Black-coloured plastic is something we see every day. Plastic is a part of the norm these days. Plastic as a product has helped the human kind to develop in vast ways. It has given us opportunities but with it comes the consequences.
Black plastic as a packaging material is a hidden issue not many people know of. Especially the industry world is struggling with this. It is something that us normal consumers don’t really think of. When you think of black plastic you most often think of the cafeteria’s lunch boxes or black rubbish bags.
What is black plastic?
You might think that black plastic is just plastic among others, right? Black plastic actually gets its colour from carbon black pigment. Black plastic is often made out of electronic waste. That is also another bad side in black plastic. If it’s made out of e-waste, it may contain some toxins.
Why you should avoid black plastic
Here comes the catch. Did you know that the waste treatment equipment do not notice or recognize the colour black? Waste treatment equipment’s infrared sensors do not recognize the black pigment. Therefore, almost every piece of black plastic end up in the landfills! Black plastic is non-recyclable. This is the heart of the issue with black plastic.
What should we do?
One possible solution is to basically reduce the produced black plastic –products. As students, in my opinion, we should raise awareness of this issue. The company owners and heads should be made clear of this issue with black plastic in the hope of them giving it up in their production lines and goods. As ridiculous as it sounds, supermarkets often use black containers because it makes the food products more appealing and the colourful food to really stand out. I wonder if supermarkets even know of this problem with black plastic.
What us consumers can do is that we can consciously reduce the use of black plastic. One easy tri ck is to switch your black trash bags into some other colour. We can and should pick up products at the store which don’t include black plastic. We can with our very own actions reduce the use of black plastic.
I became interested in this topic because I saw this being mentioned on the internet and I wanted to know more. It is for the good that this issue is brought up and people acknowledge this issue. Black plastic happens to be a huge problem!
