Plastics: Just a Load of Rubbish

by Alicia Chrysostomou

A decade to save the planet. That's the current call to arms. Targets are set, governments vow to do their bit and on a societal level we are encouraged to do ours by choosing to forego all things plastic. The question is whether this is the right decision or are we inadvertently at risk of doing more harm than good? Are there other factors in play needing equal consideration? The book will follow the story of plastic, and to an extent rubber (known collectively as polymers), and all with an eye to the overarching theme of the environment. It will ask some challenging questions but also sets out to inform. It begins by building a picture. Just what exactly is a plastic, how did it gain such a dominant role in our lives? Are recent denouncements fully justified? By better understanding plastics, a clearer opinion can be formed of their usefulness and their potential to alleviate serious environmental concerns.

Genres: Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2023

Reviews

[Popup-ch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Chrysostomou is a senior lecturer on polymers, and knows a thing or two about plastics. Here she sets out to describe the wonderful world of polymers to a lay public.
Unfortunately, and as is so common when experts talk about their favourite topic, she struggles to find the correct level. Sometimes it feels like she's dumbing things down to a kindergarten level, and on the next page she refers to the subtleties of PVAc vs PVA and PVOH.

There are some chapters where she describes the origin of various materials - but does a book about plastics really need to go into the details about the production of concrete and paper? It's here to give a reasonable comparison for plastics, and as such it's understandable, but could have been in an appendix.

The best is where she describes the tortured reasoning of some so-called environmentalists, who have managed to ban plastic straws (made from eminently recyclable polypropylene) in favour of paper straws, that have to be impregnated with loads of polymer glues, that make them almost impossible to recycle.

She also discusses the so-called bio-plastics, which can mean a lot of different things - but rarely means that the resulting products are biodegradable, except under certain very specific conditions. Often it just means that the base material was agricultural rather than petrochemical - but today it's possible to make e.g. polyethylene teraphtalate (PET) from agricultural products - but the end result is not biodegradable. Similarly it's possible to make Polyvinyl alcohol (a biodegradable plastic) from petrochemical precursors. Also - beware that when it says that a product can be compostable - it des not mean that it will decompose if left in the pile of leaves at the end of the garden. Typically it requires elevated temperature and mechanical agitation.

The chapter on microplastics is also very good. In short - most studies show no harm from microplastics, but that is not to say that they're harmless. It definitely needs more research.

All in all, a very informative book - but it could have done with another round of editing.

[Alonso · Rating 5 out of 5]

thought provoking