Synthetic fibres and

plastics
 Plastics
A plastic is a synthetic material which can be moulded or set into
desired shape when soft and then hardened to produce a durable article.
Plastic too is a polymer. They consist of very long molecules made by
joining many small molecules together. But arrangement of units is
different in different types of plastic. In some plastics, the individual
units are linked in a linear fashion. In some other plastics, the individual
units are cross-linked.
 For Ex: Polythene, Polyvinyl chloride, Bakelite, Melamine, Teflon etc
 Properties of plastics
1)Plastics do not react with air and water and are resistant to corrosion. Thus,
they are also often unaffected by various chemicals and are unreactive in nature.
The plastic containers are used to store various kinds of materials, including
many chemicals.
2)Plastics are poor conductor of heat and electricity, due to which they may be
used as insulators.
For example: The handles of cooking utensils or of screw drivers are made of
plastic so that we can hold the hot cooking utensils safely. The electric wires
have plastic covering as insulation too.
3)Plastics can be moulded into different shapes. Plastics can be easily moulded,
they are used to make a large variety of articles having different shapes and
sizes such as buckets, mugs, furniture, bags, sheets, bags, sheets, slippers,
electrical fitting.
4)Plastics are quite cheaper than metals and are easily made. They are now
widely used for making many of the household and industrial articles.
 5)Plastics is light, strong and durable. It is because of the lower price, easy
availability, lightweight, good strength, durability and corrosion resistance of
plastic .Being lighter than metals, plastics are also used in cars, aircrafts and
Types of plastics
Thermoplastic: There are some plastics which easily get
deformed on heating, and can be easily bent and reshaped
by heating. They are called thermoplastic. Polythene and
PVC are examples of thermoplastic. Thermoplastic is used
for making combs, toys, buckets, mugs, etc.
Polythene: It is a plastic obtained by the polymerisation of a
chemical compound known as ethene. It is tough and
durable. It is used in making polythene bags, waterproof
plastic sheets, bottles, buckets, dustbins.
 Polyvinyl chloride (PVC): It is a strong and hard plastic. It
is not as flexible as polythene. It is used for making
insulation for electric wires, pipes, garden hoses,
raincoats, seat cover etc.
Some examples of thermoplastics

Polythene Polyvinyl
chloride
Thermosetting plastics
Thermosetting Plastic: These are the plastics that do not get deformed
on heating, and their shape cannot be re-molded. Such plastics are
called thermosetting plastic. Bakelite and melamine are examples of
thermosetting plastic.
Bakelite: It is a very hard and tough plastic. It is a poor conductor of
heat and electricity. It is used for making the handles of various cooking
utensils (fry pans, pressure cooker) because it is a poor conductor of
heat.
Melamine is a plastic which can tolerate heat better than other plastics
and resist fire. It is used for making floor tiles, unbreakable
kitchenware, ashtray and fire resistant fabric. Special plastic cookware
made of melamine is used in microwave ovens for cooking food.
 Teflon is a special plastic on which oil and water does not stick
because it has slippery surface. It can withstand high temperature. It
is used for making soles of electric irons, giving non-stick coating on
cook wares.
Some examples of thermosetting
plastics

Bakelite Malamine Teflon

Reasons for popularity of plastics
Plastics gained popularity owing to its property of being non-reactive,
light and strong, insulator to heat and electricity. Let us know about the
same in a little more elaborate manner.
Plastic is non-reactive: Plastic does not react with air and can be
replaced with iron. It also does not react with many chemicals, so used
as plastic containers in kitchen, as lunch boxes and also used as plastic
bags and wrappers.
Plastic is light, strong and durable: Plastics being light and strong have
replaced many wooden made items like chair, table, different kitchen
utensils, crates etc. Most of the warehouses now use plastic pellets for
keeping goods.
 Plastic is poor conductor of heat and electricity: Poor conductivity to
heat and electricity makes switches and many components of
electrical appliances very comfortable to use without getting electric
shocks. These above-mentioned items including handles of utensils
are made of plastic. These handles are used as they do not heat up.
 Plastics and the environment
Plastics, however, play a very important role in our life
but it is a not decomposable substance. It means that
plastics are non- biodegradable substance. So, they burnt
instead, which when burnt, releases toxic fumes into the
atmosphere causing pollution.
Biodegradable: A material which can be decomposed by
microbes is called a biodegradable material, e.g. jute,
cotton, paper, leftover food, etc.
 Non-biodegradable: A material which cannot be
decomposed by microbes is called a non-biodegradable
material, e.g. plastic, iron, copper, etc. The non-
biodegradable nature of plastic poses a big problem.
Methods of biodegradable waste
management
Problems of using plastics bags

As Plastic bags, cannot decompose so it keeps on

getting accumulated in the environment and thus
gives rise to a new problem soil pollution.
It chokes drainage system and leads to overflow of
dirt and water along with foul smell in the
environment.
Any stray animal can die in case it swallows plastic
bag more often seen in cow, goat, deer, etc.
swallowing plastic with their herbs.
How to solve the problem of
plastics waste?
We should follow the principles of three Rs, i.e. Reduce, Reuse and
Recycle. We need to encourage recycling and reuse of plastics.
We should use shopping bags made of cloth or jute and bio disposable
bags and packaging is considered best for reducing soil pollution.
We need make sure not to throw plastic bags on roads or in drains.
We should avoid buying products with less plastic packaging.
 We can use the wax worm, a caterpillar typically used for fishing bait
and known for damaging beehives by eating their wax comb that eat
upon plastic and can finally decompose plastics. They are commonly
known as mealworms.