Scientist S Radhakrishnan dispels myths but flays indiscriminate use at a lecture in Pune.
“Plastic is good for the environment, if used properly, and does not cause damage to human health,’’ said former National Chemical Laboratory scientist, S Radhakrishnan.
Commenting on the prevailing misconception against use of plastic, Radhakrishnan said some form of plastic is even implanted in the human body and at the same time, it do not cause water pollution.
Radhakrishnan was addressing school students at Model Colony-based Muktangan Science Exploratory on Monday while delivering the VG Bhide memorial lecture on ‘Living with plastics.’ Radhakrishnan said there were reports against plastic, saying it was causing various forms of pollution.
“However, the fact is that we do not know how to use plastic,’’ he asserted.
He said some people made confusing statements like ‘say no to plastic,’ ‘plastic should be banned.’
“The reality is that use of plastic is unavoidable. From toothpaste to toilet seats, from keyboards to cellphones, automobiles and other electronic goods are made from plastic,’’ he said.
He said polymers (from which plastic is made) are of two types: thermoplastics and thermosets. The former can be used repeatedly by melting and remoulding, while some qualities of thermosets are harmful to environment because of the long time taken for degradation.
Plastic has excellent qualities because the manufacturing process requires low energy (compared to metals), most are non-polluting (no effluents), stable in different environment conditions and can be reprocessed. “Their only fault appears to be that they are stable,’’ he said.
The scientist pointed out the only problem pertaining to the plastic is of accumulation. “It is found littered everywhere and it is a problem of our wrong habits. Plastic consumption in India has gone up to 12.5 million tonnes from 5 million tonnes in the last few years,’’ he added.
“As it takes long time to degrade, plastic should be reprocessed. We are using it faster, throwing it faster, but its degradation is slower. However, the use of plastic is better than paper because it saves deforestation and toxic waste generated from paper manufacturing factories,’’ he said, adding that recycling is the only solution to use plastic and educating people in handling it.
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