Which products contain plastics?

Packagings

Perhaps the most obvious use of plastic is single-use packaging. These include, among other things, deposit-free plastic bottles, chips or other bags, films and / or other disposable containers. Most of these consist of mixed plastics, which can hardly be recycled at all.

Plastic around and in food

Most foods are packed in plastic. Chemicals such as plasticizers and many other substances dissolve out of the package and enter, e.g. on oily and fatty foods over. Added to this is the microplastic, plastic particles smaller than five millimeters. These drift in the sea, are confounded by seafood and birds with food and eaten. The chemicals in the plastic go into the body of the animals and come back to us. With animals that are consumed as a whole (for example, mussels) or high-quality sea salts and even through drinking water, the plastic waste is now being absorbed directly by us, the human being.

Plastic in cosmetics

At least 500 tons of plastic pass through our German outlets unfiltered into our drinking water cycle every year. Shower gel, toothpaste, shampoos and scrubs mostly contain plastic (microplastic or liquid plastics). Often, the microparticles should enhance the cleaning effect of the products. But also as opacifiers, fillers or as a substitute for vegetable oils, plastics are used in cosmetics and make-up. Here are just a selection of products that use microplastic and liquid plastics:

– Cleaning products: scrubs, toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo, make-up remover

– Skin care products: body lotion, sunscreen, facial, hand and foot cream, shaving cream

– Make-up: lipstick, make-up, eye shadow, mascara

Plastic clothing – fleece, polyester and co.

Also, our clothing contains more and more plastics, including polyester, nylon and elastans. A fleece garment can lose up to 2,000 fibers in each wash, which can be discharged into the drinking water cycle or into the sea via the wastewater without being filtered. Scientists have detected polyester and acrylic fibers in the sand at 80 beaches on all continents. The closer the samples were taken to large cities, the higher was the burden of plastic waste.