Question: What is plastic made of?

Sean Kelly answered on 12 Nov 2014:

Plastic can be made from organic materials (that is, things that occur naturally) or synthetic materials (which are materials that we can make but do not occur in the world otherwise). The most important ingredient in making plastic is oil (or petrol, before it has been cleaned etc). Chemicals are combined to make a special powder which is then mix with the oil to make plastics. However, there are also new methods and ingredients being used to make plastics as humans try to move away from using so much oil. These new plastics, called bio-plastics, don’t use oil, only natural ingredients. These bio-plastics also break down much quicker so they don’t cause problems to plants and animals when people rudely litter. Plastics made from oil are causing a lot of problems in the sea as they don’t break down and end up causing the death of fish and birds.