Plastic litter problem

Litter Problem Plastics waste in urban litter does pose a serious and real waste management problem. Unlike paper, plastics do not degrade in the outdoor environment at a fast enough rate compared to that of littering. The result is a serious aesthetic problem in highly populated urban areas in almost any part of... 

O Hara K, Iudicello S, Bierce R (1988) A citizen s guide to plastics in the ocean more than a litter problem. Center for Marine Conservation, Washington, DC... 

The photosensitizing degradation may considerable contribute to the solution of the plastic-litter problem. In order to improye the standards of our enyironment the amounts of plastic litter should be reduced and this aim may easily be aohiyed by the use of plastics mhich would readily degradable by sunlight. This practioal problem has been fully reviewed by the following publioations (3,127). 

It is a fact that actinic deterioration of Degradable Plastic films will, in due course, lead to the crumbling of them into fine particles. Such disintegration obviates the plastics litter problem and provides the possibility of a solution to the agricultural plastics residue situation. There is evidence in this paper and elsewhere ( ) that there are commercially viable formulations with which packaging (and related) plastics can be made to have controlled, short embrittlement times outdoors but no indoor stability problems. 

The photolysis of copolymers containing ketone groups has both academic and practical interest since the way in which the polymeric environment affects the photochemical pathways leads to an understanding of the photodegradation of polymers in which the ketone group is present as an adventitious or intended impurity. Copolymers with vinyl ketones also provide a practical means for preparing plastics with controlled lifetimes as a means of combatting litter problems (1.-3). 

In the waste disposal area, the environmental benefits of biodegradable plastics are limited to waste streams that will be composted, items that are associated with litter problems, and items that are apt to get into sewage treatment systems. If wastes will be disposed by landfill or incineration, biodegradability offers no real advantage. 

CEE Plastics in the Ocean (1987) More Than a Litter Problem. Report prepared by the Center for Environmental Education (now called Center for Marine Conservation), Washington, DC, under Contract No. 68-02-4228, to the Environmental Protection Agency, p. 128. Washington, DC). 

The prevention of marine environment pollution, for instance, is regulated by the MARPOL Treaty. This international convention prohibits the disposal of any plastics waste in the oceans, e.g., from ships or from offshore platforms. The International convention generated activities to check if biodegradable plastics used as an alternative to conventional polymers are suitable to be degraded in a marine environment [2]. A further problem exists from littering, where plastic items are washed away to the sea by rivers or blown by wind from tbe shores and can cause the death of numerous marine animals [3]. 

Food approval for foamed polystyrene beverage containers made from photodegradable polystyrene would provide a much more satisfactory product than the current plastic coated paper cups which have little heat insulation and cause serious litter problems. 

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