The excessive use of single-use plastic is currently one of the most polluting factors in our ecosystem. For this reason, it is essential to use, but above all to reuse, this material that is as innovative as it is polluting.
Plastic is an organic compound, obtained from carbon and hydrogen-based resources, synthesized from petroleum and methane. Its history begins in the second half of the 19th century with the first scientific experiments. It is from the second half of the 20th century that production increases more and more quickly until reaching exorbitant numbers thanks to the high adaptability of this material that allows its widespread use in every area of human life: from fashion to cooking, from design to art, from the packaging sector to that of stationery, making a real cultural revolution. Today it is in fact impossible to imagine a world without plastic.
It is, however, easy to understand how such an excessive and deep-rooted use of plastic materials has considerably affected the pollution of our ecosystem, adaptability is also reflected in this: air, soil, water and their habitats, fauna and flora, are victims of the unsustainable use of these materials.
Data in hand: the damage caused by single-use plastic
According to recent estimates by the European Commission : more than 80% of marine litter found on European beaches is plastic, 50% of European marine litter is single-use plastic, percentages that determine consequences of 630 million euros per year in damage to European tourism and 300 million euros per year in damage to the European fishing industry. For this reason, EU Directive 2019/904 was issued, implemented in Italy with Legislative Decree 196/2021, which prevents the placing on the market of single-use plastic products - including cutlery, plates, straws and food and drink containers -, oxo-degradable plastic products and fishing gear containing plastic.
The aim is to drastically reduce the production of single-use plastic, which is among the most environmentally impactful, in a circularity perspective that includes the strengthening of separate waste collection aimed at recycling the raw material.
Good practices for sustainable use of objects
Plastic, as already said, is a material with amazing characteristics: it is ductile, light, hygienic, transparent and low cost for large-scale production, for these reasons it is widely used in various industrial sectors, but equally amazing is its polluting power. In the new eco-sustainable perspective, practices have been identified that allow a reduced use of this material.
Disposable dishes, cutlery, straws, bottles and containers can often be easily replaced with respective objects made of metal or glass, therefore more resistant and in line with the principles of durability and reuse. Washing and reusing certain objects is a healthy habit to be applied daily.
In the fashion industry, it is important to make the right choices by purchasing - only if really necessary - second-hand clothes in excellent condition or, if new, made with a single textile fibre, preferably natural or recycled.
As for hygiene and cosmetics - shampoo, soap, detergents, creams and make-up - it is preferable to use solid products made with natural ingredients, less harmful to the skin and water, packaged in paper, glass, metal or recyclable plastic packaging. Disposable toothbrushes, razors and combs should be avoided in favor of interchangeable blades and heads and bamboo combs.
Packaged food products are convenient but often of poor quality as well as harmful to the environment. It is therefore preferable to replace them with fresh and loose foods, grown organically and with ethical labor. Bottled water, on the other hand, can now be conveniently replaced with filter jugs or tap filters.
It is still very difficult to completely eliminate single-use plastic objects, but they should only be used in limited cases and preferably made with biodegradable bioplastics or better yet compostable or recyclable made from renewable and non-fossil sources. It is impossible to deny the convenience of plastic, we produce an enormous amount of waste every day, it is therefore our duty to try to compensate by making a conscious and limited use of it that has recycling as its goal: every citizen is in fact required to inform themselves about the differentiation and recycling practices of their Municipality. It is the simple and daily behaviors applied on a large scale that determine changes capable of improving the impact that, as living beings, we cause on our ecosystem.