If you look around you will not find it difficult to notice that plastics, from polyurea to polyethylene, are used in many different sectors, from plastic covers to furniture, just to name two of the fields where plastics are most used.
We can certainly claim that plastic has "invaded" many sectored of our life, and it would not be possible to think about a world without plastics, just like it would not be possible to think about a world without wood or other materials that are now become necessary. In spite of, or better to say because of the spread of plastics, these materials are not always seen in a positive way, on the contrary, plastic is often referred to with a negative connotation and connected to something faked, non human and impersonal. Just think about the way the appellative plastic is used to describe in a negative way people, relationships and so on – like in the case of the "fake plastic love" of a famous Radiohead song – and you will understand that when a person speaks about something made of plastic, s/he is not speaking positively about that thing.
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Apart from these considerations, we can also claim that a certain hostility against plastic has grown along with environmental issues. If you throw away plastic you are damaging environment as plastic is almost imperishable. Moreover, plastic wastes cannot be disposed of with the same methods used for other materials, like incineration. However, this does not mean that plastics are to be completely blamed: as above mentioned, it would not be possible to think about a world without plastics, without rub covers, without polystyrene and so on. It is true that plastic is not a biodegradable material, but it is always true that it is possible to recycle it, thus to use it again, and to produce special types of biodegradable plastics.
Furthermore plastics have many advantages, which make this material fit for many different sectors and which have also positive consequences on the environment. Plastic, indeed, is a good acoustic, thermal, electrical and mechanical insulator, as well as a light and versatile material, which is easy to work with a low energy consumption, cheap, colourable, resistant to corrosion, mould, bacteria and fungi and water-repellent. All these peculiarities distinguish plastics from other types of materials, and make them fit for different uses, from the production of protective barriers to furniture, from the fabrication of insulating systems for fridges to home insulation.
In conclusion, the negative connotation that often accompanies the term plastic is sometimes ungrounded, not only because plastic can be recycled and reused, but also because it has some peculiarities that have positive consequences as far as energy saving is concerned.
