Recycling Case Study : Recycling

In fact, many of the major plastics used today began when commissioned to be used for the war effort (Freinkel, 6). When plastic was first brought to The United States, the American people loved it. Not only can plastic imitate other materials, but it is also much more affordable. Overall, plastic is cheap. The leap in plastic produced from the ‘40s until now is extremely substantial. For instance, in 1940 plastic was hardly used, in 1960 a single American used close to 30 pounds of plastic per year, today each individual uses more than 300 pounds of plastic per year (Freinkel, 6). A major impact on the amount of plastic used is directly related to the way Americans, starting in the 1940s, were now able to mass produce plastic products. For instance, a single plastic comb making machine could reproduce ten combs in less than one minute (Freinkel, 22). Overall, plastic is relatively inexpensive and it is made for mass manufacture. Considering this it is east to see why plastic became so popular in the first place, it was a plastic miracle. However, there is a direct relationship between the amount of plastic produced and the amount of plastics that are being polluted into the

Plastics are light and convenient handling, achieving widespread customer acceptance. In general, plastic packing growths fast and posts significant threats of substitution to cans

Each year there is an increase in demands for plastic bags, and therefore more are shipped, creating further environmental pollution concerns. This increase in demand has lead to the phenomenal upsurge in the use and misuse of plastic bags globally, both in developed and developing countries. Statistics show that 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags are produced per annum, whereby North America and Western Europe account for nearly 80% (Geographical, 2005; Reusable Bags, 2005). Cheeseman (2007) states that approximately “380 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the United States annually”; in turn, only 0.6% of this is recycled.

It’s a hot summer day and you’re enjoying your nice, cold, refreshing soda from a plastic bottle. You notice a blue bin labeled for plastic recycling and go to chuck it in however you may want to think twice before you do. Everyone has been told time and time again by teachers, peers, and family alike to recycle once in their life. It’s commonly accepted that recycling materials like paper, glass, and plastics will help our environment and our health. However recycling plastics is far more bad than good to both our health and the environment. Recycling plastics is harmful to the environment and human health and we must find a more responsible way to use plastics, recycle them, or do away with them.

Plastic recycling becomes more profitable as the cost of oil rises. In the 1970’s, fears of limited oil supplies led to a significand demand for plastic recycling. In California and some other locations, the government requires recycling, and provides access to constant streams of plastic that allow for more plastic recycling plants to run continuously. In crowded areas, such as japan, limited access to natural resources leads to high value of recycled plastic products produced locally.

America currently has a growing population of over 300 million people. Every day the average American produced 4.4 pounds of garbage. As a nation Americans produced over 200 million tons of waste in 2013. Only 34.4 percent of that waste was recovered. Over 65 percent of that garbage is left to rot and pollute the environment. Many other countries face the same epidemic. There are many ways Americans can reduce pollution and keep our planet cleaner, one for those ways for instance is recycling. Recycling defined is to treat or process used or waste materials, to make suitable for reuse. The process starts by knowing what to recycle and how. Understanding the effects and benefits of reprocessing can persuade people to make

One material dominates the entire world, a material incapable of degrading for centuries and used in all facets of life. While very new to the earth, this synthetic polymer has flourished rapidly since the 1950’s, and, still at full throttle in the 21st century, the Age of Plastic sees no imminent end. Plastic continues to ascend at an exponential rate as its plethora of uses extends to new branches of technology and innovation. Even with their differences, both the working class American and the CEO of an industrialized company utilize plastic for its low cost and versatility. Nevertheless, humanity cannot sustain this nonrenewable resource for long, and eventually the issues of this material will one day outnumber the benefits.

Australians approximately use 6.9 billion plastic bags per year (Errata Nolan ITU, 2002). The high consumption of plastic bags highlights one outstanding issue. The adverse impact, consumption and disposal of plastic bags have towards the environment. This involves the resources used to make

Plastic is in every part of modern day life. Today’s civilizations use it for everything from cleaning products to storage to safety equipment. Plastic has effectively become part of everyday life. It’s able to be used and discarded quickly, and often after it is tossed into the trash can it is forgotten. After it is thrown away, it may end up in one of two places, the local landfill or the oceans, where approximately fifteen to forty percent of plastics end up.

