The " Plastic Effect "- Fixing the Waste

So Sorry Friends for Being late...In Last Two Segments we've gone through the other two partshttp://youriota.blogspot.in/2012/10/the-plastic-effect-hazards-this-time
&http://youriota.blogspot.in/2012/09/the-plastic-effect-know-your-plastic.html
To Close this Plastic Chapter we will Discuss its Last and Final Subject today...

                              How to Fix this Plastic Waste ??
Definitely answer is not going to be Very easy...because it is Not degradable like Organic Waste...
It is undegradable product...so fixing it Properly is a BIG challenge....
Today through this Post we will Discuss how We can manage this Plastic Waste in Proper Manner !!!

Let's start with some facts-

Of the options for managing plastic waste, re-use and waste minimisation are seen to have little impact on overall reduction compared with recycling and energy recovery.

Landfill is the other option for managing plastic waste and indeed is by far the most used; for instance in Western Europe in 2005, 53% of plastic was disposed of into landfill....

    Current Trends

1. Landfill:
   disposal of plastic waste is dropping by 2% annually as available space is diminishing.
2. Recycling:
   Technological developments are facilitating new ways of recycling plastic.Governments are legislating to promote it and Civil society is co-operating in recycling.
3. Incineration:
   Uncontrolled incineration of plastics produce carcinogenic   poly-chlorinated-di-benzo-p-dioxins, a cancer causing chemical.it also causes emissions of toxic fumes.
   

We can Go for the Recycling and Incineration Methods because the land Fill Creates some poisonous Gases like Methane,CO & CO2...
So a Brief Description Of these methods can be Introduced...

1. RECYCLING Of Plastic Waste:
   
   Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. Typically a plastic is not recycled into the same type of plastic, and products made from recycled plastics are often not recyclable.
           Some challenges Which are faced Commonly during the Procedure,is When compared to other materials like glass and metal, plastic polymers require greater processing (heat treating, thermal depolymerization and monomer recycling) to be recycled.
   Recycling a PET bottle still costs more than producing a new one, with the result that the recycling rate for PET bottles in Europe is around 25%. The situation is even worse for other plastics. Recycling rates for polystyrene are 2%.

   Mechanical Recycling

   'mechanical recycling recovers the plastic material for similar or lower-quality plastics'

   Feedstock Recycling

   'Feedstock recycling turns the plastic waste by means of chemical reactions into chemical raw materials or fuels
   1. Represents only 2% of total plastics recycling in Western Europe, for instance
   2. Recycling treatments have high investment costs
   3. Economics more favorable with larger volumes
   4. Requirement for plastic sorting
   5. Liquefaction
      A type of Feedstock recycling converts plastics into hydrocarbon mixtures that are useful as fuels via thermal and /or catalytic cracking commercialised by H.Smart Inc and Ozmotech technology being developed to solve the issue of residual PVC in the waste.
   6. Thermal processes
      Thermal cracking of these plastics can achieve a worthwhile yield of starting monomers:
      Polystyrene (PS)Poly(methyl) methacrylate (PMMA)Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
   7. Catalytic processes
      
                                             Did You Know??
      
      A first success in recycling of plastics is Vinyloop, a recycling process and an approach of the industry to separate PVC from other materials through a process of dissolution, filtration and separation of contaminations.
   
   
   
   
2. INCINERATION of Plastics:Controlled high-temperature incineration, above 850C for two seconds performed with selective additional heating, breaks down toxic dioxins and furans from burning plastic, and is widely used in municipal solid waste incineration.Municipal solid waste incinerators also normally include flue gas treatments to reduce pollutants further. . The problem occurs as the heat content of the waste stream varies. Open-air burning of plastic occurs at lower temperatures, and normally releases such  fumes

" Open burning is not an environmental acceptable solution for any kind of waste," the technical working group emphasized. "Incineration under environmentally sound conditions with energy recovery should be the preferred option compared to landfilling or incineration without energy recovery.

