Recycling Waste Of Recycling

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

Biodegradable plastic is plastic that is capable to decompose through the action of living organisms. It is originally from renewable resources and made from natural materials such as corn starch. Biodegradable plastic is also an alternative source of plastic. To produce it, ‘First, lactic acid is fed into a reactor and converted into a type of pre-plastic under high temperature and in a vacuum’, Professor Bert Sels explains(2015). These are only the some of the

Polyethylene is used numerous applications like plastic bag, water bottle and takeaway containers. This plastic eating bacteria can biodegrade the plastic at 0.13mg a day. It is estimated that it might take 100 to 400 years to degrade the polyethylene in landfills9. It is found that the enzymes in the worms can digest this chemical and it is safe the environment. Since plastic takes a long time to decompose, its carbon footprint involves the creating new landfills and incinerations. Both can be harmful to the environment8. This engineering solutions can be used to convert and biodegrade the plastic in a safe way.

Annually, approximately 2 billion pounds of BPA is manufactured in the United States, making it ubiquitous in our everyday lives. BPA is a major component of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate is most prevalent in materials used for packaging food and drink, such as “microwave-safe” tupperware and baby bottles. Resins are used in materials for the protective lining of metal water pipes and food and drink containers, such as cans used for fruit and vegetables. BPA can also be found in dental supplies, medical supplies, and children’s toys. When these everyday items are washed, sterilized, or heated, BPA leaches out of the material and into the food to be consumed. Even small amounts of exposure to BPA have been proven to cause adverse effects in humans and animals (Erler and Novak 2010).

Picture this; over one trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide. Plastic is not biodegradable so for each bag it takes one thousand years to degrade or totally break down. Since plastic was first produced in 1907, humans have generated 8.3 billion metric tons plastic products, that is equivalent to 25,000 empire state buildings or 80 billion blue whales. Plastics have outlasted most man-made materials and have been under environmental scrutiny for quite some time. Although plastic was once regarded as convenient and versatile, it has become one of the biggest environmental problems of our time; different types of plastic can take anywhere from one to one thousand years to decompose, it is time for this generation to put the work in on biodegradable alternatives to plastic.

The one thing that every human being wants, in this increasingly polluted era, is a less polluted environment. Everywhere from the landfills, the rivers, the ocean and any other imaginable place is full of plastic waste. Plastic garbage is not just a problem to the garbage collectors, but to the whole human race. Plastic materials do not decompose under natural circumstances; thus they pile up in landfills, clog waterways, and make the environment a total mess. It is impractical to evade the manufacturing and using of plastic stuffs, given the efficacy of the same, but it is feasible to minimize the plastic litter in the environment. Recycling plastic unwanted remains is the best technique of lessening pollution from such waste materials. The know-hows incorporated in plastic material reutilization have changed over time enriching effectiveness to make recycling a practicable solution of the ever-increasing plastic pollution issue. Effectiveness, capital, policies and research of recycling plastics are a necessity for endeavor (Hardesty, et al, 2015). Therefore, the responsibility remains in the shoulders of us all and not necessarily for manufacturer. Recycling plastic will reduce the plastic pollution; Energy, conserve of oil, reduce garbage in landfills; and make the environment clean; hence reducing the danger associated with environmental change, overflowing landfills, and clogged waterways and

As people we often do not realize how much material that we use in our daily day basis can affect our environment especially plastic water bottle. Plastic water bottles have become a problem in our environment because according to my research “American discards about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, but only 6.5% it is recycled and 7.7% is burned in waste to energy facilities, which create electricity or heat from the garbage (Cho, 2012)”. These plastic water bottles that Americans throw away each year are made with PET plastic which is 100% recyclable. The problem with these Plastic water bottles is that if people don 't recycle the majority end up in landfills. When these bottles are in landfills the average time that it takes for water bottles to break down is about 1000 years (O’Connor, 2011). The issues with these water bottles is that it takes a lot of time for them to decomposed and if these water bottles are continuing being dumped down in landfills, these water bottles are going to break into smaller fragments over time and they are going to absorb toxins that is going to pollute waterways and can contaminate our soil and make our animals sick as well (Schriever, 2013).

