Environmental Impact, Degradation, and Recycling

A major problem of today s environmental side due to polymers is that many applications utilize polymers as though they were readily disposable however, the truth is that they are one of the most inert of chemical pollutants in reality. Particularly, plastic packaging tends to be a single use of a fabricated polymer which is then thrown away. Although these materials are disposed responsibly, the packaging materials are the source of a serious pollution problems. Among numerous treatment methods, landfilling and/or incineration are the mostly widely used methods to dispose of such materials. [146] 

The majority of polymers degrade photochemically or thermally by a free radical process. Thermal degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) and side group cleavage in PMA and PtBMA are examples where P-scission of the alkyl-oxygen bond occurs from a cyclic transition state without free-radical formation.[147] 

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