When gathered around the campfire the question often arises, Should I burn my waste plastic packaging?

While plastic burns well and gives off a lot of heat when burnt on a open fire it can also give off all sorts of nasties. Consumer plastics should all be marked with a recycling number and class 2,4 and 5 plastics are theoretically safe to burn as they break down to CO2 and H2O when burnt. Other plastics can give off nasties such as dioxin (extremely carcinogenic) cyanide gas (extremely poisonous) and mustard gas (the stuff used in World War 1 to disable soldiers). It also makes a difference if plastic is burnt on a hot fire or if it smoulders. Substances added to improve or colour the plastic can have all sorts of unknown affects when burnt. Some also contain tin which is not too pleasant to breath in apart from any organic cocktails that may form.

Surely burning just one piece of ‘harmless’ plastic is no problem? Wrong! Anyone standing in the smoke could be breathing in all sorts of nasties but also others seeing the plastic being burnt may follow suit not knowing or caring what sort of plastic they are burning.