IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU NEED
TO KNOW ABOUT FIREWORKS
Fireworks have been around for centuries. Plastics as part of fireworks is a recent contribution.
Fireworks were invented by the Chinese in the 12th Century as a means to scare away evil spirits. This followed the invention of gunpowder in China. For centuries, fireworks were composed of paper or cardboard, gun powder, fuses and earthen plugs. Fireworks sold to the consumer were small and had some safety problems. Plastic was not a component.
Following the rapid development of plastics in the last century, fireworks manufacturers seeking both greater marketing and safety, began adding plastics to gain a 'bigger bang' factor (e.g., going from 25 saturn missile batteries to a possible 1000 saturn missile batteries) with a greater safety margin and greater profits. This comes at a real environmental price.
Today, MANY firework types contain plastic. Plastic is used for firing tubes, caps, launch bases, wings, sometimes the whole body of the piece and unknown other functions. Since there are no regulations on plastics as a component, it's impossible to keep up with new usages. The following list describes SOME fireworks types and the typical plastic components they contain:
- Saturn Missile Battery
 One 2 ½ x ¼ " tube/ battery or shot
- ShotOne tube per shot
- RocketLaunch base and end cap
- MissileLaunch base and end cap
- JetEnd cap and wings
- Space ShipWhole body
- LauncherEnd cap and base
- HelicopterEnd cap and wing, often whole body
- TanksWheels and all firing points on body
- BoatsFiring points and body details
Consistently, and much more environmentally offensive, plastics are found in MANY of the firework types that are 'fired' into the air, called “aerials’. Among these is a type called ‘saturn missile battery’.
Saturn missile batteries send airborne one frayed 2 1/2 inch x ¼ inch piece of hard plastic PER SHOT. Thus, a 100 SHOT saturn missile battery contains 100 pieces of plastic; 250 SHOT battery, 250 pieces and so on. These are made as large as 1,000 shots. Each frayed plastic piece becomes airborne and scatters widely after ignition. Even the most conscientious person cannot find these multiple pieces scattered in the night. Thousands of these plastic pieces are pulled from the Washington State coastline every post July 4th. Just in 2010, 20 TONS of firework litter were removed from a 28-mile stretch of the Long Beach Peninsula, MUCH OF IT WAS THIS SPENT PLASTIC FROM SATURN MISSILE BATTERIES. Applying that small sample to the entire state of Washington, it becomes clear that this one type of fireworks is the most environmentally offensive type of fireworks.
But the plastics littering Washington State's environment and the world's oceans doesn't end via the post-July 4th cleanup. Six months later, after many hours of cleaning, hundreds and hundreds of this frayed spent plastic are STILL collected off this one beach.
Clearly, this unintentional plastic littering is forever.
FIREWORKS MANUFACTURERS and DISTRIBUTORS
Fireworks in the US are regulated as Display (ignited by pyrotechnics professionals) and Consumer (sold to the individual consumer). Consumer fireworks in the US are usually manufactured overseas and then distributed in the US. Based upon the regulations in each state, these distributors present their wares at fireworks sales meetings early in the season. Those people interested in marketing fireworks at a local level, obtain a retail license and then select and order the ‘legal’ Consumer fireworks items they wish to sell over the holiday season. These local retailers are often church groups, community service organizations, Boy Scout troops and individual retailers. Often these local vendors have multiple fireworks stands and are able to sell only within the defined sales period. Unfortunately, most ad hoc local retailers know little about the composition of their products.
SOURCES for IDENTIFYING PLASTICS in FIREWORKS
Web sites can help educate us about plastics used in individual types of fireworks. This can be done before the point of buying the product. TNT and Phantom have large web sites with good pictures. Be aware that different fireworks are sold in different states so seek to narrow your review based upon what is legal in your state. By searching for “fireworks’ on the internet, you can also find other sites that expose plastics components. This is particularly true for YouTube videos.
Once you arrive at the fireworks stand, you can look though the transparent packaging to see some of the plastic components. You can feel the product. If parts are very hard, they are likely made of plastic. Paper and cardboard components have a slight amount of ‘give’ to the touch. Plastic does not. Often multiple products are packaged in one large unit as a ‘special buy’ or ‘value pack’. This makes it hard to identify the plastics found in the individual products in the pack. However, you can ask to see the same products in their individual packaging and then review that content before buying the value package. The local vendor may have firsthand knowledge of the plastic components in their wares. It is unlikely at this time that they will have sales information from the distributor that identify components in fireworks types. There are labeling clues. The word ‘shot’ or “battery’ likely means a plastic tube is used for EACH shot or battery.
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