Identifying the Barriers and Drivers towards Limiting the Single-Use Plastic Water Bottles at Universities in the UAE

The vision of this study is geared towards the exploitation of waste plastic bottle use in construction. This review paper is centers on the recycling of waste plastic bottles as a construction material as an effort to help solve the housing deficit in most developing countries including Ghana and to save the depletion of natural resources construction materials. In Ghana, plastic wastes are discarded randomly after usage, hence scatter around in cities, choking drains, and end up threatening our ecosystem. These predominant effects from the plastic wastes have necessitated the need for countries precisely developing countries including Ghana to seek more sustainable methods to reduce the drastic amount of plastic wastes in the environment. In view of the above, this paper focused on the recycling of waste plastic bottles as a construction material as an effort to solve the housing deficit in most developing countries including Ghana and to save the depletion of natural resources construction materials (stones and sand) are very much critical. In the reviews, an effort has been made to utilize the waster plastic bottles in construction by filling the bottles with soil, sand, solid waste materials as brick or block bounded with mortar as a masonry wall or the filled bottles are used as a substitute for the production of the masonry unit production. In summary, it was concluded based on varying test result that: (1) Plastic waste bottles are cheaper to acquire than most conventional construction materials and as such concrete or brick containing any amount of plastic bottle is noted to reduce the total quantities of conventional materials required, thereby reducing the cost as well. (2) The use of plastic waste bottles in construction contributes to environmental friendliness and energy savings since buildings with walls constructed of plastic bottles maintains room temperatures and contribute to energy saving and the cost of providing an artificial thermal control system. Doi: 10.28991/cej-2020-03091616 Full Text: PDF

Dear Editor, Injection therapies are accompanied by the production of medical waste, the needles used for injection. Some medical personnel in Japan instruct patients to store used needles in plastic bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and then bring the bottles containing the needles to medical institutions for disposal. Therefore, medical personnel who handle this waste must to be careful to avoid needlestick injury.1 The risk of needlestick injury has recently increased with the increasing use of ultra-thin light plastic bottles. Referred to as ECO-bottles, these bottles pose increased risk of protrusion and thus needlestick injury when used as medical waste containers because of their ultra-thin nature. Despite this risk, no clear guidelines have been established regarding the handling of containers, including plastic bottles, for disposal of used needles, and no reports have evaluated the risk of needlestick injury by protrusion of needles from plastic bottles. This study assessed the extent of penetration by 5 commonly used types of needles (NovoFine 30G × 8 mm [Novo Nordisk, Bagsvaerd, Denmark], Ultra-Fine 31G × 5 mm [BD, NJ, USA], NovoFine 32G × 6 mm [Novo Nordisk], Ultra-Fine 32G × 4 mm [BD], and Nanopass 34G × 4 mm [Terumo, Tokyo, Japan]) into 3 types of plastic bottles (ECO-bottle A [produced in the United States], ECO-bottle B [produced in Japan], and non-ECO plastic bottle [as control bottle]). The size of plastic bottles was 500 ml. ECO-bottle was defined as an ultra-thin plastic bottle weighing less than 15 g in an empty state and a non-ECO plastic bottle as weighing more than 25 g in an empty state. To assess risk of needlestick injury from each type of bottle, 13 medical personnel pricked 3 areas (top, middle, and bottom) of each type of plastic bottle with each type of needle once in a perpendicular direction to judge penetration. Figure 1 shows the results of investigation of extent of needle penetration into plastic bottles. The extent of penetration into an ECO-bottle A and an ECO-bottle B was found to be the same, regardless of the type of needle, and greater than that into a non-ECO plastic bottle. Therefore, the risk of needlestick injury by protrusion of needles from the ECO-bottles is higher than that from a non-ECO plastic bottle. Moreover, needles of any type (ie, diameter) are able to penetrate any type of plastic bottle, indicating that all types of plastic bottles are inappropriate for use as containers in which to collect used needles. Figure 1. Extent of needle penetration into 3 types of plastic bottles as evaluated by 13 independent researchers (a total of 39 pricks for each plastic bottle). *P < .01 vs non-ECO plastic bottle by Fisher’s exact probability test. Almost all patients currently treated with injection therapies and who have visited our hospitals reported that they usually recap needles (n = 171/177, 96.6 %), as they are instructed to do so; however, the presence of uncapped needles in plastic bottles collected from some of the patients (data not shown) strongly indicates that patients do not always cap used needles. Furthermore, there is always the possibility that the caps may come off during transportation. Health care practitioners must advise patients to use containers that are not vulnerable to needle penetration.

