Cassava Starch as an Effective Component for Ideal Biodegradable Plastic

Overall, recycling plastic benefits the environment, the economy and the future of America. Although there are flaws to recycling plastic such as the sorting step overlooking additives and the washing step leaving some impurities, technological advances and more labor will be needed to fix those drawbacks in order to conserve the environment. Therefore, the U. S government should mandate recycling so that the recycling rate increase. Through this action, America will gain the benefits of recycling plastic. In addition, Americans should recycle specific types of plastic such as PET and HDPE as those two are the most commonly accepted by recycling programs. This will be strenuous upon Americans because they will have to do more work however,

According to ecowatch.com, all the plastic humans added up thrown away added up can circle the Earth four times. This is around 500 billion plastic bags, and most of them end up on landfill sites. The plastic bags in landfills usually lay there for over 300 years until they are completely photodegraded, or decomposed by the light, especially sunlight. During the process of being photodegraded, the plastic bags break down into small toxic particles that are either released into the air, or into the soil. These small toxic particles contaminate many different things such as soil and waterways. Since it is in the soil and waterways, animals often come and end up eating these dangerous toxic particles. Some supermarkets use biodegradable bags that are said to be “environment friendly,” but that is a total lie. According to an article about plastic bag pollution by Sharon Jacobsen, it says, “...the truth is that the process of breaking down these petrol based bags causes carbon to become methane which is a greenhouse gas.” Greenhouse gases are very dangerous to the environment since it causes temperature increase around the whole entire globe. Therefore, in conclusion, neither plastic bags or so-called “environment friendly” bags are good for the environment all around us, and we should not use them. Instead, we should use reusable

Recycling is reusing materials like paper, plastics, and glass, breaking them down and turning them into a new product. This way no materials get wasted and not as many resources are used up for new products. There are many ways to dispose of waste, in this case plastics; incineration, landfilling, biodegradation and recycling. Incineration is effective however creates negative environmental risks and health risks by releasing different harmful gases. Landfilling requires space and many chemicals and energy in plastics are lost in disposal routes. Biodegradable plastics may not degrade fast enough to avoid a build of plastics and to help the environment. Recycling plastics is time consuming and plastics must be sorted through by the types of

People would say that plastic in landfills would just stay there and if we keep on using plastic the waste problem would just worsen. I think that the problem here is why do people put plastics in landfills mixed with biodegradable materials. There are ways to properly recycle plastic. This comes to my third argument for why plastic beats paper. It is better because we could change its physical shape to things we really need. Richard Stein, from the University of Massachusetts, stated that plastics could be melted and formed into different structures such as propellers for wind turbines, food containers and many more [3]. Imagine being able to reuse plastic as long as the quality of it can still be recyclable, but if it isn’t anymore, Richard Stein also suggested that plastic could be converted to energy by burning it since it is made of petroleum [3].

The average American creates about one hundred-thirty pounds of trash a month, and an article in the journal Nature estimates that global solid-waste generation will triple, to eleven million tons a day, by the year 2100 (Semuels). Plastic does not break down; it’s not biodegradable nor does it

One extreme issue with plastic being so easily accessible is that consumers throw it away without hesitation, as is especially true with plastic bags. Plastic bags are made of one of the most flexible and flimsy types of plastic, which means that they can be broken down much easier, especially once they reach the ocean, which is where an alarming amount of our trash ends up. “Plastic doesn't biodegrade in any meaningful timeframe, but it photodegrades” which means that “ultraviolet rays from the sun break the polymer chains of hydrocarbon molecules into smaller pieces and what you end up with is small fragments...” (Wilson) of plastic floating all over our oceans, and those tiny fragments will truly

Potatoes are an essential part of any person’s diet in today's society, they are cost efficient and can be used and stretched in many different ways to ensure consumers get the most 'bang for their buck.' Potatoes are an easily obtainable product now but it originated high in the Andes Mountains of South America. The Andes are ideal for potatoes because they flourish and grow in a cool environment with elevations exceeding 12,000 feet. The Inca of Peru were the first to cultivate the potato around 4,500 years ago; they often worshiped them and even buried them with their dead.

Yams, plantains, green bananas and cassava are the essential staples in Africa. These vegetables are grown and used all over the continent, either on their own or combined with others. Cassava is an important source of dietary carbohydrates in the tropical and subtropical areas of the world, with its roots providing food for over 500 million

According to Amy Maxmen, the editor of this article, the cassava crop is harmless cooked correctly. This crop must go through a process of preparation and conservation

The world produces two hundred billion pound of plastic a year, twenty billion of that ends up in the ocean each year (Silverman). Fourteen billion sinks and ends up damaging life on the ocean floor and the rest floats and end up in gyres and garbage patches (Silverman). This strikes much concern because plastic is not biodegradable; therefore, plastic floats there forever because microbes do not recognize it as food. Making matters worse, the sunlight photo degrades the bonds in plastic polymers and makes plastic smaller for tiny marine organisms to consume (McLendon) The United Nations Environment Program estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean hosts 46,000 pieces of floating plastic (“Silverman”). Reducing the amount of plastic consumed, would lessen the amount of compost that is not biodegradable.

By going to a website called, “postconsumer.com,” I found out that, “ Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade- breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways. They then enter the food web when animals accidentally ingest them,”( admin, para.8 ). In case you didn't know, the meaning of biodegrade is to decay and to become absorbed by the environment, while photodegrade is to be decomposed by the action of light, especially sun light. Plastic bags are very common in grocery stores. Sure they help us carry items, but plastic bags can do a lot of harm to the environment and to living animals, such as creating land fills and endangering six of seven species of sea turtles. Where I'm getting at is that

Song JH, (2009) states that “Many different materials are used for packaging including metals, glass, wood, paper or pulp, plastics or combinations of more than one material as composites” (p 364). What this means is that most of the packaging materials we use for packaging contain products that are very hard to de compose and end up in landfills. In order to achieve bio degradable packaging we should consider bioplastic polymers which “are generally still much higher than that of their traditional plastic counterparts” (364). Bioplastic polymers cost much more than regular polymers we use but, if we can help our planet and company become more environmental friendly, we should take that step and use bioplastic polymers for our

Plastics have massive economic effects in a world practically covered by it. Plastics are polymers, chains of molecules polymerized together. There are two different categories, thermoset which solidifies irreversibly when the polymer is heated and thermoplastic which soften when exposed to heat (Halden, 2010). Plastic is a log lived material which can be used for many years yet the highest uses we have for the material are disposable, such as for packaging. Since 1975 Global plastic production has increased by 620% (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2015). This increase is due to benefits such as cost efficiency, increase in shelf life and protection of products. But do these benefits outweigh the residual wastes effect

It can be seen that Peru is the birthplace of potato. Because of that, Potato has influenced to Peru’s culture since 7,000 years ago. Andean people started using Potato as the staple diet in the early 16th century. They created fried, baked or mashed potatoes which became popular in most Westerner’s diets. Nowadays, Potatoes are an essential part of society in Peru. There are more than 3,500 potatoes varieties found in this country which have white or yellow flesh, red, purple, brown or yellow skin. They cultivate the exotic varieties in the highlands, for instance the yellow Peruvian potatoes, that can be used the best for mashing and have competitive prices in the international market. However, in the past of 50 years, the potatoes have lost

With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the