Discover the Top 7 Fascinating and Surprising Fun Facts About Plastic You Never Knew!

1. India's Plastic Roads

Who said recycling can't be smooth and asphalt-tastic? In the land of Bollywood and spicy curries, they're laying roads with plastic: Over 100,000 km of India's roads, including 703 km of National Highways and 13,000 km of rural roads, have been constructed using a mix of waste plastic and bitumen. Thanks to a patented process developed by Dr. Rajagopalan Vasudevan, this eco-friendly technology not only curbs plastic pollution but also cuts costs and extends road longevity, making it a show-stopper for both the environment and infrastructure.
Source => lexology.com

2. LEGO's Plant-Based Blocks

As LEGO takes a leaf out of Mother Nature's playbook by branching out into plant-based greens: they've introduced a range of botanical building blocks, like leaves, bushes, and tree-shaped pieces, made from sugarcane-derived plastics. The verdant venture currently forms a small part of LEGO's output, but they've set a tree-mendous goal to fully switch to sustainable materials, including bioplastics and recycled plastic, by 2030.
Source => designwanted.com

Did you know recycling a ton of paper can save 19 trees, 1,500 liters of oil, and 29,000 liters of water? Plus, it helps reduce methane emissions! Discover the limits of paper recycling and how to be more mindful in the fight against paper waste.

=> Fun Facts about Recycling

3. Credit Card Consumption

Cancel your gym membership and socialize your abs with this world-renowned workout: eating your credit card! That's right, you're practically munching plastic like it's a side of fries: A World Wildlife Fund study revealed that we consume microplastics equivalent to the size of a credit card every week, thanks to their presence in everyday objects and unexpected locations like national parks and even the Arctic.
Source => cnn.com

4. Edible Bioplastic: SEAsoning

Feeling peckish for some plastic? Enjoy this mouth-watering and eco-friendly fusion of potato starch and seaweed: SEAsoning, a nutritious and sustainable edible bioplastic, slows down sugar absorption, balances insulin, boosts gut health, and minimizes cravings while also reducing our carbon footprint and filtering water pollutants. Feast away, guilt-free!
Source => packaginginsights.com

5. New Zealand's Cardboard Cathedral

When cardboard was considered groundbreaking architecture, the Kiwis took it quite literally by "tubing it up" in their house of worship: Enter the Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch, New Zealand, designed by architect Shigeru Ban, a fascinating mix of 96 cardboard tubes, wood beams, timber, steel, and just a dash of polycarbonate on the roof, serving as both a conference center and a cathedral that can hold 700 worshippers since its debut after the 2011 earthquake.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Plastic's Role in Artificial Hearts

Who knew that plastic could keep a beat? We're not talking about a retro vinyl record here, but a real heart throbber: In 1969, plastic played a crucial role in the development of the Liotta-Cooley artificial heart, made of Dacron fabric and Silastic plastic. These materials paved the way for mechanical circulatory support systems as a bridge to transplant, revolutionizing the treatment of severe heart failure. Talk about a pumping good time!
Source => texasheart.org

7. Umbilical Hernia Surgery with Synthetic Mesh

When umbilical hernias and belly buttons meet in the OR, it's not always smooth sailing: a high-stakes game of Operation commences, with surgeons delicately maneuvering to avoid the wrath of the deep umbilical perforators. The stakes are high, but fear not, intrepid doctors! Our saviors don a brilliant technique: sublay placement of synthetic mesh, ensuring the umbilical stalk and perfusion live to see another day!
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov