1 What are common recycled P
Plastics' popularity in our daily life makes it a small but significant aspect of waste streams. The scarcity of landfill space calls for plastic recycling. A study shows several most common plastics for recycling: polyethylene terephthalate particles (PET): excellent clarity, tough high density polyethylene waste (HDPE): high stiffness, toughness, resistant to moisture polyvinyl chloride (PVC): versatile, can be bended easily plastic coarse aggregate (PCA), shredded fibers of polythene bags, PET bottle fibers, waste polyethylene, granulated plastic waste, [1].
2 PR process
The four basic steps of plastic solid waste are re-extrusion, mechanical, chemical and energy recovery [2]. Various plastic waste products
The ability of being recycled is in consideration when a plastic item is produced and Cycle analysis becomes a standard for production decision making. Products such as detergent bottles, park benches and directions on clothes are made of recycled plastics in more than 1700 plastic recycling companies and organizations in the United States today [2].
4 The advantage and disadvantage of plastic recycling [4]
The advantages of plastic recycling can be listed as follows:
a. Recycled plastics can be a sustainable resource of raw materials and sent to industries to be reshaped.
b. Recycling helps reduce the environmental problems since they are mostly non-biodegradable.
c. Relieving the landfill stress caused by increasing population and more urban areas.
d. Promoting energy recovery for the sake of less energy consumption.
On the other side, plastic recycling has some shortcomings [5]:
a. During the recycling procedure the harmful volatile organic compounds in plastic may be released to affect the air near industry site, which may also cause the health problem of animals and worker near the industry area.
b. Downcycling: Plastics become less useful after the recycling process, and the limited usage of recycled plastic reduce the area of application compared to new
National Center for Manufacturing Sciences. (2004, August 11). Environmental Roadmapping Initiative. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from Plastics Impacts, Risks and Regulations: http://ecm.ncms.org/ERI/new/IRRPlastics.htm
The plastic obtained from polyethylene can be pressed into varying shapes, ranging from the simplest to the most complicated. The ethylene market is indirectly driven by the increased polyethylene consumption for the production of several plastic components. In 2011, the global propylene market is valued at more than $ 90 billion and significant growth is anticipated in the coming years. Acrylic fibers and coatings, PVC plasticizers and coatings, polyurethane resins, epoxy resins and propylene polymers are applied on polycarbonates and solvents, that are used in the production of propylene. The automotive industry is the biggest end-user of polypropylene. The enormous expansion of ethylene and propylene production will contribute to the growth of the ethylene and propylene market, along with the rising demand for downstream products from India, China, and the Middle East. Tight environmental regulations, fluctuations in raw material prices and political uncertainties in crude oil producing regions are the main factors limiting the ethylene and propylene market [9].
Not only people should recycle waste to protect the environment; they have to use the recycled products too, otherwise the recycling will not be worth the effort (Biswas et al., 2000). The myth that people belive in is that as long as the product is recycled, then it has lower quality than before it is recycled. However, it depends on the product itself if it is typical, so the product keeps its quality even after rcycling (Biswas et al., 2000).
Environmental concern, cost reduction and waste disposal legislation are the underlying motivation for recycling of products. In the case of food products, the packets can be recycled if it is made of plastics. In case of beverages, the bottles are returned to the parent manufacturer, where the recycling process takes place, to be refilled with the next batch of the
Recycling helps protect the environment. Recycling creates sustainable environment. All of the wastes and all of the industrial processes creates air and water pollution. Process of recycling helps to minimize the risks of air and water pollution. It helps to solve the problem of global warming. The waste we produce come in the form of bottles, boxes, cans, refuse, furniture, clothing, paper products, packaging waste, glass, aluminum, plastic, metals and paperboard. It take so many years if we just throw them away to spoil on its own and to destroy. During the disposal process, this waste releases poisonous gases and chemicals into the environment. When the non-biodegradable products in our waste are burned, they often emit gases that deplete the ozone layer in the atmosphere, which in turn allows more ultraviolet radiation to reach our living atmosphere, giving rise to global warming and rising sea levels. Now in this present world global warming is the major issue. Like in the North Pole and South Pole the ice caps are melting. This is just because of the failure of the ozone layer to block the ultraviolet rays coming from the sun. This means we are heading to the age of global warming. We can stop
... converting plastic waste into useful products are being affected by pollution; this contamination is found within containers where plastics are collected. But the same risk of pollution carries downside consequences in which workers and people responsible for cleaning and disinfecting the plastic materials are not doing the best to eliminate plastic waste, and to disinfect the infected bacteria and microorganisms from the atmosphere and environment. Organizations from China and India are the largest in the world, they collect and purchase used plastic from United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America (Minguez 2013). These companies do not bother to sanitize the products before the recycling process; for this reason the planet earth is getting a worse environmental condition, and it is destroying lives of living beings, and natural resources as well (Uddin 2014).