Gilbert is one of the fastest growing city in the nation since 2000. Gilbert is also top ranked city for better living.

Plastics of the 20th century should consider the health of the environment. Over the past 153 years http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/14/fsummit.climate.plasticbags/ of producing plastics there is an evident impact of the environment. The Earth’s ocean has 5.25 trillion pieces, which is equivalent to 269,000 tons floating on the surface. Some of plastic is as small as 1cm2; this makes this every difficult to reverse the already existing impact of humans. This large scale disaster also affects the wildlife. 100,000 marine animals and 1 million birds have to suffer the consequence of plastic pollution every year. Globally a million single-use plastic bags are used every minute, this number is also increasing. http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/

L. (2003). Plastics and the Environment. Research Triangle Institute. Retrieved February 10, 2016, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/121586094/Plastics-and-the-Environment#scribd

There would be some justification for calling the 20th century the Age of Plastics”( Strom and Rasmussen, p. ix). Many years ago, plastics changed the world and our lives. Bakelite plastic is made from carbolic acid (phenol) and formaldehyde, which are mixed, heated, and then either molded or extruded into the desired shape (Strom & Rasmussen,2011, p.22). People around the world use about 260 million tons of plastic each year. Plastic consumes 8 percent of world oil production each year. Plastics are amazing materials. They are cheap, lightweight, strong, lasting, corrosion resistant, and have high thermal and electrical insulation properties. For that reason, plastics are used in products such as cups and saucers, and components for cars and airplanes. Furthermore, there are many things made from plastic, like pens, windows, etc. Plastics come in a variety of different colors. In today’s world, people would have difficulties living without plastic because it is considered more inexpensive than cloth, leather, and metal. (Thompson, R., Swan, S., Moore, C., & Saal, F, 2009, P. 1973). Plastics can be manufactured into soft, hard and liquid materials. Plastics enter into every aspect of our lives ( Yoshioka, 1964, p. 42). According to Strom and Rasmussen in 2011, Baekeland said, ”if I had my life to life over again ……I would not hesitate to devote my best endeavors to biochemical research. The future of mankind depends on this subject” (p

In order to fully understand the intensity of the issue, it is necessary to see how the prevalence of plastic has increased within modern society. The era of modern-day plastics began in the early 1930s with the creation of synthetic plastics such as polystyrene (PS), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These types of plastics can be used in a wide range of fields such as clothing, construction, packaging, and plumbing and as a result these are some of the most widely produced plastics globally. The growth of the plastic industry began during World War II, when countries such as the United States attempted to conserve precious resources such as metals by using other materials wherever possible. This led to a significant rise in plastic production due to companies using the inexpensive material to create parts for military vehicles and equipment and to provide metallic products with alternative products, for example using plastic wrap instead of aluminum foil. Once the war ended, chemical companies sought to earn the profit that was awaiting to be made from selling new plastic goods to consumers. As time went on, plastic became increasingly

Since its mass-production, plastics became a part of everyday living because of its versatility. The usage of plastic ranged from food containers to electronic components and humanity had become so reliant on plastic that it is unaware of the potential downsides of this versatile material, particularly the chemicals in the plastic that could be potentially harmful to humans. Bisphenol-A, or BPA, is one of such chemicals which is used in resins to line containers and one of the most notable sources of BPA is plastic bottles, a widely used liquid container that can be found just about anywhere in industrialized societies (Raloff 2007). However, there was debate on whether or not BPA is harmful and government agencies had reported that the low amount of BPA in plastic containers is not a major threat to human health thus the general public should not be overly concerned (Raloff 2007). However, scientists and researchers were looking into the properties of BPA through various experiments, uncovering negative effects of the chemical’s exposure, and unveiling to the general public about how the widespread use of plastics in daily life could potentially affect them.