Why can’t all plastics degrade?

Kosmo Vinyl

10 July 2009, 22.51
“Could some research be done into finding ways of breaking down these products quicker? My understanding is that currently some plastics cant be recycled, so if we had ways of decomposing these prdoucts that would surely help improve the environmental impact of these plastics”

All plastics will eventually biodegrade but in some cases this could take as much as 100 years. Others biodegrade very quickly. It all depends on their chemical composition and specific environment. The important factor is to meet the requirements of the specific application during its use phase, and then apply the most appropriate end-of -life treatment

I’d be interested to know the extent to which industry would be keen to invest and potentially adopt bio-(based or degradeable)-polymers were legislation in place to nudge them. An analogy might be drawn to the days of tetraethyl lead (TEL) in petrol as an anti-knocking agent; industry lobbied extremely hard against the prohibition of its inclusion in petrol, but after it was (near enough) banned by policy makers industry found cheaper and more efficient ways to improve octane rating.

Could some research be done into finding ways of breaking down these products quicker? My understanding is that currently some plastics cant be recycled, so if we had ways of decomposing these prdoucts that would surely help improve the environmental impact of these plastics.