how is anything inorganic , if everything we have is from the earth itself and is therefore natural?
part 2 of the same question is why are somethings then non biodegradable?
In: Chemistry
First, if we are talking about recognised definitions, not everything that’s on earth is referred as “organic”. Rocks are definitely inorganic, as their composition does not involve covalent carbon-based compounds. Maybe the term you are thinking about is “natural”.
Depending on your definition of organic, plastic can be considered both organic and inorganic: scientifically speaking, as plastic is made of hydrocarbons, it is considered part of organic compounds, studied by organic chemistry. Generally speaking, as normal plastic needs a very long time to degrade and is not readily biodegradable, we refer to it as “inorganic”, while we should really be saying “non-biodegradable”.
As to why it is like this: things ultimately biodegrade because a series of organisms feed on their components at various degrees, determinig their recycling in the trophic chain.
In the case of plastic, almost no living organism has evolved to metabolize its components, mostly because, before the advent of man and the industrial revolution, they were generally unavailable to lifeforms.
This is why we are pushing for biodegradable plastic made of vegetables (like corn), so that organism can actually feed on it.
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