Future of HDPE? 1

[Dee87]

Hi all,

I stumbled across this article:

https://provprocure.com/hdpe-high-density-polyethylene/

and it seems like HDPE is (and has been for some time) the most commonly used plastic available today.

What I'd like to know is what the evolution of HDPE (and plastics in general) looks like in the next 5-10 years?

With all the negative press plastics have been seeing of late, what eco-friendly alternatives may become available?

Interested to hear your thoughts!

 

[ornerynorsk]

Plastics are eco-friendly when used and recaptured properly. Try to imagine your life today without plastics. We do have some work to do in the reclaiming and recapture of discarded materials, but I for one would not want to give up plastics in their current embodiment. There are no reasonable alternatives at the present moment that I'm aware of, although bamboo and other cellulosics are making some inroads in niche markets.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.

 

[Demon3]

Plastics are usually greener than metal, glass, wood etc when you do a life cycle analysis to check the facts. I wrote an article on it here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/last-straw-lies-bad-journalism-chris-dearmitt

Polyethylene bags are proven greener than paper or cotton bags which require more water, chemicals and energy to make than PE bags. "Green" plastic bags made of PLA are also less green than PE when you do the life cycle analysis. Unfortunately, the public and politicians are being misled on this topic.

Chris DeArmitt PhD FRSC
President

Plastic materials consultant to the Fortune 100
Creating New Materials - Problem Solving - Innovation Keynotes - Expert Witness

http://www.phantomplastics.com