Paris - Before it threatened biodiversity, the oceans, and the global food chain, plastics saved lives and transformed societies as a durable, malleable and cheap material. From the 1950s, plastics enjoyed a positive image "in all areas of life", according to the Plastic Atlas from the Heinrich Boell Foundation.
But with plastic now an integral part of daily life and global production exploding, concerns abound about its impact on the health of the planet -- and ourselves. - Healthcare advances - Plastic is essential to the health industry, used to manufacture items that have helped improve hygiene and boost life expectancy including single-use catheters, IV bags and syringes. Condoms, many of which are made from latex, have greatly improved public health and saved countless lives by protecting against sexually transmitted infections.
Plastics are also widespread in packaging, helping perishable goods stay fresh and safe to consume while reducing overall food waste and illness from contamination. In more recent times, major studies have looked into the impact of microplastics on human health.
Plastic particles ranging from 0.3 to 5 millimetres (0.01 to 0.20 inches) in length have been detected in human blood, breast milk and semen. Plastic has also been adapted for new medical uses, with electroactive polymers used in sensors to detect movement or heart rate. "Plastic is becoming intelligent, attentive to people," said Mickael Pruvost, research engineer at the chemicals company Arkema, which develops these devices.
- Early days - Since appearing in the 19th century, plastic has undergone many reinventions. The first plastics were based on natural and renewable raw materials such as rubber, which was first discovered by the American Charles Goodyear.
In 1869, celluloid arrived in the United States. This followed the invention of a plastic called Parkesine a few years before by an English chemist. Celluloid was first used industrially to replace ivory in billiard balls, and as film for cameras in the early days of cinema.
Then, in 1884, French chemist Hilaire de Chardonnet patented the first artificial silk, which paved the way for the manufacture of nylon. The first entirely synthetic plastic -- meaning free of any molecule found in nature -- was invented in the United States in 1907 by Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland. Known as Bakelite, it was the result of a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde and found use in the manufacturing of telephones, electrical outlets and ashtrays.
- Pans, parachutes and swim caps - Five years later, in 1912, German chemist Fritz Klatte patented polyvinyl chloride, better known as PVC. PVC really took off in the 1950s after the discovery that it could be manufactured cheaply from chlorine, a by-product of the chemical industry. Industrial production of other key plastics from refined petroleum also began around this time, notably in three flagship products. One was polyamide, which proved its worth in US parachutes during the June 1944 landing on the Normandy coast. Another to see action during World War II was polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE, a highly resistant product today better known as Teflon which forms the non-stick coating on cooking pans.
Then there was silicone, still used today in products from swimming caps to hair gel. - Waste crisis - With the global population tripling to more than eight billion between 1950 and today, plastic production has multiplied 230 times over to satisfy demand. Some 60 percent of the plastic made today is used for packaging, construction and transportation, with other major uses in textiles and consumer goods at 10 percent each.
In total, only nine percent of all plastic is recycled, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This has created a plastic waste crisis, one that policymakers have sought to address with a treaty undergoing its fifth and final round of negotiations in South Korea in late November. im/eab/np/sbk/tym ARKEMA By Isabel MALSANG
Each year the world produces around 400 million tonnes of plastic waste, much of it discarded after just a few minutes of use.
Negotiators hope to reach the world's first treaty on plastic pollution this year, but across five very different countries, AFP found single-use plastic remains hugely popular as a cheap and convenient choice, illustrating the challenges ahead: Bangkok On a Bangkok street lined with food vendors, customers line up for Maliwan's famed traditional sweets.
Steamed layer cakes -- green with pandan leaf or blue with butterfly pea -- sit in clear plastic bags alongside rows of taro pudding in plastic boxes. Each day, the 40-year-old business uses at least two kilos of single-use plastic.
"Plastic is easy, convenient and cheap," said 44-year-old owner Watchararas Tamrongpattarakit. Banana leaves used to be standard, but they are increasingly expensive and hard to source. They are also onerous to use because each one must be cleaned and checked for tears. It "isn't practical for our pace of sales", said Watchararas. Thailand started limiting single-use plastic before the pandemic, asking major retailers to stop handing out bags for free. But the policy has largely fallen by the wayside, with little uptake among the country's street food vendors. Thailand produces two million tons of plastic waste a year, according to the country's Pollution Control Department.
