Polymer waste management: Introduction, world of polymer, recycling , environmental issues, waste management

1. Aadrsh Tiwari
M.sc. III sem.
Polymer chemistry

3. o Introduction
o World of polymer
o Recycling of plastics and
Environmental issues
o Waste management:- recycling processes
o Polymer for sustainable environment
o conclusion

4. Plastic products have become an integral part in
Our daily life as basic need. Its broad range of
application is in packaging films, wrapping
materials, shopping and garbage bags, fluid
containers, clothing, toys, household and
industrial products, and building materials.
it produced on a massive scale worldwide
and its production crosses the 150 million tones
per year globally. In India approximately 8
million tones plastic products are consumed
every year .
It’s a fact that plastics will never degrade and
remains on landscape for several years.

5.  The recycled plastics are more harmful to the
environment than the virgin products due to mix.
Of color, additives, stabilizers, flame retardants
etc. for ex. Phthalates, which are added as
plasticizers to PVC .
 Most plastics are non-degradable, they take a
long time to break down, possible up to
hundreds of years.
 The recycling of a virgin plastic material can be
done 2-3 times only, because, after every
recycling, the strength of plastic material is
reduced due thermal degradation.

6. •All types of thermoplastic are recyclable. To
make so sorting and thus recycling easier,
the American society of plastics Industry
developed a standard marking code to help
consumers identify and sort the main types
of plastics.
•Plastics are synthetic polymers derived primarily from
petro-fossil feedstock and made-up of long
hydrocarbons with additives and can be mould into
finished products.
• these polymers are broken in presence of suitable
catalyst ,into monomer such as ethylene, propylene,
vinyl , styrene and benzene.

7.  The rapid rate of urbanization in India has led
to increasing plastic waste generation.
 In fact, a major portion of the plastic bags i.e.
approximately 60-80% of the plastic waste
generate in India is collection and segregated
to be recycled . The rest remains strewn on
the ground , littered around in open drains,
or in unmanaged garbage dumps.
 Recently, cow death have been reported due
to the consumption of scattered plastic bags
along with the organic matter.

8.  The plastics industry in India has made
significant achievement ever since, Polystyrene in
1957.
 Packaging present a major growth area .
 Among the commodity plastics ,polyethylene and
PET are predominantly used in packing .LDPE is
used in the manufacture of carry bags and PET is
used in packaging beverages like soft drink and
mineral water.
 PET in particular present a major growth area in
the years to come.
 The growth of Indian plastic industry has been
phenomenal the growth rate is higher than the
plastic industry elsewhere in the world.

9.  Plastic waste are generated from a variety of
sources and can be broadly classified as
CONSUMER,INDUSTRIAL , COMPUTER,AND
WASTES.
 consumer waste generated from residential
household, market ,small commercial
establishment, hotels and hospitals include
milk pouch , carry bags , cups/glasses, buckete
/mug, pen, mats , luggage ,TV cabinets
,footwear , etc.

10.  Floppy , CD , monitor, printers , etc are included
in computer wastes.
 Other sources of plastic waste include
automotive, agricultural and industrial wastes
and the construction debris.
 The considerable growth in plastics use is due to
the beneficial properties of plastics , which
include : being lightweight, durable, resistant to
chemicals, water and impact, and having
electrical and thermal insulation properties.

11.  Packaging
 Medical
 Building and
construction
 Transport
 Engineering
 Footwear
 Toys/sport
 Electronics
 Agriculture
 other
 35%
 2%
 23%
 8%
 2%
 1%
 3%
 8%
 7%
 3%

12.  A . Recyclable
plastics(thermoplastics):PET,HDPE,LDPE,PP,PS,
PVC, etc.
 B . Non-Recyclable plastics (thermoset and
other): multilayer and laminated plastics
,PUF,BAKELITE, polycarbonate ,Malamine,
Nylon etc,

13. Indiscriminate littering and unorganized
recycling /reprocessing and non-
biodegradability of plastic waste raises the
several environment issues:-
 Release of harmful gases such as CO,HCHO
etc . during polymerization or product
manufacturing.
 Release of fugitive emission during
polymerization process.
 Land become infertile due to indiscriminate
plastic waste disposal.

14.  Leaching of toxic metals into underground water.
ex. Pb , Cd ,.
 Unaesthetic look and choke the drain.
 Multi layer, metalized pouches and other thermo
set plastics pose disposal problems.
 Sub-standard plastic carry bags , thin packaging
films etc. pose problem in collection and
recycling and reuse.
 Recycling industries in non-conforming areas
release fugitive emission.