Yet, while we may be steadily becoming adept at the science of using plastics, man is still struggling with the art of disposing plastics. After all, plastics can leave a thousand year debris foot print and are mostly environmentally corrosive.

Recycling is the conventional wisdom and a great deal of creativity is coming into the reuse of plastics. The most interesting being the disposal of old computers, where a reversal of the assembly line of computers happens. Assembled computers are the starting point of a dis-assembly line on which the computer is stripped part by part and each component then goes into reuse or recycle. At the end of the dis-assembly line, the computer simply vanishes.

But the global consumption of plastics is so vast (Over 200 million tons of plastic are manufactured annually around the world, according to the Society of Plastics Engineers) that existing reuse and recycling volumes are insufficient in the overall management of plastic waste. It would have been wonderful if, as the demand for plastics grew exponentially, a Plastic Code had been developed by leaders in industry which would have become part of everyday living for all categories of users. Something like the auto industry developed a driving code for all vehicle users! An appropriate Plastic Code would have conditioned users of plastics and polymers to follow a global code of disposal.

Today, a Plastic Code is only a theoretical notion – the consequence of

hindsight, inspired by the spectacular damage we are causing to the environment. Because no research whatsoever has gone into it, all suggestions about what such a Code could have contained is only conjecture. That said, here is an idea of what comes to mind.

Imagine if all plastic and polymer applications were categorized into groups or categories. Category A would have been those where only virgin material could be used; Category B could use up to 5% recycled material; Category C could use up to 10%; and so on. On the other side, every plastic product that went into the hands of consumers could carry a Code, indicating which Category of mother plastic it could be best recycled into.

Over time, various plastics and polymers would have assumed their place on, say, a plastic chain – the most sophisticated being on the top, followed by materials used in less demanding applications. The bottom of such a plastic chain could have used a lot of old recycled plastic. Eventually, when a substance could not be reused any further – when it has reached the bottom of the plastic value chain - it could be converted into something that lasts several years without directly interfering with the environment, for example floor tiles.

Anyway, in the absence of such a code, one sees all kinds of plastic waste strewn all around, often literally choking water bodies and sewage lines and spreading filth and squalor. Not a pretty sight at all.

Banning plastics in some popular forms - like bags - is neither clever nor constructive; especially for an industry that has a huge potential to improve the human quality of life on our mother planet. So then what to do? What is the solution?

Bio degradable and water soluble plastics!**

Biodegradable plastics are those that decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments. They may be composed of either bioplastics, which are plastics whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, or petroleum-based plastics which utilize an additive. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of plastic to produce an inert material that is less harmful to the environment.

Currently, there are perhaps three ASTM standard specifications which address biodegradable plastics in composting type environments : the ASTM D6400-04 Standard Specification for Compostable Plastics; ASTM D6868-03 Specification for Biodegradable Plastics Used as Coatings on Paper and Other Compostable Substrates; and the ASTM D7081-05 Standard Specification for Non-Floating Biodegradable Plastics in the Marine Environment.

When oil is in the ground, microbes attach themselves onto the hydrocarbons, consuming the oil and creating natural gas, 50% of which is believed to be methane gas. When the oil is cracked, about 4% is reportedly used for the plastic industry. During cracking, the organic compound which attracts the microbes to the molecular structure of the plastic is burnt out.

To create a plastic product that can biodegrade 100 times faster than normal plastic, the organic compound which is burnt out, as well as other proprietary compounds which increase quorum sensing of the microbes and Ph balance for the microbes, are placed into the molecular structure of the plastic.

Going by knowledge in the public domain, it is believed that materials such as polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymer are

completely compostable in an industrial compost facility. Polylactic Acid (PLA) is another 100% compostable biopolymer which can fully degrade above 60°C in an industrial composting facility. Fully biodegradable plastics are more expensive, partly because they are not widely enough produced to achieve large economies of scale.

However, it should be borne in mind that biodegradable plastics are not a panacea. Some critics claim that a potential environmental disadvantage of certified biodegradable plastics is that the carbon that is locked up in them is released into the atmosphere as a greenhouse gas. However, biodegradable plastics from natural materials, such as vegetable crop derivatives or animal products, sequester CO2 during the phase when they’re growing, only to release CO2 when they’re decomposing, so there is no net gain in carbon dioxide emissions.

The developed world is transferring a number of plastic applications to bio degradable and water soluble plastics. From the candy wrapper to the garbage bag. From the shopping bag to the laundry sack in hospitals. In a whole lot of applications, especially in the retail space, bio degradable and water soluble plastic is replacing conventional polymers. Imagine if a hospital could collect their patients’ laundry in a water soluble plastic bag which can then be just chucked into the washing machine, how much of infectious and contagious sickness is potentially prevented.

Imagination is the only constraint when one starts thinking about how many daily applications can be shifted to bio degradable and water soluble alternatives. It is time leaders of this industry in India took a powerful initiative in this regard. There is obviously no need to reinvent the wheel. The technology is available in plenty and going by the state of the developed economies, obtaining such technology shall be easy.