... plastic may have replaced a shorter live product that was more expensive. For example, the use of plastics in the construction industry where all types of material from timber to steel has been replaced with a range of plastics (Douglas, 1998, CCC, nd). Other uses, such as some medical uses may otherwise be difficult if not impossible to make from other goods (Stewart, 2005) 'All plastic materials have the property that at some stage, they have been or can be readily formed or moulded into a useful shape' (Strong, 2000 p.1). From this perspective plastics are a boom. They have been facilitators and created ease and convenience, increased the quality of life and have also developed markets that have lead to economic wellbeing. However, there has also been a high cost, one that was not originally realised when the plastics industry first developed. The production of plastics as well as its ...

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