtained fromtrees. Reckless cutting of trees leads to soil erosion, followed by scarcerainfall and an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide released by trees. Allthese reasons have prompted stakeholders in the environment conservation chainto accelerate efforts to search for an alternative environment-friendlymaterial.
Although plastic was made for making our lives easier and comfortable, lack ofawareness and negligence has led to a relentless growth in plastic pollution.Drain clogging can have a detrimental impact on the environment when carelesslydiscarded plastic bags typically having thickness of less than 25 microns leadsto choking of drainage outlets. Furthermore, as plastic products have a veryhigh molecular weight and cross-linked network structure, they don’t undergodegradation for years together. The only alternative left is recycling it andreusing the recycled product. Due to lack of environmental awareness in thecommon man and the non-degradable nature of plastics, “BAN PLASTICS” has emergedas a prominent buzzword and people are unknowingly supporting it.
Have we ever thought of that if plastic usage is stopped then what is thealternative? Reverting back to the traditional materials like wood, paper wouldresult in more dreadful environmental conditions. So, researchers have sortedout some environmental friendly materials commonly named as “biodegradablematerials”. These materials are obtained from nature and their common sourcesare sugarcane, cotton, animal skin, animal hooves, maize, rice and the list goeson. They are synthesized majorly by using various enzymes. As compared totraditional plastics, there is no hazardous gas emission from them and thedanger of non-biodegradability gets reduced to a major extent.
Application of Biopolymers as Sustainable Cladding Materials: A Review
by Touha Nazrun,Md ,Kamrul Hassan,Md Delwar Hossain,Bulbul Ahmed,,Md RayhanHasnat and Swapan Saha
Many such natural materials are now being used majorly in food packaging,beverages packing and also in various medical field applications such as drugdelivery, implants etc. As humanity makes rapid technological progress, it ispaying a heavy cost in terms of endangering the environment with dreadfuleffects such as carbon dioxide emissions, acid rains, global warming. So, thisnew category of material might prove a boon in helping to save our environment.Then the existing BAN PLASTICS would be replaced by GO GREEN AND KEEP IT CLEAN.So as a citizen of this country it’s my request that everyone should get awareabout the usage of plastics and must try to take initiatives which would help insaving our environment.
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Ms. A.S.Dutta (Assistant Professor)
Plastic and Polymer Engineering Department
Maharashtra Institute of Technology, CSMN
Trainer - Polymerupdate Academy
