What are the environmental impacts of polypropylene fiber?

Polypropylene fabric is a synthetic fabric and has various negative impacts on the environment which can be broken down into the following subheads:

• Raw Material Used: Polypropylene is a thermoplastic fiber which is composed of hydrocarbons and is extracted from fossil fuels. As a result, in order to meet the high demand of this fiber, fossil fuel is continuously dug and a lot of energy is consumed in the process. Thus, depleting the fossil fuel reservoir and energy sources.

• Manufacturing Process: According to the report published by Centre for International Environmental Law, plastic production has released more than 850 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the environment. The production of polypropylene releases a lot of toxic chemicals in the environment and has also been associated with certain health problems among the workers.

• Not only that Centre for International Environmental Law adds that the massive greenhouse gases released in the environment due to plastic consumption is making it difficult to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5°C.

• Another point that needs to be brought into notice is that the polypropylene fibers are not biodegradable and hence sustain in our biosphere for several years and thus contributing towards the ever-increasing water pollution.