Environmental issues overview

We are indebted to Mostafa Tolba, Executive Director of the United Nations Environmental Programme, for his overview. Dr. Tolba s perspective on environmental issues is clearly a global one. We take this opportunity to thank Clayton Callis, past ACS president, for his support of the symposium upon which this book is based, and the Electric Power Research Institute and the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry for financial assistance with speakers travel to that symposium. 

This is part of the environmental issues series of the UK Environment Agency. The report provides an overview of plastics looking at manufacture, uses and disposal. The aim of the report is to make recommendations on ways to ensure that society s use of plastics is more sustainable in the future. 

Chapter 1 is used to review the history of polyethylene, to survey quintessential features and nomenclatures for this versatile polymer and to introduce transition metal catalysts (the most important catalysts for industrial polyethylene). Free radical polymerization of ethylene and organic peroxide initiators are discussed in Chapter 2. Also in Chapter 2, hazards of organic peroxides and high pressure processes are briefly addressed. Transition metal catalysts are essential to production of nearly three quarters of all polyethylene manufactured and are described in Chapters 3, 5 and 6. Metal alkyl cocatalysts used with transition metal catalysts and their potentially hazardous reactivity with air and water are reviewed in Chapter 4. Chapter 7 gives an overview of processes used in manufacture of polyethylene and contrasts the wide range of operating conditions characteristic of each process. Chapter 8 surveys downstream aspects of polyethylene (additives, rheology, environmental issues, etc.). However, topics in Chapter 8 are complex and extensive subjects unto themselves and detailed discussions are beyond the scope of an introductory text. 

The CER starts by introducing Sasol s policy, presenting an overview of the business and by stating objectives. It then gives a number of comprehensive reviews of environmental issues on a site and divisional basis. The report concludes with tabulated data... 

Horrocks AR. Overview of traditional flame-retardant solutions. In Along J, Horrocks AR, Carosio F, Malucelli G, editors. Update on flame retardant textiles state of the art, environmental issues and innovative solutions. Shawbury, UK Smithers Rapra 2013. p. 123-78. 

The aim of this first chapter is to give something of an overview of that diverse part of manufacturing industry which is called the chemical industry. In doing so, a number of topics are introduced fairly briefly, but are discussed in more detail later in the book. As well as being a lead in to the other chapters, it should give the reader an idea of what the industry does, which are the major chemical producing countries, the scale of operations, the major products, and briefly discuss environmental issues. 

Miles, R.W. Forbes, H. I. Photovoltaic solar cells An overview of state-of-the-art cell development and environmental issues. Prog. Cryst. Growth Ch., 2005,51, - 2. 

The concern over environmental issues and sustainability has opened up another vibrant research field, namely, biobased and biodegradable polymer blends. An overview of major developments and recent trends in biodegradable blends with an emphasis on PLA blends are also discussed. This chapter closes with an outlook for the future of this important subject. 

Given the increasing interest in physical processes with low consumption of chemicals, favorable environmental issues, and high controllability, the scope of this chapter was to give a short overview of fundamentals of combined photo-chemical and laser surface modifications and to exemplify the attainable effects by data obtained from experiments conducted by the authors. 

Beyond its direct environmental impact Facebook may also have other positive and negative effects on the environment, most of which are difficult to measure or confirm. People may substitute communication via Facebook for physical travel or use Facebook to coordinate their travel and improve its efficiency. Alternatively, because Facebook helps people to expand the scale of their contacts to regional, national, and international scales, it may encourage people to travel more than they would otherwise for face-to-face meetings (see Mokhtarian, 2002 for an overview of this issue). Finally, and perhaps most importantly, individuals and environmental organizations use Facebook to raise awareness about environmental issues as well as for fundraising. 

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