Americans often take for granted the products we rely on daily, which is only natural given the number of modern conveniences at our disposal and the rapid rate at which new inventions enter our lives. These conveniences come to us courtesy of, by and large, a material that has become so indispensable to us that it, too, is often overlooked. Plastic is everywhere, and it has made all of our lives better.
Provided the car you drive was built after World War II (for safety’s sake, I hope it is), it is filled with plastic. From the switches you touch, to the seats and seat frames you sit on, to the dashboard and gauges you see in front of you, to the exterior lenses that provide light, and to hundreds of components you don’t see, plastics are essential to the production of contemporary automobiles.
If you prefer to be in the air rather than on the ground, plastics are surrounding you there as well. Because plastics can provide integral strength at a much lighter weight than other materials, they have always been essential to aviation. Now, they are even more so, as modern aircraft incorporate composite materials in their exterior construction. The result is even greater weight savings and, consequently, fuel savings.
A cursory glance around your home will find plastics in every room. That big flat-screen television is encased in plastic. Home appliances — large, small and especially portable — abound with plastic components inside and out. Most cooking utensils and gadgets are either entirely or partly made of plastic, a material essential to making these items “dishwasher safe.” Open the refrigerator, and you’ll find products in plastic packaging, which makes them lighter and easier to handle and saves weight, making them less expensive to ship to your supermarket.
Plastics have revolutionized the delivery of healthcare in doctors’ offices, urgent care centers and hospitals. Plastics’ inert and sanitary qualities guarantee that medical services are delivered more hygienically and safely than they were even a generation ago.
With the benefits of weight savings, lower costs and greater convenience, plastics are instrumental to the quality of life Americans enjoy. Plastics also provide countless Americans with benefits essential to our economy: jobs, wages and expanded economic output.
The plastics industry directly employs hundreds of thousands of Americans.
Overall, the plastic industry represents $1.1 trillion in economic activity and nearly 5 million jobs. This will explodein the near future, as AI servers and circuit boards holding AI chips will be insulated and encased in plastic.
Simply put, American prosperity is largely made of plastic, and it’s not changing soon.
Just under a year ago, the United States reversed a policy preventing the use of plastic straws. While you might think that such an order concerns only a tiny aspect of our daily lives, it is emblematic of the difference a plastic product can make compared to alternatives. The plastic product actually works, while the alternative comes up short.
This realization, that plastic products work better — whether in food preservation, AI, automobiles, airplanes, healthcare, appliances, other consumer goods, or shipping — has improved the lives of everyone. More affordable, more convenient, and more durable are what we have come to expect from plastic products.
