Rasheda Vereen
Literature Synthesis 2.0
Environmental Studies Senior Seminar
14 October 2009
Literature Review/Synthesis 2.0
The petrochemical industries, also known as the plastic industries, are humancreated synthetic materials: materials that humans cannot live without. Ever since the
mainstream introduction of synthetic materials into domestic and international markets following
World War II, plastics is widely used because of its versatility, diversity, longevity, and superior
weight-to-strength ratio. The superior qualities of plastic have allowed it to replace cotton, wool,
wood, metals, and glass in packaging, building materials, motor vehicles, electric equipment,
mainstream consumer products, and in clothing (U.S Department of Commerce, 1985).
However, this widely used and beloved material comes with a price, its waste.
The problem with plastic waste first became apparent in the 1970s and 1980s with
recognition by the Chemical Rubber Company (CRC) and the United States Senate. In 1972, the
CRC first recognized that there were problems with the disposal of plastic in the traditional
waste disposal methods of incineration and land filling. The CRC stated that plastic incineration
releases chemicals that are known carcinogens, respiratory irritants, atmospheric irritants, and
central nervous system damagers. Simultaneously, the CRC also recognized that plastic was
inert in landfills which would create a constant and ever growing need for landfill space (Bonds
et al, 1972). In 2007, 12.1% of all incoming municipal solid waste was plastic, a percentage that
has continued to steadily increased since the industrialization of plastic (EPA, 2008). In 1987,
the U.S Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation published a report entitled
“Marine Plastic Pollution Prevention Act” which recognized that plastic waste was increasing in
both domestic and international waters and that this waste was harming both humans and marine
ecosystems(U.S Senate, 1987). Although the publications from the CRC and U.S Senate are
both a few decades old, these problems are more salient and still exist today. In the wake of the
waste disposal problems presented by incineration and land filling, recycling has become a
favored alternative waste disposal method. Recycling is politically favored and is endorsed by
many environmental interest groups. Recycling keeps plastic waste out of landfills and
continues the life cycle of the synthetic material (Albertsson et al, 1992). However, recycling
also has many problems associated with it. Currently, recycling rates are 6 percent for all
plastics in comparison to recycling rates of 50 percent for paper, 37 percent for metals and 22
percent for glass (Watson, 2009). The low plastic recycling rates prevents the establishment of
markets for recycled plastic which sequentially does not establish a recycling infrastructure of
collection, sorting, compression, and then conversion to a product (U.S Congress, 1992). The
nonexistence of an infrastructure keeps recycled plastic resin more expensive than virgin
recycled resin leaving no incentive for manufactures to buy recycled plastic (Albertsson et al,
1992). In addition, plastic does not have a long-lived recycled lifetime, where often, plastic can
only be recycled once. (Royte, 2005) There is currently no optimal waste disposal for plastic and
neither land filling, incineration, or recycling can offer a sustainable waste disposal method with
minimal environmental effects or market longevity. With no sound waste disposal in mind, it
seems as though we have reached a dead end; the solution for the plastic waste problem may not
exist in the disposal method but rather in production or consumerism.
The plastic waste disposal solution could exist in consumerism or production. A
simple solution in consumerism may exist in a reduction of plastic usage and consumption or in
reusing plastic products. These methods have been politically charged and advertised as a
solution to the plastic waste problem but it is not nearly emphasized and romanticized like
recycling. Reduction and reusing will limit the amount of plastic consumed; however, it will not
permanently end the plastic waste disposal problem. Another permanent solution could be to go
back to the way things were, using biodegradable materials like wood and glass or using longer
term materials like metals. Another solution that has been gaining in press and popularity is
bioplastics and biopolymers. Bioplastics and biopolymers are “plastics” that are produced from
renewable resources like food crops, starches, and cellouses rather than the traditional petroleumbased plastics. The bioplastics market is miniscule in comparison to the petrochemicals
marketplace; however, bioplastics are gaining in capital and popularity (Preston, 2007; Cohen
2009). Critics of bioplastics suggest that food crops should be used to feed people and not to
produce materials or plastics. It is also suggested that reliance on bioplastics could fail in light of
a bad crop season. However, biodegradable plastics have a probable future; along with reduction
and reuse of petrochemical plastics, the plastic waste problem could be solved.
Albertsson, Ann-Christine, and Samuel J. Huang. Degradable polymers, recycling, and plastics
waste management. New York: M. Dekker, 1995. Print.
Blue Vinyl. Dir. Judith Helfand and Daniel B. Gold. Bullfrog Films, 2002. DVD.
Bond, Richard G., Conrad P. Straub, and Richard P. Prober, eds. CRC handbook of
environmental control. Cleveland: CRC, 1972. Print
"Plastics | Common Wastes & Materials | US EPA." U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Web. 21 Sept. 2009. <http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/plastics.htm>.
Cohen, Deborah L., “Green bottler takes aim at entrenched water market” Reuters.com. 30 Sept
2009. Web. 8 Oct 2009. < http://www.reuters.com/article/GCAG20Pittsburgh/idUSTRE58T3TG20090930?sp=true>.
Chiellini, Emo, and Roberto Solaro. Biodegrable polymers and plastics. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum, 2003. Print.
Preston, Holly H. "Bioplastics have a small but growing market." New York Times. 2 Nov. 2007.
Web. 8 Oct. 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/your-money/02ihtmplastics.1.8159693.html>.
"Municipal Solid Waste in the United States: 2007 Facts and Figures." U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency. 12 Mar. 2009
<http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf>.
Royte, Elizabeth. Garbage Land On the Secret Trail of Trash. Boston: Little, Brown and
Company, 2005
United States. Department of Commerce. Business Analysis. The U.S Plastics and Synthetic
Materials Industry Since 1958. 1985
United, States. Plastics recycling problems and possibilities : hearing before the Subcommittee
on Environment and Employment of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives,
One Hundred Second Congress, second session, Washington, DC, February 25, 1992.
Washington: U.S. G.P.O., For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs., Congressional Sales
Office, 1992. Print.
United States. Cong. Senate. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. 100
Cong., 1st sess. S. Rept. 100-266.
Waston, Tom"Home & Garden | Where can we put all those plastics? | Seattle Times
Newspaper." The Seattle Times | Seattle Times Newspaper. Web. 28 Sept. 2009.
<http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/homegarden/2003730398_ecoconsumer02.html>.