I work in the plastics industry and have done for the last 25 years. some of the things we make are single use like bottles and caps, some aren't like cases for multi-meters and expansion tanks for cars. There is no shortage of orders since all the media coverage started to highlight the issues with plastics. the one thing they do really fail to mention is that the problem isn't the plastic itself its the massive failure by governments across the globe to control waste of plastics. Plastic doesn't walk itself into the oceans its put there by people.. apart from thermoset plastics like Bakelite, PTFE and rubber to name a few, all plastics can be recycled and used many many times. we grind up any waste and excess materials used in the moulding process ready for re-moulding. very little is wasted.
governments have failed to facilitate recycling processes for the multitude of materials that are in circulation in consumer products. the UK sells thousands of tons of materials to china for recycling and landfill some of which probably ends up in the ocean before it makes it to china simply because we don't have the facilities in this country. China then recycle it and sell it back to us either in raw material form or more consumer products and then the cycle begins again. we aren't really an oil producing nation so we have to buy plastics from abroad at great expense to not have the facilities to recycle is crazy but its a reality.
the single use market is bound to take a hammering soon I have no doubt about it but there will always be a need for plastics because you cant make the intricate shapes with many the mechanical and insulating properties out of any other materials and shotgun cartridges are no exception to this. the move to Bio-plastics (made from corn starch and sugar etc.) and Bio-degradable plastics is probably the way to go in future but current bio-plastics don't perform anywhere near as well as plastics made from good ol' fashion oil. research into Bio-plastics is expensive and since the world is pretty much run by the oil companies and with many governments fed backhanders from them its not in their interest to fund it. The other issues with current Bio-plastics is that although they do bio-degrade, they are still harmful to aquatic life when it does so in water. so we return to the lack of waste management issue.
governments have failed to facilitate recycling processes for the multitude of materials that are in circulation in consumer products. the UK sells thousands of tons of materials to china for recycling and landfill some of which probably ends up in the ocean before it makes it to china simply because we don't have the facilities in this country. China then recycle it and sell it back to us either in raw material form or more consumer products and then the cycle begins again. we aren't really an oil producing nation so we have to buy plastics from abroad at great expense to not have the facilities to recycle is crazy but its a reality.
the single use market is bound to take a hammering soon I have no doubt about it but there will always be a need for plastics because you cant make the intricate shapes with many the mechanical and insulating properties out of any other materials and shotgun cartridges are no exception to this. the move to Bio-plastics (made from corn starch and sugar etc.) and Bio-degradable plastics is probably the way to go in future but current bio-plastics don't perform anywhere near as well as plastics made from good ol' fashion oil. research into Bio-plastics is expensive and since the world is pretty much run by the oil companies and with many governments fed backhanders from them its not in their interest to fund it. The other issues with current Bio-plastics is that although they do bio-degrade, they are still harmful to aquatic life when it does so in water. so we return to the lack of waste management issue.