The World Bank estimates 11 percent goes uncollected, and is burned, disposed of on land or leaks into rivers and the ocean. Watchararas tries to consolidate purchases into fewer bags and said some customers bring their own reusable containers and totes. But Radeerut Sakulpongpaisal, a Maliwan customer for 30 years, said she finds plastic "convenient". "I also understand the environmental impact," the bank worker said. But "it's probably easier for both the shop and the customers".
Lagos In the Obalende market at the heart of Nigeria's economic capital Lagos, emptied water sachets litter the ground. Each day, Lisebeth Ajayi watches dozens of customers use their teeth to tear open the bags of "pure water" and drink.
"They don't have the money to buy the bottle water, that's why they do the pure water," said the 58-year-old, who sells bottles and bags of water, soap and sponges. Two 500-millilitre sachets sell for between 50 to 250 naira (3-15 US cents), compared to 250-300 naira for a 750-ml bottle. Since they appeared in the 1990s, water sachets have become a major pollutant across much of Africa, but they remain popular for drinking, cooking and even washing. Some 200 firms produce the sachets in Lagos, and several hundred more recycle plastic, but supply vastly outstrips capacity in a country with few public wastebins and little environmental education.
Lagos banned single-use plastic in January, but with little impact so far. The United Nations estimates up to 60 million water sachets are discarded across Nigeria every day.
Rio Each day, vendors walk the sands of some of Rio de Janeiro's most beautiful beaches, lugging metal containers filled with the tea-like drink mate. The iced beverage, infused with fruit juice, is dispensed into plastic cups for eager sun worshippers dotted along the seafront.
"Drinking mate is part of Rio de Janeiro's culture," explained Arthur Jorge da Silva, 47, as he scouted for customers. He acknowledged the environmental impacts of his towers of plastic cups, in a country ranked the fourth-biggest producer of plastic waste in 2019.
But "it's complicated" to find affordable alternatives, he told AFP. The tanned salesman said mate vendors on the beach had used plastic for as long as he could remember. He pays a dollar for a tower of 20 cups and charges customers $1.80 for each drink. Bins along Rio's beaches receive about 130 tons of waste a day, but plastic is not separated, and just three percent of Brazil's waste is recycled annually. Evelyn Talavera, 24, said she does her best to clean up when leaving the beach.
"We have to take care of our planet, throw the garbage away, keep the environment clean." Plastic straws have been banned in Rio's restaurants and bars since 2018, and shops are no longer required to offer free plastic bags -- though many still do. Congress is also considering legislation that would ban all single-use plastic. Paris In France, single-use plastic has been banned since 2016, but while items like straws and plastic cutlery have disappeared, plastic bags remain stubbornly common.
At Paris' Aligre market, stalls are piled with fruit, vegetables and stacks of bags ready to be handed out. Most are stamped "reusable and 100-percent recyclable", and some are described as compostable or produced from natural materials. But experts have cast doubt on the environmental relevance of some of these claims. Vendor Laurent Benacer gets through a 24-euro ($26) box of 2,000 bags each week. "In Paris, everyone asks for a bag," he told AFP. "I'd stopped, but my neighbours continued, so I had to restart." There are alternatives like paper bags, but some customers are simply not convinced. "Plastic bags remain practical, so everything doesn't spill everywhere," insisted 80-year-old customer Catherine Sale. Dubai At the Allo Beirut restaurant in Dubai, plastic containers are piled high, waiting to be filled and delivered across the city.
"We receive more than 1,200 orders a day," said delivery manager Mohammed Chanane. "We use plastic boxes because they are more airtight, and better preserve the food," he said. With few pedestrians and an often-scorching climate, many of Dubai's 3.7 million residents rely on delivery for everything from petrol to coffee. Residents of the United Arab Emirates have one of the highest volumes of waste per capita in the world. And single-use plastic accounts for 40 percent of all plastic used in the country. Since June, single-use plastic bags and several similar items have been banned. Polystyrene containers will follow next year. Allo Beirut is considering using cardboard containers, a move customer Youmna Asmar would welcome. She admitted horror at the build-up of plastic in her bins after a weekend of family orders. "I say to myself, if all of us are doing this, it's a lot."
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