Why Plastics Take So Long To Decompose?

Plastic is incredibly useful to people. However, it is also incredibly harmful to nature and our environment. Plastic bags and bottles only start to break down after at least 500 years, if not more. Even after thousands of years when they’ve decomposed into microplastics, they still pollute the environment by littering the ground with plastic and releasing harmful chemicals. When plastic goes into landfills, it sits there for decades, releasing chemicals and polluting the earth.

There is a key reason why plastic does not decompose as easily as vegetables, or natural materials. It is because the chemicals and materials used in plastics are unnatural to decomposers, who are the ones that are supposed to break down these items. The bacteria in our environments aren't familiar with the materials in the plastic, which makes it hard to break down and takes an enormous amount of time to decompose.

Although normal plastics don't decompose easily within the last couple of years there has been strives for innovations that have created biodegradable plastics and other plastic alternatives.

Credits:

LeBlanc, Rick. “Decomposing Plastic.” The Balance Small Business, www.thebalancesmb.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033.