                                             -GENEVA, Switzerland, January 23, 2002 (ENS) 

New Tracks:
A latest technology has come into being that helps in converting this plastic waste disposal into a good source of green fuel. Not only does this technology helps save our environment from waste accumulation but also helps us save lot of money... Let us find out how...

= >> Plastic Waste Disposal Producing Green Fuel

This method is doubly environmentally friendly as it will reduce the volume of plastic waste being disposed of in the landfill while producing green fuel without generating any green house gases.

                            The process of converting plastic waste into bio-fuel is quite simple. It is similar to how alcohol is made. If you heat plastic waste in non oxygen environment, it will melt, but will not burn. After it has melted, it will start boiling and eventually evaporate. You just need to put those vapours through a cooling pipe and when cooled the vapours will condense to a liquid and some of the vapours with shorter hydrocarbon lengths will remain as a gas. The exit of the cooling pipe is then going through a bubbler containing water to capture the last liquid forms of fuel and leave only gas that is then burned. If the cooling of the cooling tube is sufficient, then there will be no fuel in the bubbler, but if not, the water will capture all the remaining fuel that will float above the water and can be poured off the water. On the bottom of the cooling tube is a steel reservoir that collects all the liquid and it has a release valve on the bottom so that the liquid fuel can be poured out.

Meanwhile, several companies have begun operating plants that convert waste plastic to bio-fuel by using a similar process. Among them, Cynar which is head quartered in London but had its first plant operating in Portlaoise in Ireland, aims to install up to 30 plants throughout the British Isles. Similar plants are already in operation in Thailand and India.

So here this Plastic Effect Finishes with it's final topic...

Do Post your Comment and Suggestions.....Keep loving and Saving earth !!

Sources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic#Recycling
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic
3. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jan2002/2002-01-23-03.asp

The " Plastic Effect "- Hazards This Time

its Wednesday today,3rd October...so first of all  belated Happy Gandhi Jayanti and Lal Bahadur Shstri Jayanti to all of you...

I am is here again with it's Fourth post....

tonight i am going to discuss the hazards from various kind of plastics and it's effect on environment and living Species...i have projected a brief factual file of Plastic(Classifications,Production etc.) in my last post...

http://youriota.blogspot.in/2012/09/the-plastic-effect-know-your-plastic.html
start with it's evil side this time...

Q:  How dangerous are plastics for human?

A: Aquatic birds and fish routinely becomes victims because although plastic does undergo some biodegradation, it doesn’t thoroughly break down. And plastics and their additives aren’t just present in our environment, virtually all of us ingest them as well; plastic is consumed with the food we eat, the water we drink and from other sources.
Two classes of chemicals from plastic are of serious concern for human health: Bisphenol-A or BPA, and additives used in the synthesis of plastics, which are known as Phthalates. BPA is a basic building block of polycarbonate plastics, such as those used for bottled water, food packaging and other items. BPA is a synthetic estrogen and commonly used to strengthen plastic and line food cans. Scientists have linked it, though not conclusively, to everything from breast cancer to obesity, from attention deficit disorder to genital abnormalities in boys and girls alike.

           Some polymers may also decompose into the monomers or other toxic substances when heated. In 2011, it was reported that "almost all plastic products" sampled released chemicals with Estrogenic Activity, although the researchers identified plastics which did not leach chemicals with estrogenic activity.

BPA controversy:

.BPA, is an estrogen-like endocrine disruptor that may leach into food.Research in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that BPA leached from the lining of tin cans, dental sealants and polycarbonate bottles can increase body weight of lab animals' offspring. A more recent animal study suggests that even low-level exposure to BPA results in insulin resistance, which can lead to inflammation and heart disease.
Adding to the health risks associated with BPA is the fact that other ingredients are routinely added to plastics. Many of these potentially toxic components also can leach out over time. Among the most common is a chemical known as di-ethylhexyl phthalate or DEHP. In some products, like medical devices including IV bags or tubing, additives like DEHP can comprise nearly half of the of the product. “If you’re in a hospital, hooked up to an IV drip"

As of January 2010, the LA Times newspaper reports that the United States FDA is spending $30 million to investigate indications of BPA being linked to Cancer.

Bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate, present in plastic wrap based on PVC, is also of concern, as are the volatile organic compounds present innew car smell.

The European Union has a permanent ban on the use of phthalates in toys. In 2009, the US government banned certain types of phthalates commonly used in plastic.

Q:  How dangerous are plastics for Environment ?
A:  Plastics are durable and degrade very slowly; the chemical bonds that make plastic so durable make it equally resistant to natural processes of degradation. Since the 1950s, one billion tons of plastic have been discarded and may persist for hundreds or even thousands of years. Perhaps the biggest environmental threat from plastic comes from nurdles, which are the raw material from which all plastics are made. They are tiny pre-plastic pellets that kill large numbers of fish and birds that mistake them for food.

Prior to the ban on the use of CFCs in extrusion of polystyrene (and general use, except in life-critical fire suppression systems;), the production of polystyrene contributed to the depletion of the ozone layer; however, non-CFCs are currently used in the extrusion process.


The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to 155°W and 35°N and 42°N. The patch extends over an indeterminate area, with estimates ranging very widely depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the affected area.

Plastic Photodegradation in the ocean

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has one of the highest levels known of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water. Unlike debris, which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. This process continues down to the molecular level.

As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms that reside near the ocean's surface. Thus, plastic waste enters the food chain through its concentration in the neuston.

Some plastics decompose within a year of entering the water, leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A, PCBs, and derivatives of polystyrene.

^{Because of the material’s longevity, plastics pile up in landfills and are occupying the world’s oceans in increasing quantity. Measurements from the most contaminated regions of the world’s oceans show that the mass of plastics exceeds that of plankton sixfold. Patches of oceanic garbage, called Gyres, are swirling vortexes of plastic bits. The North Pacific Gyre, one of several in the world, is expanding at such a rate that from the first time it was studied until now, it has grown from the size of the state of Texas to twice the size of the continental United States.  Halden Postulates:
Rolf Halden, Associate professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University and assistant director of Environmental Biotechnology at the Biodesign Institute. Halden has undertaken a survey of existing scientific literature concerning the hazards of plastics to human health and to the ecosystems we depend on.his conclusions are pretty grim. Halden’s study reiterates the fact that the effects to the environment from plastic waste are severe.As Halden points out, annual production alone would fill a series of train cars encircling the globe. “We’re doomed to live with yesterday’s plastic pollution and we are exacerbating the situation with each day of unchanged behavior,” he said.                                 
                                            Halden explains, “the chemical that oozes out goes directly into your bloodstream, with no opportunity for detoxification in the gut. This can lead to unhealthy exposure levels, particularly in susceptible populations such as newborns.”}

Halden explains that although plastics have some beneficial and legitimate uses in society, their thoughtless misuse has led to a gravely unsustainable condition. “Today, there’s a complete mismatch between the useful lifespan of the products we consume and their persistence in the environment.” Prominent examples of offending products include single-use water bottles, Teflon-coated dental floss and cotton swabs made with plastic PVC sticks. All are typically used for seconds or minutes, yet will persist in the environment, sometimes for millennia.

Ultimately, developing petroleum-free materials for use in smart and sustainable plastics will become a necessity, driven not only by health and environmental concerns but by the world’s steadily declining oil supply. As Halden emphasizes, the manufacture of plastics currently accounts for about 8 percent of the world’s petroleum use, a sizeable chunk, which ultimately contributes to another global concern — the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

“We are at a critical juncture,” Halden notes, “and cannot continue under the modus that has been established. If we’re smart, we’ll look for replacement materials, so that we don’t have this mismatch–good for a minute and contaminating for 10,000 years.”


so the hazard part overs here...after a day or two i will be here with third and the last part of this PLASTIC EFFECT......So Meet you friends with the Last part of this Issue....
Till then Keep saving the Earth...Take care...
and yes please don't forget to comment on this Post...

                                   

SOURCES:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch
3. http://www.annualreviews.org/journal/publhealth
4. https://www.google.co.in/