Recycling Waste Of Recycling

Polyethylene is used numerous applications like plastic bag, water bottle and takeaway containers. This plastic eating bacteria can biodegrade the plastic at 0.13mg a day. It is estimated that it might take 100 to 400 years to degrade the polyethylene in landfills9. It is found that the enzymes in the worms can digest this chemical and it is safe the environment. Since plastic takes a long time to decompose, its carbon footprint involves the creating new landfills and incinerations. Both can be harmful to the environment8. This engineering solutions can be used to convert and biodegrade the plastic in a safe way.

Song JH, (2009) states that “Many different materials are used for packaging including metals, glass, wood, paper or pulp, plastics or combinations of more than one material as composites” (p 364). What this means is that most of the packaging materials we use for packaging contain products that are very hard to de compose and end up in landfills. In order to achieve bio degradable packaging we should consider bioplastic polymers which “are generally still much higher than that of their traditional plastic counterparts” (364). Bioplastic polymers cost much more than regular polymers we use but, if we can help our planet and company become more environmental friendly, we should take that step and use bioplastic polymers for our

Annually, approximately 2 billion pounds of BPA is manufactured in the United States, making it ubiquitous in our everyday lives. BPA is a major component of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate is most prevalent in materials used for packaging food and drink, such as “microwave-safe” tupperware and baby bottles. Resins are used in materials for the protective lining of metal water pipes and food and drink containers, such as cans used for fruit and vegetables. BPA can also be found in dental supplies, medical supplies, and children’s toys. When these everyday items are washed, sterilized, or heated, BPA leaches out of the material and into the food to be consumed. Even small amounts of exposure to BPA have been proven to cause adverse effects in humans and animals (Erler and Novak 2010).

Biodegradable plastic is plastic that is capable to decompose through the action of living organisms. It is originally from renewable resources and made from natural materials such as corn starch. Biodegradable plastic is also an alternative source of plastic. To produce it, ‘First, lactic acid is fed into a reactor and converted into a type of pre-plastic under high temperature and in a vacuum’, Professor Bert Sels explains(2015). These are only the some of the

Recycling is the process of collecting used materials, commonly known as waste, and creating new products to prevent the waste of potentially useful materials. Over the years, businesses started to associate themselves with recycling and being environmentally friendly. However, large coffee corporations do not feel like they need to abide their rules and regulations. Claiming to recycle paper cups allows them to maintain good relations in the public’s eye, but this is not what actually happens behind the scenes. As a result of that, the recycling of paper cups should be more regulated.

These plastics usually resist biodegradation [12]. Improper disposal of plastics has threatened natural environment worldwide since long time ago. Excessive molecular size might be mainly responsible for the resistance of these chemicals to biodegradation and their persistence in soil for a long time. As a consequence of excessive usage and polymeric nature of synthetic plastics, they remained persistent in the environment, posing serious threat to both terrestrial and aquatic systems. They are accumulating at the rate of 25 million tonnes / year and it is also estimated that 14 billion pounds of plastic garbage is being dumped into the world’s ocean every year which is increasing steadily and severely affecting the life of living organisms. Hence, there is an immense need to degrade the polythene of the environment

As people we often do not realize how much material that we use in our daily day basis can affect our environment especially plastic water bottle. Plastic water bottles have become a problem in our environment because according to my research “American discards about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, but only 6.5% it is recycled and 7.7% is burned in waste to energy facilities, which create electricity or heat from the garbage (Cho, 2012)”. These plastic water bottles that Americans throw away each year are made with PET plastic which is 100% recyclable. The problem with these Plastic water bottles is that if people don 't recycle the majority end up in landfills. When these bottles are in landfills the average time that it takes for water bottles to break down is about 1000 years (O’Connor, 2011). The issues with these water bottles is that it takes a lot of time for them to decomposed and if these water bottles are continuing being dumped down in landfills, these water bottles are going to break into smaller fragments over time and they are going to absorb toxins that is going to pollute waterways and can contaminate our soil and make our animals sick as well (Schriever, 2013).

Picture this; over one trillion plastic bags are used every year worldwide. Plastic is not biodegradable so for each bag it takes one thousand years to degrade or totally break down. Since plastic was first produced in 1907, humans have generated 8.3 billion metric tons plastic products, that is equivalent to 25,000 empire state buildings or 80 billion blue whales. Plastics have outlasted most man-made materials and have been under environmental scrutiny for quite some time. Although plastic was once regarded as convenient and versatile, it has become one of the biggest environmental problems of our time; different types of plastic can take anywhere from one to one thousand years to decompose, it is time for this generation to put the work in on biodegradable alternatives to plastic.

