Polymer Waste - Biopolymers & Bioplastics

Polymeric Waste

Polymer recycling is a way to reduce environmental problems caused by polymeric waste accumulation generated from day-to-day applications of polymer materials such packaging and construction. The recycling of polymeric waste helps to conserve natural resource because the most of polymer materials are made from oil and gas. One of the useful properties of polymers is that they are unreactive, so they are suitable for storing food and chemicals safely. Unfortunately, this property makes it difficult to dispose of polymers. They are often buried in landfill sites or incinerated - burned.

Plastics have become widely used materials in everyday life due to their special properties such as durability, easy processing, lightweight nature, and low cost of production. However, because of their stable and nonbiodegradable nature, postconsumer plastics become an issue to the environment. The growing amounts of waste are generated, as plastic products are commonly used only once before disposal. The alternatives of practical techniques for solid waste management are redesign, reprocessing, and recycling. Thus, even recycling is not the most profitable technique for the treatment of plastic waste, and it should be constantly developed. The recycling of plastic waste helps to conserve natural resources due to polymeric materials being made from oil and gas. There are four main recycling methods: reuse, mechanical recycling, chemical recycling, and energy recovery. Mechanical recycling turns polymeric waste into new polymer products when energy recovery process releases the energy contained within plastics through combustion and chemical recycling converts waste polymers into feedstock for chemicals/monomers/fuels production.