eli5: simple explanation on how a bunch of natural materials that decay make up plastic; a material that virtually lasts forever
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Plastic molecules are big long molecules made by chaining a bunch of smaller molecules together. Those smaller molecules have some sort of reactive part attached – some part of the molecule that’s more susceptible to having a chemical reaction happen to it than any other part of the molecule. You make a plastic molecule by sticking the reactive bits together end to end so that they stick together (sort of).
Decomposers decompose things by doing chemical reactions that rely on those reactive parts being there. So they can’t easily decompose plastic because the reactive parts have *all already been used up.*
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