This type of bio-plastic is made up of petroleum. So, this type of bio-plastic also produces CO2 at the time of manufacturing. But this type of bio-plastic degrades automatically in the soil and water within few days to few months depending upon environmental conditions. It helps in waste management, as this type of plastic degrades automatically in the environment and thus no need for incineration process. As per different study reports, when we burn 1 kg of plastic, .670 kg to 4.600 kg of CO2 is produced. This produced CO2 highly depends on environmental conditions and temperature of incineration. Problem of land filling is also reduced as this plastic degrades in less time in the environment. In this project,

People use bottled water and plastic bags addictively since it is convenient without thinking how long-term consequences can be catastrophic. First, a mountain of plastic waste and oceans covered with piles of plastic is number one negative outcome. The authors of the article called River plastic emissions to the world’s oceans”, estimate that between 1.15 and 2.41 million tons of plastic waste currently enter the ocean every year from rivers (Lebreton at al 2017). This is a scary number just because according to the researches done plastic is made of such materials that neither water nor soil can absorb during sort period. It is even possible that some plastics can have the worst impact on the environment than others. Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photodegrade- breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways. They then enter the food web when animals accidentally ingest them. (“Love Your Earth”, n.d.).

Plastics and plastic bags take along time to break down. The reason that it takes so long to break down, is that the atoms are hexagonally arranged, so that the atoms take to 500-1000 years, to disintegrate, depending on the plastic. Once the atoms have been split apart, it pollutes the ozone layer. The ozone layer acts like sunscreen to the earth, so when it gets polluted, it gets damaged so there is a hole in the ozone layer (which absorbs uv rays), which is really bad for the environment and us. This can affect consumer choice because if a consumer knows about

Waste product is a wide world concern which needs to be solved so as to aid resources and energy problems. Recycling is the process of turning waste products into a new substance. Plastics comprises of limited resources like petroleum products. Many countries are coming up with advancement in technology to use in plastic recycling. The easy technique that industries are using is that they are using the plastic materials as their raw material in production. Similarly, the government has created awareness on essential of thermal recycling in that plastics are used as source of energy so that there is petroleum conservation. This paper talks about recycling of plastics, types of plastics that are recycled, polymers in recycled plastics and

Did you know that plastic bags remain noxious even after it breaks down? Billions of plastic bags are given out daily to consumers by the stores to carry their purchases in. They are additionally light, water resistant, and easy to carry in. Most of the plastic bags are made out from High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), and these bags end up in landfills or waterways after using them (Plastic Rubbish, 2008). In addition, these plastic bags are non-biodegradable. There has been a new creation of plastic bags that are made from chicken feathers (Greene, 2015). Therefore, plastic bags would be able be to break down when disposal. Plastic bags should be limited due to their high negative impact on the environment that leads to pollution, danger to wildlife, and health problems.

Although there are numerous benefits to recycling such as a whole job and market industry and environmental conservation, majority of these benefits cannot be accessed without the participation of the public. Unfortunately, a large majority of the general population does not recycle mostly because of the time it takes to simply sort recyclables or take to a drop-off facility. Therefore, a new system should be put in place and spread to increase the recycling participation to completely access the benefits of recycling and to reach a strong level of sustainability. Thankfully, most people are motivated by money or lack thereof, so a deposit system would motivate more people to recycle by giving them the choice to make their money back and recycle or simply lose money. Additionally, this deposit system would motivate the public because they would simply input a relatively low time cost for a financial reward. Because of these known motivational trends, the deposit system will definitively improve the recycling participation rate leading to increased environmental conservation and a solid level of sustainability.

How will I help our environment? I will be partnering up with Karlie Ramirez, we have decided on the 21st of October, to head up to Giant Rock, located in Lucerne Valley. Over the years Mankind has polluted our air drastically, consequently, we throw trash on the ground and in our oceans. At worst is air pollution. Exhaust fumes, Radiation spill or nuclear accidents It creates an adverse effect on the overall environment. We put fumes and gases in our air on a daily basis and How does this affect our environment? As some of us have seen It kills wildlife and is currently putting a hole in our Ozone Layer. Karlie and I will be heading to pick up trash, approximately for about 5 hours. Before we can move forward, there are a few steps we will need to complete before the 23rd of September. Moving Forward to our first step will need to speak to our parents about purchasing a few items. Such as trash bags, gloves, and water. Moving on to our Second step, discussing where we will be disposing of all trash we pick up. When you make a point of doing everything you can to help our environment by recycling, your actions make you part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Our third step, talk to our parents about transportation and Location in Giant Rock. After these steps, Karlie and I will be ready to help our earth function and breathe, on the 21st of October. (Here we come Giant Rock!) Everyday items such as soda cans and plastic