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While we have worked as a society to reduce pollution in general, in more recent times there has been a focus on problems caused by plastic pollution.   As fossil fuels are the building blocks for most of our plastics, reducing our use of plastics or finding alternatives is a significant goal.

The solution for this really must be elimination of fossil fuel-based plastics and substitution with sustainable alternatives. You have probably already heard of some of these such as bio plastics or biodegradable plastics and this can mean many things. In some instances, bio-plastics or renewable plastics could mean that they come from a renewable source and that it may also break down faster to harmless materials in the environment or through composting.  Ideally, we need to replace the raw materials for these products that are currently sourced from fossil fuels to truly renewable materials.  This is work being done by chemists to take natural polymers such as corn starch and cellulose and convert them into usable plastic substitutes.  This can also have problems as it may divert arable land away from food production. 

There is the potential for the next generation of packaging materials to be derived from seaweeds which can be grown in a sustainable manner without extra inputs such as fertilisers etc. as with land-based crops or biomass. 

I think at this moment we are at the start of this race and there will be significant advances within the next 5 years which will have many beneficial effects on society but as a society we also need to play a major role in this transition.