Plastics have been applied in all aspects of human life and modern industry. The "

white pollution

" of waste plastics caused by the large-scale use of plastic products has become a central issue for all walks of life. This paper reviews the origin

development

and significance of plastics. By interpretating the basic science of plastic degradation (degradable plastics)

expressions related to disposable plastic products have been clarified. The author proposes that the expression "

ban on non-degradable disposable plastic products

" is accurate and scientific

while arbitrarily rewriting it as "

ban on disposable non-degradable plastic products

" is unprofessional

wrong

and should be corrected. Moreover

the author puts forwards that the origin of "

white pollution

" concept is related to the recycling and treatment methods of waste plastics. The bad reputation of plastics aroused from "

white pollution

" is not only related to the light and thin characteristics of plastics

but also related to the norms of human behavior and social ethics. It is fair to claim that the "

white pollution

" stigma should not be attached to plastics if they were not used as good and cheap disposable products

especially if they were not discarded indiscriminately after use. Along with the gradual implementation of the ban on nondegradable disposable plastic products

the author advocates transformative ways for plastics use

including reduction and restriction in the production and use of disposable plastics

promotion of the multiple use and long-term use of plastics

and acceleration of the orderly recycling of disposable plastics. Furthermore

the author proposes new concepts of initiated/ switchable degradation and controlled/programmable degradation. Lastly

the author emphasizes the significance and urgency to develop high-performance and multi-functional plastics

particularly the bottleneck of high-end materials

which should be complementary to non-petroleum-based and bio-based polymer materials.