Plastic is often described as a practical material. Though it often receives a lot of criticism for being one of the major pollutants if used thoughtfully, there is no reason why it can’t coexist harmoniously with the rest of the environment while we make use of it for different practical purposes. The benefits of plastics are more far-reaching than one might think. The helmets which protect our heads while riding a bike or a motorcycle are made of plastics. So are the seatbelts and airbags which keep us safe in the cars. They are being used in making homes and other buildings energy efficient by insulating them. We need plastics in so many spheres of life. To be fair, what we don’t need are plastic wastes but that is a discussion for some other article.
Here we look at some of the super benefits of plastics and how they make our lives easier.
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Benefits to the healthcare industry
The benefits of plastic in hospitals and clinics can easily be seen. Plastic products are easily accessible in emergency situations and provide sterile and safe equipment for healthcare professionals to deal with. No alternative to plastic can provide such use in healthcare. At least not till now.
What is needed is that overreliance on avoidable single-use plastic should be phased away but plastics in industries such as healthcare will always be an asset.
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Durability
Plastic is impressively durable. It is a strong product that performs very well under high-pressure needs. This durability protects your products ranging from perishable foodstuffs to fragile crockery and electronic items from the damage it could have been subjected to at production and shipping phases. Plastic packaging ensures your product shows up on store shelves or at your homes in the best shape possible.
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Light product
Plastics are lightweight and hence easy to manufacture, use and manipulate. Though almost everything gets packaged in plastics, it accounts for less than one-fifth of the total weight. Hence, it can be said that it is the most prized asset in the packaging world. Any alternative which has been brought in to replace plastic has always increased the weight by three to four times. And these products are not even close to providing the same level of quality and performance that plastics provide.
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Meant for hard environments
The performance of plastics under adverse conditions is very impressive. It is resistant to most chemicals and also corrosion-resistant. A long lifespan of polythene means you can use it again and again.
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Fuel Economy
This is an interesting one for a material that comes under much criticism for being bad for the environment. Plastic actually saves a lot of fuel because the vehicles made of so many plastic products are lightweight and require much less work to be done by them because of this lightweight nature of plastic. Hence this leads to less fuel being burnt and fewer emissions.
Alternatives to it would require much higher fuel consumption.
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Recycling
The introduction of recycling systems has helped us recycle all sorts of plastic products ranging from boxes, cups, trays to vehicle parts, and construction materials made up of plastic.
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Versatility
Plastics are used in every sphere of life nowadays because we can mold plastic into any shape we like and then make it as strong as possible. It is hard to imagine that any other material is being used in such varying fields and with such efficiency and success. Clear plastic finds its use as strip doors at various commercial and domestic spaces.
Plastic has helped mankind in almost every sphere of life but wisdom is required to make the best use of it.
