eli5: Plastics are polymers that are engineered to have specific uses for utility. Why can’t they be engineered to be better for the environment?

Question

I really can’t wrap my head around this. With all the garbage created from plastics, can’t they just design and engineer green versions?

Update: Sorry guys, I know I’m oversimplifying everything here. Thanks for the great contribution. Really appreciate it. I didn’t get the answer i wanted, but it was worth a shot.

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The negative environmental effects of microplastics were totally unanticipated and still not completely understood. Basically, some of the polymers are close enough to some biological signalling molecules to trigger hormone effects in living things. But, the responses differ across different species, and we’re still not entirely sure what they are even doing inside our bodies to cause negative effects.

We can make different polymers. But making them to avoid a problem that we don’t even fully understand is an impossible ask. And it’s almost certain that any new polymer would cause some sort of reaction in some species somewhere, because biology is just that varied.