Our series EcoHomeLife Explains explores terms and ideas around sustainability and eco-friendly living. In this edition we answer the question: are petrochemicals bad for the planet?
Climate change and its impact on humans is ever present in our media at the moment. Our awareness of this topic has risen sharply as a result.
Many of us, myself included, are looking to live a more sustainable life, reducing the impact we have on our environment. As part of my journey to become more eco-friendly, I have often come across the term “petrochemicals” in relation to our environment.
Most of the time, they were portrayed as evil and harmful. I also found that they are used in almost everything we produce.
So what’s so bad about them? Are petrochemicals bad for the planet? Should we avoid them? Let’s find out…
What Are Petrochemicals?
Before we can decide if petrochemicals are bad for the planet, we have to first find out what they are.
According to the online Cambridge Dictionary, a petrochemical is:
any chemical substance obtained from petroleum or natural gas
Cambridge Dictionary online
So, chemicals that are made from petroleum or gas, which means fossil fuels. This might already give you a clue as to how our question will be answered.
The substances used to make these petrochemicals are often by-products from refining crude oil.
Why Are Petrochemicals Bad For The Planet?
As you might have guessed, the answer is: yes, petrochemicals are bad for the planet. The most obvious reason for this is because they are made from fossil fuels.
Oil and gas, like all fossil fuels, are natural resources that aren’t renewable. This means, once it’s gone, it’s gone. So we can’t rely on products made from fossil fuels.
But getting the oil and gas out of the ground also produces tonnes of carbon dioxide, which causes global warming and climate change.
Scientists have been very clear that we have to stop using fossil fuels and leave them in the ground. Otherwise, we won’t be able to stop climate change and keep the global temperature below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
So because petrochemicals are made from fossil fuels, they are bad for the environment. However, there are other reasons, why the answer to our question “are petrochemicals bad for the planet?” is yes.
Most petrochemicals aren’t biodegradable. This means they will persist in our environment for a long time causing issues. Some of the petrochemicals used in everyday products, such as cleaning products, laundry detergents, make-up and personal care products are known to harm wildlife and aquatic life.
Some can even kill plants and animals, because they are toxic chemicals. And because these petrochemicals are pretty much everywhere, it’s impossible to keep them out of the environment.
You might have guessed, these chemicals aren’t good for us humans either. Even more reason to stop using them.
Petrochemicals are also used to make plastic. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest challenges our environment faces. In the UK alone, only 44% of plastic waste is recycled.
The rest is either burned to produce energy, exported or ends up in landfill or the environment.
We are so reliant on plastic that the amount of plastic we produce is increasing every year. And that means that plastic waste is increasing too, because the majority of plastic waste doesn’t get recycled.
So as you can see, there are quite a few reasons why petrochemicals are bad for our planet.
Alternatives To Petrochemicals
So where does this leave us? Are there alternatives to petrochemicals?
Yes, is the simple answer. Many of the compounds that are derived from fossil fuels can also be made from plant-based sources such as sugar cane or corn starch.
And researchers are constantly looking for new ways to create the petrochemicals we use from non-petroleum sources. A team of scientists at Heriot-Watt University is working on finding alternatives to commonly used surfactants and emulsifiers.
They are looking at marine microorganisms and have discovered some very promising strains. These could in future be used in personal care products, cleaning products as well as in food production.
Even plastic can be made from plant-based sources, such as corn starch. These are called bioplastics but currently only around 10% of plastic produced globally is plant-derived.
One of the main issues is that petrochemicals are so cheap to produce. Whereas alternatives are more expensive.
This means most manufacturers will be reluctant to switch to these sustainable alternatives unless they have an incentive. The petrochemical industry is also very powerful, which means they will be able to lobby against any legislation proposed to stop the use of petrochemicals.
But because of the environmental impact of petrochemicals and their effect on human health, it is vital that we start using sustainable alternatives.
There are already companies that commit not to use petrochemicals or any harmful chemicals that might have adverse health effects or are harmful to the environment.
Under the EU’s Ecolabel, the vast majority of petrochemicals are banned. This means any company using this label on their products cannot use harmful or toxic chemicals and is banned from using the vast majority of petrochemicals.
We believe that the only way we, as consumers, can send a clear message is by starting to only buy products that don’t use petrochemicals.
This means swapping to use eco-friendly and sustainable products whenever we can.
