Page 49 - Plastics News Issue - January 2025
P. 49
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
tems and are dangerous to animals and other cess.
wildlife. Marine wildlife especially ingest plastic
wastes thinking they are food and may die or Other major ways through which the manage-
be killed by predators, they become trapped in ment of plastics is done include landfilling and
the wastes. In addition, if plastics disintegrate to incineration and while doing this; they have their
small fragments known as ‘microplastics,’ they own problem. As for now it is seen that plastic
penetrate the food chain and reaches humans. wastes are being filled up in the landfills and as
this material stays in the landfill, it leaches out
Current Recycling and Disposal Methods injurious chemicals into the ground water. Whilst
incineration transforms waste to a small vol-
ume that occupies less space, and in the pro-
cess gives off toxic gases that pollutes the air,
and constant production of toxic gases, and bad
greenhouse gases perpetuates the greenhouse
effect.
Technological Innovations in Plastic Recycling
Out of all the technological solutions that are
effective to use in relation to the plastic waste
issue, the best opportunity is indicated to be
recycling. Chemical recycling has been on the
ascendancy as technology is advancing to de-
Another type of recycling system is mechanical velop the recycling of plastics into useful feeds.
recycling, which could only provide a general 1. Chemical Recycling
solution the imminent issue of plastic wastes.
Mechanical recycling means collection of used Whereas mechanical recycling involves turning
plastics, cleaning them, cutting them into small used plastic into new products, chemical recy-
pieces and then using them in manufacturing cling involves breaking the plastics back into
new products. However, this process is limited their molecular chain and then use them to cre-
because it is found in practice that the plastic ate new plastics or products. This process in-
objects decrease in quality each time they are volves the treatment of the plastics by solving
recycled.That is why most plastic materials are them into their monomers then polymerizing to
recycled several times in cycles before they at- other plastics. Chemical recycling seems to have
tain their useless state. a better ability as compared to mechanical recy-
cling in handling a larger number of plastic prod-
Secondly, there are many plastic products avail- ucts.
able in the market and none of them can be re-
cycled for reuse. Plastic types and it chemical Some of the companies have thus developed
characteristics and many of them are unable special procedures in chemical recycling. One of
to pass through conventional recyclability. This them is pyrolysis where through the use of high
lead to plastics entering the recyclable stream, heat in the absence heir the plastic is converted
further crowding out plastics recycling as a pro- to oil and gas. These byproducts can then be
January 2025 PLASTICS NEWS 49
