Why plastic is naturally non bio degradable?

Answer 1

Plastics are made from petroleum (oil) as people have said. More specifically plastics are made of petroleum based molecules called polymers. Polymers are (among other things) long strings of carbon atoms. These atoms form strong chemical bonds that are resistant to bring broken. This is why plastics are so durable.

However, it is not completely true to say that plastics are non-biodegradable. Most of the plastics we use are high density plastics that are made from very long polymers. However, other plastics are made of shorter strings and will break down relatively quickly. Compare say a food storage container and the plastic wrapping around a package. The plastic wrapping is lower grade plastic and can biodegrade. If you leave it in your car in the sun for a few days it will become brittle and began to break apart.

This is also related to a problem with recycling plastics. Every time you recycle a plastic item you break down some of the chemical chains and end up with a lower grade plastic than the one you started with. Eventually the strands become so short they are no longer recyclable. If you look on the bottom of bottles you will see a recycle symbol with a number. This indicates the grade of the plastic so recyclers can group similar types.

Some chemists are working on plastics that include other chemicals that will allow these polymers to be strong in certain environments but break apart when exposed to elements over a longer period of time.

Answer 2

Plastic is no longer bio-degradeable after it is synthetically engineered from oil. The chemical process prevents it from degrading. It would take time to slowly sand blast it until it is all gone if you leave it outside exposed and not covered. But that could take thousands of years assuming dirt doesn't cover it.

Answer 3

Its why we still have the oil that resulted from the plants and junk of days of old.

It doesn't break down so much. I don't think people should care so much about it. Eventually people will either use it as building material or hopefully fusion engines will be sucessfully made and they can use this trash as full. In which case they finally will be broken down to their atoms.

Answer 4

Plastic is made by chaining molecules and this chain is so strong that it takes harsh chemical and lots of time to weaken.

Answer 5

Basically, when the term "biodegradeable" is used, it is used to describe many many things that are going on. Basically, it's non biodegradeable because:
1. bacteria or other things don't eat it
2. it's waterproof
3. it's very strong, so it doesn't break apart easily
4. it won't dry out and crumble

Answer 6

B ecause it's man made , not natural.

Answer 7

because it's petroleum based