Plastics are polymers, chains of molecules produced by smaller molecules called monomers.

Light weight, long durability and comparative low production price have made plastic and

polymer an irreplaceable part of industrial activities. However, they are inert to the microbial

degradation and therefore harmful to the environment in many ways. In the developing

countries like Bangladesh due to low labor cost and less legitimate obstacles plastic recycling

can be a pretty good way to utilize waste non degradable plastics to reduce environment

pollution.

Nowadays demand of plastic and synthetic products in the

commercial and industrial arena is growing quite enormously,

which patronizes technological advancement, but on the other

hand is proving to be a fatal threat to the environment due to

their non-biodegradable nature. In this poster, we are bringing

forth the consequences to which our atmosphere is exposed

and providing a potential solution based on developing

countries like ours, which is plastic recycling.

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION

Greenhouse Gases:

Fossil fuels such as

natural gas, oil and

coal are used in

production process

of plastic, emitting

dangerous

greenhouse gases

and toxic chemicals.

As plastic

decomposes gases

are produced,

particularly

methane.

Natural Resources:

Plastics are made

from non-

renewable

resources that,

once depleted,

cannot be replaced.

Landfill Space:

Waste Plastic

occupies large area

in landfill causing

dire problems.

Persistence in the Environment:

Most plastic is not

biodegradable and

will survive in the

environment for

hundreds of years.

Rather than

biodegrading, plastic

photo-degrades,

breaking down into

smaller and smaller

pieces. Plastic is can

float easily in air and

water, and travel long

distances.

Threat to Marine Life: Every year more than 6 million tons of rubbish

are dumped into the world’s oceans. 80% of this waste is plastic, with

an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean.

Turtles, whales, and sea birds mistake rubbish for food or get

entangled in it causing painful injuries or even death. It is estimated

that marine rubbish, mostly plastic, is killing more than a million

seabirds and 100,000 mammals every year.

Effects on Environment

Past Plastic Waste Management:

In the past, solid waste management was merely collection

and disposal. In Sanitary landfill method wastes were brought

to disposal site and leveled. Workers sprayed disinfectant

and insecticide which were mixture of Izol, gamaxene and

antimalarialoil or Dipthroxhas. The waste was covered with

one layer of sand.

Overall, plastics in landfills are fairly inert. The majority of

common polymers are not biodegradable. By contrast, the

amount of plastic waste is growing. Polymers have lower

density; consequently plastic waste takes up a larger volume

for relatively little mass as compared to the other household

and industrial wastes.

Solid Waste Management= Collection + Disposal

.Collection:

Plastics can be collected from different agricultural, industrial, municipal

and commercial areas. It can be collected manually as labour cost is

comparatively low in our country.

Cleaning and Sorting:

Once the plastic has been collected, it will have to be cleaned and

sorted using various techniques suitable for respective purpose.

Size Reduction:

Size reduction is done to convert waste into small pieces so that they

can be used properly for further processing. Main steps are:

1. Cutting 2. Shredding 3. Agglomeration

Extrusion and Pelletizing:

Polymer pieces are fed into the extruder, are heated to induce plastic

behavior and then forced through a die to form a plastic spaghetti. The

pelletization process is used to reduce the ‘spaghetti’ to pellets which

can then be used for the manufacture of new products.

Plastic Recycling Process

It is both tough and unacceptable to collect the used

plastic and re-use them after cleaning or washing only.

Reduce means bio-degradation of plastic wastes which

is also quite troublesome considering most of the

plastics are not bio-degradable or very slowly bio-

degradable.

But, considering the situation in a developing country like

Bangladesh plastic recycling can be very useful for the

following factors:

Low labour and transportation Cost.

Fewer laws to control the standards of the recycled

materials.

Original raw materials are costly

Innovative use of machineries often leads to low entry

costs for manufacture.

Why Recycle Plastic

Not all plastics are recyclable. There are first only 4 of the following 7

types of are commonly recycled:

Contamination of recyclables is a problem because it raises the costs for

collectors, recyclers and the community. Plastic bags, bin liners, and

cling wrap are not recyclable. These plastics can get stuck in the sorting

equipment in recycling facilities causing it to stop or break. Often bottle

tops and lids cannot be recycled with the bottle as they may be made of

a different type of plastic. Polystyrene foam is generally not recyclable.

This includes the spongy black foam trays that meat is often packaged

and takeaway containers and hot drink cups.

Recyclable & Non-Recyclable

PlasticsPlastic Waste

Reuse

Reduce

Recycle

PET Polyethylene terephthalate

HDPE High-density polyethylene

PVC Polyvinyl chloride

LDPE Low density polyethylene

PP Polypropylene

PS Polystyrene

Plastic Recycled Products

It takes 25 two liter plastic bottles to make an adult

fleece jacket.

The rings from bottlenecks and six-pack holders

need to be cut when you dispose of them to reduce

harm to animals.

The energy saved by recycling one plastic drink

bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.

4% of oil consumption in Europe is used for the

manufacture of plastic products

Recycling plastic saves twice energy than burning it

in an incinerator.

Plastic Recycling

Facts

CONCLUSIONIn summary, recycling is one strategy for end-of-life waste

management of plastic products. It makes increasing sense

economically as well as environmentally and recent trends

demonstrate a substantial increase in the rate of recovery and

recycling of plastic wastes. These trends are likely to continue, but

some significant challenges still exist from both technological

factors and from economic issues relating to the collection of

recyclable wastes, and substitution for virgin material. Recycling of

a wider range of post-consumer plastic packaging will further

enable improvement in recovery rates of plastic waste and

diversion from landfills. Therefore, recycling of waste plastics is an

effective way to improve the environmental performance of the

polymer industry.

1. Recycling of Plastic Bottles: Bangladesh Perspectives/M. Serajul Islam,

Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET/Engineering News,

IEB/Sept-Oct 2002.

2. UNEP, Marine Litter: A Global Challenge (2009)/

www.unep.org/publications/search/ pub_details_s.asp?ID=4021

3. Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

www.environment.gov.au

4. Recycle now, www.recyclenow.com/why_recyclin g_matters.html

5. Plastics recycling: challenges and opportunities: Jefferson Hopewell, Robert

Dvorak & Edward Kosior.

6. Fisher M. 2003. Plastics recycling, In Plastics and the environment (ed.

Andrady A., editor. ), pp. 563–627 Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Inter science.

7. Shaxson L. 2009. Structuring policy problems for plastics, the environment

and human health: reflections from the UK. Phil. Trans. R. Sc. B 364, 2141–

2151 (doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0283)

8. Fletcher B., Mackay M. 1996. A model of plastics recycling: does recycling

reduce the amount of waste? Resour. Conserv. Recycling 17, 141–151

(doi:10.1016/0921-3449(96)01068-3)

9. Plastic Recycling-Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling

References

Md. Mezbah Uddin

Shafiul Munir

Tanvir Ahmed

Authors

Plastic Recycling: Choice is yours- Save it or Waste

it !