Plastics - Environmental Effects

Environmental Effects

Further information: Marine debris and Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly; the chemical bonds that make plastic so durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. Since the 1950s, one billion tons of plastic have been discarded and may persist for hundreds or even thousands of years. Perhaps the biggest environmental threat from plastic comes from fragmented pieces of plastic called nurdles. In the 1960s these were observed in the guts of seabirds, and since then have been found in increasing concentration. In 2009, it was estimated that 10% of modern waste was plastics, although estimates vary according to region. Meanwhile, 50-80% of debris in marine areas is plastic.

Prior to the ban on the use of CFCs in extrusion of polystyrene (and general use, except in life-critical fire suppression systems; see Montreal Protocol), the production of polystyrene contributed to the depletion of the ozone layer; however, non-CFCs are currently used in the extrusion process.