Landfill disposal, packaging materials

A major difficulty is that so many applicahons employ polymers as though they were readily disposable, despite the fact that they are, in reality, among the more inert of chemical pollutants. In particular, plashc packaging tends to make a single use of a fabricated polymer which is then thrown away. Even when disposed of responsibly, packaging materials are the source of a serious pollution problem. Municipal authorities dispose of such materials by one of two routes, landfilling and incineration, of which the latter cannot be readily used for chlorinated polymers, such as PVC, because of the additional problems caused by organochlorine species in the atmosphere. 

Because of the capacity limitations of urban landfills, biodegradable plastic packaging materials are of interest as a means to reduce the load on solid waste disposal systems. 

DISPOSAL AND STORAGE METHODS absorb in dry earth or sand, package in epoxy-lined drums, and dispose of in a sanitary landfill atomize in a high-temperature incinerator, equipped with afterburner or hydrochloric acid scrubber encapsulate product residues by organic polyester resin or silicate fixation store in a cool, dry location storage should be in tightly closed containers separate from oxidizing materials, ammonia, and active metals isolate from open flames and combustibles. 

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