Covid-19 unleashed the biggest global health crisis of our time and this reinforced the importance of innovations that prioritize saving lives. In modern health, it is possible to perceive a significant advance that would not be possible without the use of plastic materials.
From the envelopes of MRI machines to the smallest tubes, plastics have made medical care simpler, more agile and also less painful. Fundamental things that you can't live without, like intravenous blood bags, heart valves and disposable syringes - so necessary for the Covid-19 vaccine - are made of plastic.
Unlike metallic materials - prone to wear and corrosion, plastic can overcome time and avoid possible complications due to degradation. This not only reduces acquisition costs, but also the time and effort that would be spent on maintenance.
With advances in the health sector, the versatility of plastic has been able to adapt to the dynamic nature of the industry, including personal protective equipment that has been saving lives during the pandemic such as gloves, masks, caps, aprons, foot protection and glasses .
Plastics can also be molded according to specific needs in tiny and complex devices such as modern prostheses that offer greater flexibility, comfort and mobility. Plastic packaging, with its exceptional barrier properties, light weight, low cost, durability and transparency, is ideal for medical applications. Today's most innovative medical procedures depend on plastics.
In the domestic routine, the plastic film with protection against fungi and bacteria is fundamental in the preservation of food, reduces the possibility of intestinal gastric problems such as food poisoning and, with the pandemic, gained specific properties against Sars-Cov-2 being used to involve various shareable platforms and equipment - preventing the proliferation of the disease. This is the case of Alpfilm Protect developed based on silver microparticles and which, after a series of studies to adapt its composition, had its antiviral efficacy proven against the new Corona virus.
Not only in health, plastics are ubiquitous in agriculture, fishing, renewable energy, transportation, technology, retail, textiles, personal care products and all other sectors and industries that directly or indirectly affect our daily lives.
Such examples show the infinity of solutions that plastic plays in people's lives and reveal how much it has made possible several transformations in the world. Therefore, without turning a blind eye to the harms that material waste can cause to the environment, it is necessary to rethink the anti-plastic crusade that has taken over the social agendas in recent times encouraging a change in behavior in relation to disposal and recycling.
If all the advances that change people's lives for the better have special participation in plastic items, there is an urgent need to find a balance that does not ostracize the material or ignore its defects.
By Alessandra Zambaldi, Director of Foreign Trade at Alpes