How many plastics products do people use every day? It’s probably hard to give an exact number. Modern life is surrounding by plastic. “It would now be hard for those of us living in Europe and America to imagine a life without plastics, as they now play such an integral part in our lifestyle” (Mossman 185), so as people in other countries. On the other hand, massive plastic waste is produced by people themselves. Therefore, this paper focuses on what influences people dispose of plastic waste and their solutions.
First, green design (or sustainable design) has become a main trend, which inspires professionals to find solutions by using their specific skills. Plastics have already been recycled since 1970s, while considering the lack of technology, …show more content…
Governments and international organizations establish legislation as a guide for managing plastic waste. In the article Green Paper – On an European Strategy on Plastic Waste in the Environment, EU declares that strong policies can be a direction for recycling plastics. Although there’s no specific legislation for plastic waste, some legislation about managing waste in the Waste Framework Directive can be shared (EU 6). Some chemicals are added in plastics which can damage both their recyclability and the environment. While using labels or caution marks may reduce the damage. Nevertheless, land filling is still the main method of plastic disposal. With the rapid increasing of plastic waste, oceans will become a second choice of disposing plastics. As the improvement of waste legislation, it brings more job opportunities and economic gain. At the same time, the Directive on Waste 2008/98/EC announced that manufacturers should strengthen their responsibilities and consider sustainable production. Although not all plastics waste are recyclable, through revising the Landfill Directive 1993/31/EC could gradually obsolete or forbid landfilling plastics waste. A study shows establishing strong policies can lengthen recyclability of plastics. (EU 10-11) Jefferson Hopewell, Robert Dvorak and Edward Kosior also mentioned that EU formulated rules about …show more content…
It can be reprocessed into new, useful materials. In the article Technologies for Converting Waste Plastics into Fuel, UNEP states that waste plastics can be produced into solid fuel, liquid fuel and gaseous fuel. Plastics are polymeric organic materials, mainly include two types: thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers. Because of their properties, while turning plastics waste into fuel, they can also produce other waste at the same time (6-7). Besides, each type of plastics requires different technique to process, some plastics may affect human bodies and environment in harm way. Several problems will show up while changing over waste plastics into fuel resources. For example, plastics waste needs various pre-processing methods based on different types of it. During the process of producing solid fuel, it needs plastics mix with wood or paper, which may complicate the whole process. For solid fuel, the production will lead to overusing energy and pollutions. Industrial plastics waste is the ideal material for solid fuel. After pre-processing, it will be mixed with other compound. The mixture will be stored after further processing (UNEP 10-14). As being reprocessed into liquid fuel, plastics need to be mixed with inorganic matter such as alcohols and waxy. The method of producing liquid fuel is based on the pyrolysis of the plastics and the condensation of
First, green design (or sustainable design) has become a main trend, which inspires professionals to find solutions by using their specific skills. Plastics have already been recycled since 1970s, while considering the lack of technology, …show more content…
Governments and international organizations establish legislation as a guide for managing plastic waste. In the article Green Paper – On an European Strategy on Plastic Waste in the Environment, EU declares that strong policies can be a direction for recycling plastics. Although there’s no specific legislation for plastic waste, some legislation about managing waste in the Waste Framework Directive can be shared (EU 6). Some chemicals are added in plastics which can damage both their recyclability and the environment. While using labels or caution marks may reduce the damage. Nevertheless, land filling is still the main method of plastic disposal. With the rapid increasing of plastic waste, oceans will become a second choice of disposing plastics. As the improvement of waste legislation, it brings more job opportunities and economic gain. At the same time, the Directive on Waste 2008/98/EC announced that manufacturers should strengthen their responsibilities and consider sustainable production. Although not all plastics waste are recyclable, through revising the Landfill Directive 1993/31/EC could gradually obsolete or forbid landfilling plastics waste. A study shows establishing strong policies can lengthen recyclability of plastics. (EU 10-11) Jefferson Hopewell, Robert Dvorak and Edward Kosior also mentioned that EU formulated rules about …show more content…
It can be reprocessed into new, useful materials. In the article Technologies for Converting Waste Plastics into Fuel, UNEP states that waste plastics can be produced into solid fuel, liquid fuel and gaseous fuel. Plastics are polymeric organic materials, mainly include two types: thermoplastics and thermosetting polymers. Because of their properties, while turning plastics waste into fuel, they can also produce other waste at the same time (6-7). Besides, each type of plastics requires different technique to process, some plastics may affect human bodies and environment in harm way. Several problems will show up while changing over waste plastics into fuel resources. For example, plastics waste needs various pre-processing methods based on different types of it. During the process of producing solid fuel, it needs plastics mix with wood or paper, which may complicate the whole process. For solid fuel, the production will lead to overusing energy and pollutions. Industrial plastics waste is the ideal material for solid fuel. After pre-processing, it will be mixed with other compound. The mixture will be stored after further processing (UNEP 10-14). As being reprocessed into liquid fuel, plastics need to be mixed with inorganic matter such as alcohols and waxy. The method of producing liquid fuel is based on the pyrolysis of the plastics and the condensation of