What if? A world without plastic

Plastic is absolutely everywhere – in good ways as well as bad ways, which is something probably everyone can agree on. Polymerisation, which is the production of synthetic material from organic raw materials, is without doubt one of humanity’s greatest achievements. When mass production began in the mid-20th century, that was the definitive point at which the world could be divided into a ‘before’ and ‘after’.

There are no limits to how plastic can be used. Food, medicine, mobility, construction, household, cosmetics, disaster management, sports, research, agriculture: plastics enable progress and lighten the load on us – literally. Be it a smartphone, a server or a printer, the material is everywhere, and an essential part of the solution known as the circular economy.

Appreciation of this resource

What is it that we need for the future? We need responsible manufacturers and consumers. Something that is equally important for better use of plastic is a genuine appreciation of it. At ALPLA, we have a rock-solid belief that plastic is essential and adds value, though we do not turn a blind eye to any shortcomings either. We have a slogan saying ‘plastic is fantastic’, and it guides what we do as a designer, manufacturer and recycler of plastic packaging.

Often, it is only when something is gone that we recognise how much it is worth and how important it is to our lives. We are going to take a look at a parallel universe and, over the coming weeks and months, picture a world entirely without plastic, a world that many voices are calling for loudly and – perhaps – without full consideration. We want to see what our lives would look like.

And that all starts tomorrow.