People use bottled water and plastic bags addictively since it is convenient without thinking how long-term consequences can be catastrophic. First, a mountain of plastic waste and oceans covered with piles of plastic is number one negative outcome. The authors of the article called River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans”, estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tons of plastic waste currently enter the ocean every year from rivers (Lebreton at al 2017). This is a scary number just because according to the researches done plastic is made of such materials that neither water nor soil can absorb during sort period. It is even possible that some plastics can have the worst impact on the environment than others. 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. (“Love Your Earth”, n.d.).

These plastics usually resist biodegradation [12]. Improper disposal of plastics has threatened natural environment worldwide since long time ago. Excessive molecular size might be mainly responsible for the resistance of these chemicals to biodegradation and their persistence in soil for a long time. As a consequence of excessive usage and polymeric nature of synthetic plastics, they remained persistent in the environment, posing serious threat to both terrestrial and aquatic systems. They are accumulating at the rate of 25 million tonnes / year and it is also estimated that 14 billion pounds of plastic garbage is being dumped into the world’s ocean every year which is increasing steadily and severely affecting the life of living organisms. Hence, there is an immense need to degrade the polythene of the environment

This type of bio-plastic is made up of petroleum. So, this type of bio-plastic also produces CO2 at the time of manufacturing. But this type of bio-plastic degrades automatically in the soil and water within few days to few months depending upon environmental conditions. It helps in waste management, as this type of plastic degrades automatically in the environment and thus no need for incineration process. As per different study reports, when we burn 1 kg of plastic, .670 kg to 4.600 kg of CO2 is produced. This produced CO2 highly depends on environmental conditions and temperature of incineration. Problem of land filling is also reduced as this plastic degrades in less time in the environment. In this project,

Plastics and plastic bags take along time to break down. The reason that it takes so long to break down, is that the atoms are hexagonally arranged, so that the atoms take to 500-1000 years, to disintegrate, depending on the plastic. Once the atoms have been split apart, it pollutes the ozone layer. The ozone layer acts like sunscreen to the earth, so when it gets polluted, it gets damaged so there is a hole in the ozone layer (which absorbs uv rays), which is really bad for the environment and us. This can affect consumer choice because if a consumer knows about

Did you know that plastic bags remain noxious even after it breaks down? Billions of plastic bags are given out daily to consumers by the stores to carry their purchases in. They are additionally light, water resistant, and easy to carry in. Most of the plastic bags are made out from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and these bags end up in landfills or waterways after using them (Plastic Rubbish, 2008). In addition, these plastic bags are non-biodegradable. There has been a new creation of plastic bags that are made from chicken feathers (Greene, 2015). Therefore, plastic bags would be able be to break down when disposal. Plastic bags should be limited due to their high negative impact on the environment that leads to pollution, danger to wildlife, and health problems.

Waste product is a wide world concern which needs to be solved so as to aid resources and energy problems. Recycling is the process of turning waste products into a new substance. Plastics comprises of limited resources like petroleum products. Many countries are coming up with advancement in technology to use in plastic recycling. The easy technique that industries are using is that they are using the plastic materials as their raw material in production. Similarly, the government has created awareness on essential of thermal recycling in that plastics are used as source of energy so that there is petroleum conservation. This paper talks about recycling of plastics, types of plastics that are recycled, polymers in recycled plastics and

Plastics are very convenient products that we use in our every day life and for most people it would be difficult to imagine a plastic free world. It is everywhere: used for water bottling purposes, food covering, parts that make up our daily items such as cell phones, clothes, and hospital equipments. With so many convenient methods for the use of plastics, many of us fail to recognize the dangers of plastic pollution which starts with industrial pollution, continues with its distribution and consumer pollution. Designed to be discarded, disposable plastics such as water bottles, lids and straws are the greatest source of plastic pollution in addition to being toxic to our health and non-environmentally friendly due to

Plastic is one of the most important materials that are used today in our daily lives. Plastics have been in our lives for a long time. The first polymer plastic was first made in 1907 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland (Bellis, 2017,para.6). Plastics are used for food, transportation, packaging, bottles, containers, bags and much more. Around 300 million tons of plastic is created each year and less than 10 percent of that is recycled (Wassener, 2011,para.13). It exists everywhere and it’s a daily usage in our lives, thus, we can’t help but expose ourselves in the environment where plastics are around. The use of plastic has benefits but they also have some serious health and environmental impacts during manufacturing and disposing.