Plastic refers to synthetic or semi-synthetic material made from a range of organic compounds that is reshapable by applying heat and pressure.
| Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Arguments in favor of | Arguments opposing |
| Plastics are simple to manufacture and lightweight. | |
| Plastics are generally inexpensive to produce and easy to transport. | Low cost of plastics may cause their overusage and hence excessive plastic waste. |
| Plastics are durable and degrade slowly. | |
| Plastics' durability and impermeability renders them very useful in various industries (e.g. packaging, construction, electronics and transportation). | Plastics' resistance to natural degradation causes persistance of their waste in nature for a significant amount of time. |