What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word plastic? Maybe it’s a plastic toy, disposable cutlery, or a plastic bag? Today we use plastic in everything, from furniture and floors to hospital equipment and mobile phones. A lot of times, we make things of plastic to imitate other materials. What may look like wood or a neat cotton shirt may be made of plastic.
WHAT EXACTLY IS PLASTIC?

Plastic is a collective name for several different materials. All plastic materials have in common that we make them of long molecular chains called polymers. You may recognize the materials polyester and polyamide. In fact, the names say that those materials come from polymers. The advantage of polymers is that they can be given widely differing properties only by tiny chemical changes. Plastic can be soft, hard, extremely flexible, compact, and firm.

The molecules that make up the building blocks of plastic material almost always come from crude oil. When making 1 kilo of plastic, approximately 2 kilos of crude oil are used [7]. Producing plastic from renewable raw materials such as sugar cane, starch, or lactic acid is also possible. However, it is still cheaper to create plastic from fossil fuels, which makes this plastic the dominant one on the market.
Plastic from sugar cane is better for the environment since manufacturing plastic requires no fossil fuels. But once made, it has precisely the same properties as plastic made from crude oil. It looks the same, and we can not break it down in nature. We can not throw away plastic bags from a grocery store made of sugar cane in the compost; instead, we can recycle them with plastic, just like “ordinary” plastic. Plastic made from starch (for example, maize or potatoes) or lactic acid, on the other hand, is broken down in ordinary compost [1].

Plastic production is increasing constantly, and there are no signs that the trend is about to change. Annual production has gone from less than 1 million tonnes per year in the 1950s to 280 million tonnes in 2011. We use 40% of all plastics produced today for disposable items [1]. Thus, we are investing enormous resources in pumping up crude oil, which has taken millions of years to form, making products from the oil and using it only once! Disposable items such as PET bottles also take about 450 years to degrade in nature. The European Parliament has now agreed on a law banning disposable plastic products from 2021.
THE PLASTIC IN OUR CLOTHES
Production of synthetic textile fibres started in the 1930s while we were already developing other plastic materials. Like other plastics, synthetic fibres are made from crude oil. The price of cotton was high, and deliveries were uncertain in times of war, which increased the demand for synthetic materials, a cheaper and safer alternative. The first fully synthetic textile material developed was polyamide, which became known under the brand name nylon. In the 50s, the large-scale production of synthetic textile fibre started, and materials such as polyester and acrylic became popular.
Demand has steadily increased since the launching of synthetic textile fibres in the 1930s, especially in recent decades. For example, global production of synthetic fibres almost quintupled only between 1980 and 2011, of which polyester accounted for 91% of the increase [5]. Synthetic fibre today accounts for about 60% of the total fibre production. At most, the demand for synthetic fibres in developing countries is increasing, which may be because synthetic fibres are cheaper than natural fibres [5].
THERE ARE BOTH ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO SYNTHETIC TEXTILE FIBERS
Polyester is a very durable material. For example, cotton garments are often blended with polyester to make the garment last longer. The production of polyester also requires less water than the production of cotton fibres. On the other hand, making synthetic fibres is very energy-intensive. It takes three times more energy to produce polyester fibres than cotton [6]. Synthetic textile fibres also release large amounts of microplastics, partly during washing but also via the air.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- Go through the closet and look at your clothes’ care and content labels. You may be surprised at how much plastic is hidden in your clothes. Remember to wash gently if synthetic fibre is in your clothes, preferably in a laundry bag.
- Shop second-hand! No time to go to flea markets? Then maybe Tradera would be a better option for you. Erikshjälpen has also recently started online sales at https://www.secondhand.se/
Sources
- Naturskyddsforeningen.se – 5 truths about plastic
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation – Rethinking the future of plastic
- Varldenshistoria.se – Nylon stockings were essential to both fashion and war
- Tekniskamuseet.se – Plastic history
- Naturvardsverket.se – Documents/Publications
- Textilsmart.hallakonsument.se – Textiles and the environment
- Naturvardsverket.se – Environmental work – plastic and micro-plastic