An Industry View of Plastics in the Environment

Abstract

The title of this paper is meant to emphasize that there is no single monolithic industry viewpoint. Perhaps this diversity is most evident in considering plastics with accelerated degradation. We will later refer to the merits of plastics characteristic resistance to degradation in landfill operations. Many plastics formulations have already been announced which show some acceleration of degradation on exposure to terrestrial UV, IR, moisture, some combination thereof, and also to certain bacteria and fungi in soil. Claims have been made for plans to develop commercially one or more varieties. One has appeared in this country, with undocumented claims for so-called Food and Drug Administration “approval” since it does contact food. If FDA’s recent proposal requiring environmental impact statements (for food additives, including food packaging) becomes regulation, with review by the Environmental Protection Agency, there will clearly be needed explicit analysis of the real significance to the environment.