Plastic is a major part of household waste.
Made from oil and natural gas it is a limited natural resource and can take hundreds of years to break down in landfill. Plastics generate toxic emissions if incinerated and although some plastics can be recycled, the recycling process in many cases can be more expensive than the original material. Waste plastic litters our streets and roads and is found in rivers and seas where it is responsible for the deaths of thousands of seabirds, sea mammals and fish. Phthalates are attracted to fat in food, and can migrate into food products such as cheeses and oils from plastic packaging and can also migrate into the blood stream from PVC blood bags.