Reduce, Reuse, Recycle — Plastics

Explain sustainable development and the triple bottom line. (P) How does polymer regeneration differ from standard recycling methods 10) Are the properties of recycled plastics as good as the properties of virgin plastics 11) Discuss the life cycle of plastics and why reducing is better than recycling and reusing. 12)... 

Plastic waste can be either landfilled, reused, converted to energy by combustion, reclaimed and reprocessed into new products, or converted into monomers or simple chemicals. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advocates three Rs reduce, reuse, and recycle. The approaches to handle the plastic waste problem are reduce the amount of waste to be discarded reuse a signihcant amount of the waste discarded and recycle as much of the waste as possible. 

Current development activities are focused on the processes and practices of reprocessing plastic waste materials, with emphasis on the processes and practices that reduce emissions and integrate the LCA of technologies and materials. Plastics processing management involves the reuse of plastics waste from industry, and primary and secondary recycled material, to limit the environmental impact and preserve natural resources. 

Plastics have become an essential and irreplaceable part of 20th century life. Concern over the management of non-renewable resources and the ultimate disposal of plastics has led to a general consensus to reduce, reuse and where possible, recycle plastic materials. The bacterially derived polyhydroxyalka-noate polymers provide an additional option of being natural, compatible with normal disposal routes and also being fully biodegradable. 

One approach to reduce the contaminant levels consists in reusing the wasted plastic as the core of the new material. Residues of pesticides or harmful contaminants may limit recycling of plastics as a result of their potential toxicity. Utilisation of post-consumer plastics for pharmaceutical or food-contact applications is forbidden, and multilayer food packaging materials manufactured using functional barriers are subjected to strict regulations [9, 40, 41]. 

About 70% of materials that are routinely disposed of in landfills could be recycled instead. More than 30% of bulk municipal garbage collections consist of paper that could be remanufactured into other paper products. Other materials like plastic, metal, and glass can also be reused in manufacturing, which can greatly reduce the amount of waste materials disposed in landfills, as well as preserving sources of nonrenewable raw materials. 

Recyclability and sustainability All PO-based plastic interior or exterior part systems, theoretically at least, allow potentially easier recovery and reuse of components or shredder "fluff" when a vehicle s lifetime is over. Reduced environmental footprints are also being sought with the use of plant-based fillers and fibers for plastics. 

Today, 50-80 % of the waste products from production are reused. Metal wastes, the largest contingent, are sold as scrap. The industry is making considerable efforts to recycle reusable waste products into its own, i.e., internal, processes. Nonreusable waste products are in most cases environmentally neutral and can thus be disposed of by way of deposition. In order to utilize existing waste deposit sites for as long as possible, German industry is attempting to reduce waste product volumes and to increase the proportion of reusable, pure-type substances (rubber, plastics, raw materials, etc.). 

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