Huge amounts of energy and fossil fuels are needed to make new plastic, and it sticks around in our environment for a long time. It is also only possible to recycle plastic two or three times before it becomes too degraded . Vocabulary fossil fuels /ˈfäsəl ˈˌfyo͞o(ə)l/ n. ( plural form ) a natural fuel such as coal or gas, formed in the geological past from the remains of living organisms ex.: The main fossil fuels are coal, crude oil, natural gas, and peat. degraded /diˈɡrādid/ adj. reduced in quality; inferior ...