Plastics for the Future

What Plastics for the Future covers

Plastics for the Future is examined in Unit AS 1, The Earth's Capacity to Support Human Activity, a written examination. It covers crude oil as a fuel and a feedstock, refinery gases and the making of polymers, persistent plastic waste and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, toxic gases from incinerating plastics, biodegradable, photodegradable and compostable plastics, testing photodegradable plastic against polythene and bio-derived polyethylene and a sustainable plastics future.

The 7 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Crude oil as a fuel and a feedstockCrude oil as an industrial feedstock, rising plastic production, petrochemical demand, oil prices and supply security for the plastics industry, the uses of plastics, emerging economies, and whether plastics are an efficient use of oil.Open →
• Refinery gases and the making of polymersFractional distillation and refinery gases, liquefied petroleum gas, cracking ethane and naphtha, monomers and polymers, the addition polymerisation of ethene, polypropylene and PVC, and thermoplastics and thermosets.Open →
• Persistent plastic waste and the Great Pacific Garbage PatchWhy oil-based plastics persist, microplastics, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and why it forms and is hard to clean, harm to marine wildlife and human food, pollutant carriers, downcycling and global recycling rates.Open →
• Toxic gases from incinerating plasticsCarbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and hydrogen chloride from burning plastics, dioxins, open burning, flue gas cleaning and the 850°C two-second rule, the energy value of plastics, furniture fires and incineration as an option.Open →
• Biodegradable, photodegradable and compostable plasticsBiodegradable, photodegradable, compostable and oxo-degradable plastics, starch and pro-oxidant additives, the EU ban, compostable plastics and soil, mulch films, packaging and labels, and problems in recycling and littering.Open →
• Testing photodegradable plastic against polytheneThe UV propagator experiment, controls and variables, expected results, tensile strength and the Newton meter, worked strength loss and stress calculations, repeats, limitations, UV safety and real-world conditions.Open →
• Bio-derived polyethylene and a sustainable plastics futureMaking polyethylene from sugar cane ethanol, why it recycles but does not biodegrade, its carbon benefits and land drawbacks, Braskem in Brazil, polylactic acid, the circular economy, the 2022 UN plastics resolution and the Plastic Packaging Tax.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Plastics for the Future further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Biodegradable plastic vs Compostable plastic

  Biodegradable plastic: a polymer that micro-organisms eventually break down under unspecified conditions. Compostable plastic: a polymer certified to break down fully within set weeks in an industrial heap, leaving humus.

• Photodegradation vs Thermal degradation

  Photodegradation: the breakdown of polymer chains triggered by ultraviolet light. Thermal degradation: the breakdown of polymer chains caused by heat.

• Monomer vs Polymer

  Monomer: a small molecule able to join with others of its kind into a chain. Polymer: a very long chain molecule made of many repeating units.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Why is the world's reliance on crude oil for both fuel and feedstock significant?

   Model answer

   Almost every economy depends on oil to move goods and people and to make materials. A cut in oil supply raises the cost of transport and of plastic goods at the same time.

2. 2

   What is meant by an industrial feedstock?

   Model answer

   A feedstock is a raw material fed into an industrial process to be converted into other products. Naphtha and refinery gases are the main feedstocks of the plastics industry.

3. 3

   Which single use of crude oil is the largest outside the energy and transport sectors?

   Model answer

   The manufacture of plastics consumes more crude oil than any other use apart from fuels for energy and transport. Most plastics are made from chemicals derived from oil and natural gas.

4. 4

   Describe the trend in global plastic production.

   Model answer

   Global plastic production has risen almost every year since mass production began in the 1950s. Output continues to grow, with the fastest growth now in Asia.

5. 5

   What did the International Energy Agency report in 2018 about petrochemicals and oil demand?

   Model answer

   The International Energy Agency's 2018 report The Future of Petrochemicals found petrochemicals account for about 14% of global oil demand. The report expected petrochemicals to drive over a third of oil demand growth to 2030.

6. 6

   Why does dependence on imported oil feedstock make a plastics industry vulnerable?

   Model answer

   A plastics industry that imports its feedstock is exposed to price shocks and supply cuts it cannot control. Recycled and bio-based feedstocks can be produced closer to home.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Plastics for the Future revision questions

What does Plastics for the Future cover in CCEA A-Level Environmental Technology?

7 subtopics: crude oil as a fuel and a feedstock, refinery gases and the making of polymers, persistent plastic waste and the great pacific garbage patch, toxic gases from incinerating plastics, biodegradable, photodegradable and compostable plastics, testing photodegradable plastic against polythene and bio-derived polyethylene and a sustainable plastics future. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Plastics for the Future organised?

By the CCEA 3930 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.