THE POLYMER LIFE CYCLE

In this chapter the basic features of polymers and their additives are introduced. The main ageing and degradation phenomena, which relate to the reliability and durability of polymers, from manufacture and service, to final disposal or recovery, are reviewed. The prediction of the long-term performance of polymers is discussed. 

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On completion of the first life cycle of plastics, various recycling processes are available for further utilisation of these valuable materials. The choice of process will depend upon the materials to be recycled. In chemical recycling polymers are degraded to basic chemical... 

In terms of the product life cycle analysis, a new product or polymer would generally require about thirty years from the research and development stage before becoming a commodity product when millions of tonnes are produced annually for mainstream application. In 2005, the biodegradable plastics industry has about fifteen to twenty years of development time behind it and has now reached the market introduction stage. 

It is environmentally important to perform a life cycle assessment analysis, not only for non-biodegradable polymers but also for partially biodegradable or even completely biodegradable polymers. Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool which helps in understanding the environmental impact associated with the products, processes and activities throughout the life of a polymer. The life cycle of vegetable oil-based polymers is shown in Rg. 2.6. Thus a complete LCA would include three separate but interrelated components, an inventory analysis, an impact analysis and an improvement analysis. 

Exposure was expected to be low throughout the product life cycle for several reasons potential worker exposure is well managed due to the low production, use of engineering controls, and properties of the material, releases to the environment should be minimal and the polymer end product should retain the DuPont Light Stabilizer 210 unless incinerated. Emissions from incineration should be low due to the low concentrations and emission controls on incinerators. 

As with all matured polymers, but in particular due to the persistent nature of fluoropolymers, all individual steps of the whole life cycle (Figure 21.2) are scrutinized under environmental and sustainability aspects. 

Table 15.6 Rankings for each of the polymers based the normalized green design assessment results and the normalized life cycle assessment results.

However, the use of nanoparticles in nanocomposites may also have less desirable side effects. For instance, thermo-oxidative stability may be reduced, which may have negative consequences for performance and service time [13,14]. Furthermore, polymer degradation under solar irradiation may be increased, and hazardous nanoparticles may be released during their life cycle (which starts with resource extraction and ends with final disposal) [15,16]. The release of engineered nanoparticles from nanocomposites and the scope for reduction of hazard and risk to health during the nanocomposite life cycle are considered in this chapter. This chapter also deals with other environmental aspects of... 

The average life cycle of a product generally varies from very long to quite short as one moves downstream from polymer production... 

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