May Be Obvious? plas·tic ˈplastik/ What Is It?

plas·tic

ˈplastik/'

I began wondering - as we realized the inevitability of this project really happening - 

what is plastic anyway?  This article references aspects of my research- the culmination and reduction of a ton of reading that went into quite a bit of detail about what seemed like a simple query! Here are the highlights: 

Beyond Belief ...

Whether or not you realize it practically everything you use on a daily basis is entirely or partly made of plastic material. Besides the obvious use of 'single-use' products such as straws, cups, plastic bags, to-go containers, packaging that we use daily, add to this televisions, computers, cars and car parts, tires, house, refrigerator, and many other products that utilize plastic materials.  This just scratches the surface as this does not even broach the topic of microplastics in our shampoos, soaps and even some of our food products. We will cover that in a later blogpost.   For now see a short video here on single-use items: My brief visit to the local convenience store!

1. ___________________________________________________________________________ " Frans Timmermans, said Brussels’ priority was to clamp down on “single-use plastics that take five seconds to produce, you use it for five minutes and it takes 500 years to break down again”. In the EU’s sights, Timmermans said, were throw-away items such as drinking straws, “lively coloured” bottles that do not degrade, coffee cups, lids and stirrers, cutlery and takeaway packaging. The former Dutch diplomat told the Guardian: “If we don’t do anything about this, 50 years down the road we will have more plastic than fish in the oceans … we have all the seen the images, whether you watch [the BBC’s] Blue Planet, whether you watch the beaches in Asian countries after storms." (3) ______________________________________________________ Back to Basics                                   Video on How Plastic is Made           From Wiki:  "Plastic is material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or  semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable and so can be molded into solid objects.  ________________________________________________ 7 of the most popular and commonly used plastics (2):   Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) Polycarbonate (PC) Polyethylene (PE) Polypropylene (PP) Polyethylene Terephthalate (PETE or PET) Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) ________________________________________________                                                     Well, the science is above my head so I went deeper down the research path to this for furthering my understanding (which seemed at least to use vocabulary I am familiar with)!  Plastics are derived from natural, organic materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt and, of course, crude oil. Crude oil is a complex mixture of thousands of compounds and needs to be processed before it can be used. The production of plastics begins with the distillation of crude oil in an oil refinery. This separates the heavy crude oil into groups of lighter components, called fractions. Each fraction is a mixture of hydrocarbon chains (chemical compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen), which differ in terms of the size and structure of their molecules. One of these fractions, naphtha, is the crucial compound for the production of plastics.(4).In older usage, "naphtha" simply meant crude oil, but this usage is now obsolete in English. It was also used for mineral spirits (also known as "Stoddard Solvent"), originally the main active ingredient in Fels Naptha laundry soap. There are enough petrochemicals in one barrel of oil to make the following: (5) 39 polyester shirts 750 pocket combs 540 toothbrushes 65 plastic dustpans 23 hula hoops 65 plastic drinking cups 195 one-cup measuring cups 11 plastic telephone housings 135 four-inch rubber balls I also learned about different processes: Extrusion Molding -- the main process used to form plastics. A heated plastic compound is forced continuously through a forming die made in the desired shape (like squeezing toothpaste from a tube, it produces a long, usually narrow, continuous product). The formed plastic cools under blown air or in a water bath and hardens on a moving belt. Rods, tubes, pipes, Slinkys®, and sheet and thin film (such as food wraps) are extruded then coiled or cut to desired lengths. Plastic fibers also are made by an extrusion process. Liquid resin is squeezed through thousands of tiny holes called spinnerets to produce the fine threads from which plastic fabrics are woven. Injection Molding -- is the second most widely used process to form plastics. The plastic compound, heated to a semifluid state, is squirted into a mold under great pressure and hardens quickly. The mold then opens and the part is released. This process can be repeated as many times as necessary and is particularly suited to mass production methods. Injection molding is used for a wide variety of plastic products, from small cups and toys to large objects weighing 30 pounds or more. Blow Molding -- pressure is used to form hollow objects, such as the soda pop bottle or two-gallon milk bottle, in a direct or indirect method. In the direct blow-molding method, a partially shaped, heated plastic form is inserted into a mold. Air is blown into the form, forcing it to expand to the shape of the mold. In the indirect method, a plastic sheet or special shape is heated then clamped between a die and a cover. Air is forced between the plastic and the cover and presses the material into the shape of the die.(6) _________________________________________________________ List of resources:  1. http://www.plasticfreechallenge.org/what-is-single-use-plastic/ 2.  https://www.acplasticsinc.com/informationcenter/r/7-different-types-of-plastic-and-how-they-are-used 3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/16/eu-declares-war-on-plastic-waste-2030 4. https://www.plasticseurope.org/en/about-plastics/what-are-plastics/how-plastics-are-made 5. https://plasticisrubbish.com/2013/12/21/oil-to-plastic/ 6. http://www.reachoutmichigan.org/funexperiments/quick/plastic.html