Soft plastic packaging, like plastic bags, wraps, packaging films, surrounds us inevitably in everyday life. We see them everywhere: wrapping our food, being delivered with every order, lining our trash bins. But what we don’t see is where they go after. Our interaction with flexible plastics doesn’t end after we throw them away and don't see them anymore. Unlike bottles or cans, soft plastics rarely get recycled. Instead, soft plastic fragments into invisible particles more easily than hard types of plastic: microplastics (under 5mm) and nanoplastics (under 1 μm). These particles are now everywhere, including inside our bodies. The problem is more than just litter – it’s an invisibility.
How soft plastics turn into microplastics
Soft plastics can break down due to a combination of UV radiation, abrasion, and weathering. These processes cause the polymer chains in plastics to degrade.
UV Radiation
Sunlight, particularly ultraviolet (UV) radiation, “can break down the chemical bonds within the plastic”, causing it to become brittle and crack. This process, known as photodegradation, can discolor the plastic and reduce its mechanical strength.
What is more interesting is that scientists from the UK and the University of Cape Town in South Africa used complementary studies to show that “plastics of the same composition degrade at different rates depending on the colour”.
The findings demonstrate that the black, white, and silver colourants protect the plastic from damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation, whereas other types of plastic with other pigments do not.
Abrasion
Physical processes like wave action, wind, walking on plastic packaging and contact with rough surfaces “can cause plastic to wear down and break into smaller pieces”. This is particularly evident in marine environments where plastic debris is constantly subjected to wave action and abrasion from sand and rocks.
Weathering
This encompasses the combined effects of UV radiation, temperature fluctuations, and other environmental factors. Weathering can accelerate the degradation process, making plastics more susceptible to breaking down into smaller fragments.
Why is this knowledge important
The impact of these small particles is more drastic than could be imagined. Toxic effects on the environment are investigated in soil, marine systems, and air.
Air pollution
Nearly a dozen studies have shown airborne microplastic concentrations around the world, which means that we basically breathe microplastics every single day. The cities showing higher levels should be genuinely more polluted. Wind is the main transportation agent for small-sized plastic particles in urban areas. “Airborne microplastics” contain different colors (black and white), and the shapes are different, such as fiber (the most prevalent), film, fragment, foam, granule, and sphere. Additionally, soft plastic particles “are being researched to be potent cloudmakers, influencing climate change”.
Marine system pollution
Microplastics can enter the ocean from various sources, such as wastewater discharge, fishing, weathering or fragmentation. Once in the ocean, microplastics can be transported by currents and winds, accumulate in certain regions. “Microplastics can also act as vectors for other pollutants”, such as metals, organic contaminants, and pathogens, by adsorbing them from the surrounding water or releasing them from their own composition. These pollutants can then be transferred to marine organisms that ingest microplastics, causing various adverse effects, such as inflammation, oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and reduced growth and reproduction.
Soil pollution
Agricultural soils now hold around “23 times more microplastics than oceans”. Other results of the research show that plastics in soil may be exposed to up to 10,000 chemical additives, most of which are unregulated in agriculture. Therefore, plastic in soil can be a source of toxic or harmful substances that affect soil health, plants, microbiota, and, eventually, human health - and this is a blind spot in the legislation.
Health risks backed by research
The scale of environmental pollution caused by plastic waste means that microplastics, or tiny plastic particles, are everywhere. Cite ”the latest findings showing microplastics found in human tissues”: blood, brain, lungs, placenta, etc., and linked to inflammation, immune response, oxidative stress, and even cardiovascular issues.
First, the digestive systems are affected when microplastics are ingested, and physical irritation to the gastrointestinal tract may eventually cause inflammation, “resulting in various gastrointestinal symptoms”. Microplastics may cause changes in the intestinal microbiome, resulting in an imbalance between beneficial and harmful bacteria, which can lead to various gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, bloating, and changes in bowel habits.
Microplastics were recently found in human testicles, with scientists suggesting a possible link to declining sperm counts in men. Dr. Shanna Swan, Ph.D., a prominent American environmental and reproductive epidemiologist, shares that chemicals like phthalates, BPA/BPS, and PFAS are commonly found in soft plastics and consumer products (shower curtains, plastic packaging like food containers, personal care items). They are “linked to hormone disruption, reduced sperm count, and impaired fetal development”.
Many endocrine-disrupting chemicals are untested and not regulated, yet can mimic or block hormones, leading to health effects like miscarriage, altered sexual development, and lowered fertility across generations.
What can you do to lessen the amount of microplastics created from flexible plastics
You can’t eliminate soft plastic overnight. But you can decrease the volume of microplastics broken down from the plastic packaging and other soft plastics you use.
Collect soft plastics separately
Don't toss soft plastic packaging in the general trash with other types of plastic. Once mixed and compacted with other waste, they’re likely headed for landfills or incineration, and eventual microplastic pollution.
Educate your circle
Share facts, not fear. The more people understand the issue, the more likely they are to act. For instance, host a bin fro soft plastic packaging at your workplace.
Avoid soft plastic when you can
Refill, reuse, or choose rigid or paper packaging instead - they’re more likely to be recycled and less likely to become microplastics.
Don’t burn or shred it
Soft plastic doesn’t biodegrade: burning releases toxins, and shredding only creates smaller, more dangerous particles.
Use a compaction system (like Soft Plastic Compactor)
Compacting soft plastics reduces surface area exposure and helps prevent them from fragmenting into microplastics before proper disposal. Clear Drop also provides a whole cycle recycling system with proper soft plastic recycling, with a network of recycling facilities, after a pre-recycling stage.
As awareness grows, so does responsibility and the ability to act. Whether you're a researcher, a parent, a business owner, or just someone trying to make better choices, the message is clear: the journey from soft plastics to microplastics begins with everyday moments. And in those moments, we still have the power to choose prevention over invisibility.
