Disposable packaging

Water-Soluble Films. Water-soluble films can be produced from such polymers as poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH), methylceUulose, poly(ethylene oxide), or starch (qv) (see Cellulose ethers Polyethers Vinyl polymers). Water-soluble films are used for packaging and dispensing portions of detergents, bleaches, and dyes. A principal market is disposable laundry bags for hospital use. Disposal packaging for herbicides and insecticides is an emerging use. 

The first example is the plasma-borne retinol-binding protein, RBP, which is a single polypeptide chain of 182 amino acid residues. This protein is responsible for transporting the lipid alcohol vitamin A (retinol) from its storage site in the liver to the various vitamin-A-dependent tissues. It is a disposable package in the sense that each RBP molecule transports only a single retinol molecule and is then degraded. 

In September 2004, Novamont acquired the Eastar Bio technology of Eastman Chemical for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes all patents and technology rights but not production facilities or distribution channels. Eastman introduced its biodegradable polymer in 1997 and since then has invested more than 75m in the project. The resin is used commercially for single-trip disposable packaging, as well as for barrier films and waste-bin liners. Eastman has a 15,000 tonnes per annum production plant at Hartlepool in the UK, which was started up in 1999, for production of Eastar Bio products. 

DuPont s Biomax is used in a number of specialty packaging applications, injection-moulded parts, coatings for paper, thermoformed cups and trays, and films because of its superior barrier properties. DuPont has targeted fast-food disposable packaging, as well as yard-waste bags, diaper backing, agricultural film, flowerpots, and bottles, for particular development. 

Preparing waste for storage, transportation, and disposal packaging labeling marking and common problems. Part of seven-volume series, "Handling Hazard Waste."... 

We report on all areas of plastics processing for every kind of application—from toys to electronics and disposable packaging to automobile and appliance parts. We provide practical problem-solving assistance as well as buyers guides to new or little-known categories of machinery, raw materials, software, or services. We also provide monthly summaries of business and market news, updates on resin prices, analysis of regulatory developments that will affect our readers, and quarterly surveys of readers capacity utilization and machine-hour pricing rates. 

Styrene Butadiene Copolymer Thermoplastic polymers of butadiene and >50% styrene having good transparency, toughness, and processibility. Processed by extrusion, injection and blow-molding, and thermoforming. Used in film wraps, disposable packaging, medical devices, toys, display racks, and office supplies. 

Two major issues that arise from this extensive use of plastics, especially in relation to short-life disposable packaging, are its carbon footprint and end of life - what happens to the product after use when it enters the waste stream. This chapter describes how bioplastics can provide a value proposition to address the twin issues of carbon footprinting and end of Ufe. 

These models simulate the behaviour of an Intermediate and Low-level waste (ILW) repository in indurated clay (argillite) in France. Quasi-cylindrical horizontal disposal cells with variable diameter contain activated waste (ILW No 1) and compacted hulls and end-caps (ILW No 2), and consist of a tunnel in which disposal packages are piled up, and of an access gallery to this tunnel. Only three radionuclides are considered in the simulation and Se (fissionproducts),... 

Natural biopol5mers provide biodegradable, sustainable solutions for the manufacture of short-life, single use disposable packaging, consumer goods, and marine plastics. Starch, an anhydroglucose... 

Another way to achieve reduction in the amount of packaging requiring disposal is to switch from one-use to reusable packaging. Often, especially for distribution packaging, this involves a switch from paperboard or wood to plastic. Reusable packages often require initial use of more material than disposable packages. However, when the amount of product delivered is factored in, the net... 

High molecular weight polyethylene is virtually nonbio-degradable. Being a commodity thermoplastic widely used in disposable packaging and consequently a very visible component of urban litter, there is interest in rendering the material environmentally biodegradable. 

Special talc minerals have been advocated by Specialty Minerals Inc. for high clarity polyethylene film, rather than synthetic silica or diatomaceous earths. (Ordinary uncoated talcs are normally thought to increase haze.) A coarse talc is used in BASF s Ecoflex , a biodegradable plastic for mbbish sacks and other disposable packaging. Ecoflex decomposes in soil or compost within weeks, leaving no residue. 

Our society is incredibly dependent on polymers in the form of plastics. Durable and lightweight, plastics are probably the most versatile synthetic materials in existence in fact, their current production in the United States exceeds that of steel. Plastics have come under criticism, however, for their role in the current trash crisis. They make up 21% of the volume and 8% of the weight of solid waste, most of which is derived from disposable packaging and wrapping. Of the 1.5 X 10 kg of thermoplastic materials produced in the United States per year, less than 2% is recycled. 

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