How long does it take for plastic to degrade?

Answer 1

"Plastic" is not a specific chemical compound. Some "plastics" are specifically designed to be biodegradable; these usually break down fairly rapidly. Others are not and don't. Even if you named a specific chemical compound, the question is essentially meaningless; what does "break down" mean? To what extent does the material need to degrade before you consider it "broken down"? What conditions are we talking about (it matters very much whether it's in a dark, dry, cool environment or a warm, moist one with plenty of UV radiation)?

Answer 2

Plastic will degrade at a varying rate depending on its quality. From days, to years.

Now, by degrade we mean it will break apart into smaller pieces of plastic, right down to single molecules. However, if you're meaning break down into different substances which could possibly be of use in nature (such as living things do) then the answer is never. Every molecule of plastic we have made which we haven't manually changed to a different form is still in nature.

This fact is actually a very critical environmental concern currently, as there is a massive amount of these single molecules of plastic in the oceans which are effecting fish populations (and things which eat fish, like us).

A:

The degradation and decomposition for plastic is dependant on the type of plastic and the exposure it has to sunlight, water, heat, chemicals and other factors. Some plastics contain starch molecules which decompose under the influence of bacterial action. Most plastics decompose when exposed to heat and the ultraviolet component of sunlight. Inert plastics in landfills where they are dry, not exposed to sunlight and not mechanically abraded can last for hundreds of years, but under these same conditions a steak willl last for about the same amount of time.

A:The answer to " How long does it take for plastic to degrade?" is NEVER. It breaks down into molecules. Molecules that are harmful to the environment. Humans made them and humans have to UNMAKE them. They must be broken down into some form that nature can ingest without dying. The amount of NON-BIODEGRADABLE plastic in our oceans is becoming cataclysmic. Plastic of varying sizes is killing large to very small fish. There are so many MILLIONS of TONS of plastic in the Pacific Ocean that plastic sand is now washing up on the shores of California. There is a plastic dump the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific that WILL NOT GO AWAY until we MAKE IT GO AWAY and in the meantime it is killing fish all along the food chain. The amazing thing about non-biodegradable plastic is that the same piece of plastic can kill generations of fish or birds. The fish or birds eat it, DIE, then the dead fish or birds biodegrade and the plastic that killed them, good as new, floats back into the ocean to kill more fish and birds.

Over time this equates to an exponential number of deaths in marine life. So, if we stopped dumping plastic into the ocean right now, the plastic already there would continue killing marine life for hundreds of years.

Answer 3

The amount of time it takes for a plastic bottle to break down depends purely on the bottle. Some bottles are made of more resistant plastic material.

Answer 4

It takes about a million years for plastic to decompose.

Answer 5

A plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose.

Answer 6

Plastics take hundreds of years to degrade...maybe more

Answer 7

It very depends on what type of plastic. Normally it taks hundreds to thousands years.and somtimes forever.

Answer 8

It takes about 500 years for a plastic container to decompose in a landfill. It isn't until the chemical bonds between the atoms start to break down.

Answer 9

it takes up to 14 years to desolve a plastic bag