Plastics are one of the most essential materials humans have discovered ever. It allows for literally millions of new products that could not have otherwise existed. Many of these are related to important fields like medicine and scientific research. Let's look at some of the ways that plastic is being rethought for the future.

One of the most important technologies being searched right now relating to plastic is how to create it from sources other than crude oil. Tons of research has been going into biological life (bacteria) that could feed on waste products and convert them into synthetic oils. There has even been some success with using solid waste to generate some hydrocarbons but it falls short of recreating all the elements of crude oil.

An additional area of focus is how to use existing plastic to create fuels or materials for other uses. Again the leading technology uses bacteria to consume waste plastic and convert it into a bio oil. This could be refined further into hydrocarbon fuels or even used to create new plastic products.

This ability to convert plastic to oil and create oil from waste materials like trash combined would alleviate a major portion of the ecological damage that occurs from energy and material production. There are other ideas such as using cellulose instead of plastic for things like plastic bags or packaging material. This has the added bonus of being biodegradable as well. There is a lot of research going on in the field of plastics and we are sure to see the fruits of it in the coming years.