Landfill disposal environmentally degradable

For safe disposal of the products without any adverse effects to the environment, such as recycling and subsequent repolymerization, recycling to olefinic feedstock by pyrolysis, continued burial in landfill sites, incineration, and use of environmentally degradable polymers... 

Interest in environmentally degradable polymers began more than thirty years ago, when it was first recognized that the commonly used commodity packaging plastics such as polyolefins, poly(vinyl chloride, polystyrene, and poly(ethylene terephthalate) were accumulating in the environments in which they were discarded, after use. Since these polymers were developed for their resistance properties, it should not have been surprising that they were recalcitrant in landfills and as litter when disposed of in a negligent manner. 

Understanding the environmental degradation of PLA is very important because more than 100,000 MT of PLA are produced annually — mainly for consumer products and packaging. Therefore, most of this PLA wdl be disposed in landfill sites after a short period of use. PLA undergoes biodegradation via... 

This was brought on by the growing pressure to avoid or reduce environmental pollution from waste polymers and plastics, which were accumulating widely on land and in oceans due to careless disposal, and because of the decreasing availability of landfill space for controlled disposal. Options available then, and now, were landfill, incineration, recycle, and controlled environmental degradation. Environmental degradation at that time was almost always referred to as biodegradation... 

It follows that there are three reasons why the use of degradable plastics in place of conventional packaging plastics in landfill disposal is encouraged by both financial and environmental considerations. 

Permitted methods for off-site disposal of secondary waste vary from case-to-case, factoring in environmental considerations such as the potential environmental persistence of waste contaminants. Discussion of degradation rates for trace amounts of chemical agents under a variety of conditions are available in Waysbort et al. (2004), Bartelt-Hunt et al. (2006), and Columbus et al. (2006). Land disposal of hazardous waste is governed by Subtitle C of RCRA (40 CFR Parts 264/265). For landfill requirements, see 40 CFR Parts 264/265, Subpart N. 

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