The harm of waste plastic bags to the environment

Plastic bags can be found everywhere in our lives. It is very convenient to buy something in a store or supermarket. While plastic bags provide us with convenience, as people's environmental awareness increases, they gradually realize the harm of such things. They have a huge impact on the environment. Discarded plastic bags may even take decades to degrade. Let's take a look at the harm that waste plastic bags cause to the environment.

1. Impact on agricultural development. Waste plastic products continue to accumulate in the soil, which will affect the absorption of nutrients and water by crops, leading to reduced crop yields.

2. It poses a threat to animal survival. Waste plastic products abandoned on land or in water are swallowed by animals as food, causing their death. Such things are common in zoos, pastoral areas, rural areas and oceans.

3. Waste plastics not only occupy a large amount of land when buried with garbage, but the occupied land cannot be restored for a long time, affecting the sustainable use of the land. If waste plastic products that enter the domestic garbage are landfilled, they will not degrade for 200 years. It is extremely harmful to the land.

4. High temperature will decompose toxic substances. Plastic products do not contain toxic substances, but because the recycling equipment is not perfect, the process is simple, and many manufacturers do not have a legal business license, when the temperature of the reproduced plastic products reaches 65°C, toxic substances will precipitate and penetrate into the food, causing harm to important parts of the human body such as the liver, kidneys, reproductive system and central nervous system.

Composition of plastic bags

Synthetic resin

Synthetic resin is the main component of plastics, and its content in plastics is generally 40% to 100%. Due to its large content and the fact that the properties of resin often determine the properties of plastic, people often regard resin as a synonym for plastic. For example, polyvinyl chloride resin is confused with polyvinyl chloride plastic, and phenolic resin is confused with phenolic plastic. In fact, resin and plastic are two different concepts. Resin is an unprocessed raw polymer that is not only used to make plastics, but also the raw material of coatings, adhesives and synthetic fibers. Except for a very small part of plastics that contain 100% resin, the vast majority of plastics, in addition to the main component resin, also need to add other substances.

filler

Fillers, also known as extenders, can improve the strength and heat resistance of plastics and reduce costs. For example, adding wood powder to phenolic resin can greatly reduce costs, making phenolic plastic one of the cheapest plastics, while also significantly improving mechanical strength. Fillers can be divided into two categories: organic fillers and inorganic fillers. The former include wood powder, rags, paper and various fabric fibers, and the latter include glass fiber, diatomaceous earth, asbestos, carbon black, etc.

Plasticizers

Plasticizers can increase the plasticity and softness of plastics, reduce their brittleness, and make them easier to process and shape. Plasticizers are generally high-boiling point organic compounds that are miscible with resin, non-toxic, odorless, light and heat stable. The most commonly used are phthalates. For example, when producing polyvinyl chloride plastics, if more plasticizers are added, soft polyvinyl chloride plastics can be obtained. If no plasticizer is added or a small amount of plasticizer is added (10% dosage), hard polyvinyl chloride plastics can be obtained.

Stabilizer

In order to prevent synthetic resins from decomposing and being damaged by light and heat during processing and use and to extend their service life, stabilizers must be added to the plastics. Commonly used ones are stearate, epoxy resin, etc.

Colorants

Colorants can give plastics a variety of bright, beautiful colors. Organic dyes and inorganic pigments are commonly used as colorants.

Lubricants

The function of lubricant is to prevent the plastic from sticking to the metal mold during molding, and at the same time make the surface of the plastic smooth and beautiful. Commonly used lubricants include stearic acid and its calcium and magnesium salts.