Friend or foe

“Plastic and polythene” two words that environmentalist and conservationists hate. But are they enemies or friend? People talk mainly about the bad side of the two and do not even bother to find out the good of them. Indiscriminate use of plastic and polythene has caused the problems like flood, endangering fauna and fauna and providing breeding grounds for the flies and mosquitoes. Should we blame the plastic and polythene and ban them and switch back to so called Echo friendly, biodegradable substitutes like papers?
For good or for bad it all started in 1909 when Baekland developed commercial phenolic resin in his laboratory. His discovery stimulated the search for other plastic materials and resulted in an industry that has grown to become become one of the biggest business.
Success of research and development have produced many forms of this man made material which people use for various applications ranging from drinking cups to space shuttles. It plays a major role in food industry where polythene used to food packing and food preservation as well.
Despite the all the uses of these materials they do pose a threat to the environment and personal health. Certain raw materials and intermediates such as phthalic anhydrides are carcinogenic. Burning of these materials emit poisonous gases. Polythene and plastic take longer time to decay therefore disposing is the biggest disadvantage.