Tag: environmental impact: plastics

Plastic has light weight, lower price, good strength and easy to handle. Therefore, container are made from plastic.

Polyethylene is a thermoplastic polymer consisting of long hydrocarbon chains. Polyethylene or polythene is the most common plastic. Its primary use is in packaging (plastic bag, plastic films, containers including bottles, etc.).

Plastic is a material consisting of synthetic or semi-synthetic organics that can be moulded into solid objects of diverse shapes. Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass, but they often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, but many are partially natural.

Melamine is poor conductor of heat and resists fire. Most of the synthetic fibres are poor conductors of heat and electricity. However, melamine is used as a coating on the uniforms of firemen as they are flame resistant.

Thermosetting plastics contain polymers that cross-link together during the curing process to form an irreversible chemical bond. It can't be recycled. The cross-linking process eliminates the risk of the product remelting when heat is applied, making thermosetting ideal for high-heat applications such as electronics and appliances.

Plastic is a poor conductor of heat and electricity. 

Most plastics are both thermal and electrical insulators, meaning they show high resistance to electrical current and are poor conductors of heat.

Handles of most pans are made up of thermosetting plastic. Thermosetting plastic does not melt easily. These plastic cannot be reshaped again and again.

The world's first fully synthetic plastic was bakelite, invented in New York in 1907 by Leo Baekeland who coined the term 'plastics'. Bakelite is made from carbolic acid (phenol) and formaldehyde and is referred to as a phenolic resin. Bakelite was the first thermosetting plastic.