People need to think about the objects that they throw away, those items can affect the animals around the world. For example, when people throw away the plastic rings that go around pop cans, can kill animals by being stuck around their little necks. So, before people throw those plastic rings out, they need to make sure that they cut a slit into each ring so in case an animal does get stuck in one of them, then they can get out safely. Recycling does not just have to be about plastic, but when the plastic is recycled, Americans can use it for many different things. For example, the plastic can make park benches, plastic crates, and wire tubing. Many people do not understand where all of the recycled objects go, but the objects do not go anywhere they are just recycled to make other things, recycled objects also help reduce the price of the objects that they make. The best part about recycling is the fact that people can recycle almost anything and turn it into something completely different. For example, Keen’s Harvest makes bags, wallets, and totes from recycled airbags that come from automobiles. Another example is Looptworks uses cotton jersey, nylon, vinyl, and recycled polyester to make their upcycled leather iPad cases. Skateback is another company that uses recycled material to make iPhone backs; they use the discarded post-industrial skateboard materials. Vinylux
The future for these products is also quite often over looked. The components are not made to be detachable, so the different materials cannot be recycled correctly or recycled at all, which leads to landfills and pollution. Every material, from wood to steel to carbon fibre has an environmental story behind it and these can all be reused, however there is quite often not enough thought into this design aspect. These components are not labelled correctly for recycling and the result is a scarred landscape. However recycling these days has now turned into a way of life for us. Bins are now everywhere marked with the unmistakeable ‘three-green-arrow’ (another remarkable graphic design – now playing a huge role in the way we live), which lets members of the public kn...
Plastic can be used as well. Even though plastic bags can be recycled, only 3 percent of them are. Paper bags actually cost more to recycle than plastic. One would think that because paper is paper, it would cost little to do that. According to Jane McGrath, from How Stuff Works, “Recycling a plastic bag takes 91 times less energy to recycle than a paper bag.”
One huge aspect of recycling is that it gives the recycler the fulfillment of helping the environment. W. Kip Viscusi a professor at Vanderbilt University said, “The warm glow environmental benefit that a person receives from recycling will be greater for those who place a higher value on the environment .” Therefore, the benefit of helping our environment is the greatest benefit of all. Although it might seem as if plastic is thrown away than it can not harm the environment, however, that is incorrect. Plastic is not biodegradable, therefore, it will never be able to completely decompose into the earth. With plastic not being able to decompose it takes up a large amount of space while also being capable of traveling through the air. Sati Manrich, the author of Plastic Recycling said, “The mounting volume of plastic residues, coupled with their extremely low biodegradability, generated a serious problem regarding the amount of space they took up.” Therefore, when plastic is thrown away it will last for at least four-hundred and fifty years before degrading in the landfills; thus allowing all the plastic that was thrown away in the last four-hundred and fifty years to start a stockpile in the landfills or even travel somewhere else.(Manrich
are required and less energy is needed to make recycled plastic products than to make
On the other hand, some people feel that recycling should not be mandatory. Some people feel as if recycling is not always cost effective. Sometimes, there may be a need for new factories to process reusable materials. This could even create more pollution because of the cleaning, storage and transportation that takes place. Also, some people feel that recycled products may not last for long. Recycled materials are not always a reliable quality. The materials are mostly made up of trashed waste, which is why the products are cheap and last for a shorter period of time. Another reason why some people think it is not necessary to recycle is because there are unsafe and unhygienic recycling sites. Places like landfills, where all sorts of waste is dumped contribute to the spread of different diseases and other dangers caused by harmful chemicals and waste. People also think that r...
There are also several long term benefits of recycling. For example, “collecting and processing secondary materials, manufacturing recy...
Recycling is such a fantastic way for us to reuse the waste we once throw. Yet, not everything is easy to be done in this world. There many difficulties that face recycling process economically and socially. Usually In order to recycle, waste paper needs to be sorted and treated from any Impurities. Which means that companies will loss finance because there must be someone or something that could sort or treat these papers. Another problem is that to start recycling, companies needs a lot of good recyclable supply to pick it up; after all, they need good economic benefits (Problems with Recycling, 2014). According to the Waste and Resources Action Program, there are some barriers p...