Plastics manufacture environmental concerns

Next, a crisis in plastic bottles occurred in early 2008 in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. Consumers are concerned about the use of BPA or bisphenol-a, which is commonly used in the manufacture of the hard, clear polycarbonate plastic bottles used for juices, drinks and other liquids. Many manufacturers promptly announced they would no longer use BPA. Environmental concerns, health concerns and consumer backlash regarding packaging will grow in coming years. 

Industries that use recycled plastics are as varied as those that use virgin plastics. Companies may have initially focused on the use of recycled plastics to lower environmental impacts but the continued use is usually driven by economic concerns. Companies typically continue to use recycled plastic only when it makes good economic sense. There is a smaller subset of industries that have taken a more focused approach to promote the use of recycled materials in the manufacturing of their products. These organizations do not control their respective industries. Rather, they are a combined voice when representation is needed for the plastics manufacturers, users, or the many small to large recyclers that drive those industries. In reality, most recyclers are not tied to one industry and many act as plastics brokers selling to wherever the plastic is needed and where the most profit is generated. 

Of major concern are the health and environmental impacts of the abundant chlorinated and brominated hydrocarbons (ref. 2). These materials have numerous industrial applications as pesticides, solvents, propellants, refrigerants, plastics, fire retardants and extinguishers, disinfectants for drinking water, pharmaceuticals and electronic chemicals. Many chemical manufacturers utilize chlorinated and brominated organics as intermediates. It is estimated, for instance, that almost 85 % of the pharmaceuticals produced in the world require chlorine at some stage of synthesis. 

NOTE Chlorine is widely used in the protection of drinking water, the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, crop pesticides, paper, rubbers, resins and plastics, and thousands of other products. Nevertheless, since the early 1990s, there has been a groundswell of opinion to either ban or severely limit the use of chlorine in all manners of processes. This is based on observations associated with the probable adverse effect to the environment from certain chlorinated organic chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and the insecticide DDT. There is also concern in a number of other areas, for example, that free chlorine may contribute to effluent toxicity due to the formation of chloramines and trihalomethanes (THMs). In the United States in 1993 to 1994, this opinion was fueled by the possibility that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would... 

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