The article in the url below reports on efforts intended to tackle the environmental damage done by plastics:
"Most synthetic polymers — Greek for 'many parts,' because they are long chains of many identical molecules — were not designed to disintegrate or disappear. On the contrary, they were meant to last as long as possible once they began replacing metals and glass in long-lasting things like automobiles and airplanes. But synthetic polymers became so popular and adaptable that decades later, they're at the root of the global burden of billions of tons of plastic waste. … Too little gets recycled; in fact some estimates indicate that a mere 10 percent of all plastics are recycled every year."
In response, politicians finally seem to have woken-up to the threat:
"The European Union has proposed banning single-use plastics, seeking to cut production of items ranging from fishing gear to cotton swabs. Cities in the United States have also been trying to ban some plastics, including grocery bags and those ubiquitous straws that have suddenly turned into the symbol of all that's wrong with our throwaway culture."
In line with this, scientists are now working to try and develop a plastic that disappears on its own:
"The environmental effects of plastic buildup and the declining popularity of plastics have helped to spur chemists on a quest to make new materials with two conflicting requirements: They must be durable, but degradable on command. In short, scientists are in search of polymers or plastics with a built-in self-destruct mechanism."
And, it is important to emphasize, this would not be a material that merely breaks down in an uncontrolled way, this is a material that deactivates (on exposure to a specific trigger, such as light or acid) in a way that means the residue is of greater value (as long as it is then collected):
"The plastic did not simply melt. Its building blocks, the synthetic polymers within, had reverted to their molecular units."
The scientists do this by combining fundamentally unstable molecules. In other words, ingredients that previously were overlooked because of this instability are now seen as a solution to the plastics problem because they want to remain separate, which means they gladly revert to their default state when encouraged to do so:
"On-demand, rapid disintegration gives unzipping polymers an edge over biodegradable ones … as biodegradation is often slow and difficult to control."
The key, then, is to gather up the component parts and reassemble them, making them "chemically recyclable." While the science seems close, however, a remaining issue is cost, which will probably prevent this new plastic from replacing most of the plastic currently in our lives:
"Economically speaking, replacing the most widely used polymers like polyethylene (grocery bags), polypropylene (fishing nets) or polyterephthalate (single-use bottles) with unzipping polymers is not feasible. … Instead, scientists … are focusing their attention on higher-value materials like the polyurethane foams commonly found in mattresses and car seats."
The key to commercialization, it seems, is for companies to be held responsible for the lifecycle costs of the products they make:
"If car companies had to take back a used car, for instance, it might make sense to have an internal chemical recycling system to make new materials from old ones."
Take care
David
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A Plastic Designed to Die
By Xiaozhi Lim
August 7, 2018
The New York Times
Late Edition – Final
D1
