A & P Electronic Media Ebooks free download pdf! Management of plastic waste poses a monumental challenge to county governments throughout our republic. Plastics, given their non-biodegradable nature, require specialized attention in their disposal. So begs the question, what are plastics? Well, plastics are essentially long-chain hydrocarbons which are formed as byproducts of fractional distillation of crude oil (I am sure you learned this in your high school chemistry).