Background/Objectives: Murine models show that plastics, via their chemical constituents (e.g., phthalates), influence microbiota, metabolism, and growth. However, research on plastics in humans is lacking. Here, we examine how the frequency of plastic bottle exposure is associated with fecal microbiota, short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and anthropometry in the first year of life. Subjects/Methods: In 442 infants from the prospective Nurture birth cohort, we examined the association of frequency of plastic bottle feeding at 3 months with anthropometric outcomes (skinfolds, length-for-age, and weight-for-length) at 12 months of age and growth trajectories between 3 and 12 months. Furthermore, in a subset of infants (n = 70) that contributed fecal samples at 3 months and 12 months of age, we examined plastic bottle frequency in relation to fecal microbiota composition and diversity (measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of V4 region), and fecal SCFA concentrations (quantified using gas chromatography mass spectrometry). Results: At 3 months, 67.6% of infants were plastic bottle fed at every feeding, 15.4% were exclusively breast milk fed, and 48.9% were exclusively formula fed. After adjustment for potential confounders, infants who were plastic bottle fed less than every feeding compared to those who were plastic bottle fed at every feeding at 3 months did not show differences in anthropometry over the first 12 months of life, save for lower length-for-age z-score at 12 months (adjusted β = −0.45, 95% CI: −0.76, −0.13). Infants who were plastic bottle fed less than every feeding versus every feeding had lower fecal microbiota alpha diversity at 3 months (mean difference for Shannon index: −0.59, 95% CI: −0.99, −0.20) and lower isovaleric acid concentration at 3 months (mean difference: −2.12 μmol/g, 95% CI: −3.64, −0.60), but these results were attenuated following adjustment for infant diet. Plastic bottle frequency was not strongly associated with microbiota diversity or SCFAs at 12 months after multivariable adjustment. Frequency of plastic bottle use was associated with differential abundance of some bacterial taxa, however, significance was not consistent between statistical approaches. Conclusions: Plastic bottle frequency at 3 months was not strongly associated with measures of adiposity or growth (save for length-for-age) over the first year of life, and while plastic bottle use was associated with some features of fecal microbiota and SCFAs in the first year, these findings were attenuated in multivariable models with infant diet. Future research is needed to assess health effects of exposure to other plastic-based products and objective measures of microplastics and plastic constituents like phthalates.

Due to intensive utilization and extensive production, plastic waste is becoming a serious threat to the environment and human health. The situation is even worse in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), where single-use plastic water bottles add to the load of plastic pollution. The main objective of this survey was to assess the extent of bottled water utilization by the UAE residents and their awareness of the environmental concerns arising from single-use plastic bottles. The aim was also to evaluate their willingness to shift towards using biodegradable plastic bottles. This study involved the feedback of 2589 respondents living in the UAE. The eigenvalue decomposition (EVD) was applied to determine the most responsible variables explaining the variability of our data set. A chi-square analysis was also used to determine the significance among the responses. Most of the respondents to this survey were UAE nationals (79.8%) of ages ranging from 21 to 35 years (42%), who were educated, with most holding a university degree (69.6%). Regardless of their gender, age, occupation, education, and income, a large group of respondents (40.7%) was concerned about the impact of their purchased items on the environment; however, the frequency of plastic products recycled was observed to be low (49.7%). According to the findings of this survey, 42.4% of the respondents were likely to purchase 100% biodegradable bottles, and about 70% of the respondents expressed a willingness to spend at least AED 1 more for purchasing 100% biodegradable bottles.

While antimony has been reported to migrate from PET bottles into contents, reports on bottled water and soft drinks usage and PET bottle reuse patterns are currently unavailable in the literature. Bottle use conditions and patterns are important determinants of antimony migration. In this work a survey assessing the pattern of bottle use and reuse in Britain and Nigeria was undertaken. The survey findings influenced the design of laboratory experiments that assessed the migration of antimony from PET bottles into water and soft drinks. Typical storage durations for bottled contents between purchase and opening for use were 7 days or less. However storage of up to one year was reported. Bottle reuse was high and similar for the two countries with reuse durations being higher in Nigeria. The antimony concentration in 32 PET bottle materials from Britain and Nigeria were similar and ranged between 177 and 310 mg kg(-1). For 47 freshly purchased British bottled contents antimony concentration ranged between 0.03 and 6.61 μg L(-1) with only one sample exceeding the EU acceptable limit. Concentrations of Cd, Ge, Zn, Al, Be, Ti, Co and Pb were also measured. At realistic temperatures of 40 and 60 °C antimony concentration in deionised water in bottles remained below the EU acceptable limit even after 48 h exposure. The limit was exceeded for most exposures at 80 °C. Concentration of antimony in some bottled contents exceeded the EU limit after 11 months of storage at room temperature. Bottle aging and increase in bottle volume were associated with decreased migration of antimony from bottles.

BackgroundPlastic exposures have been shown to impact the microbiome, metabolism and growth of animals. However, no human studies have examined how plastic exposures are associated with fecal microbiota, microbial metabolites, or growth. Here we examine the association of plastic bottle feeding with infant fecal microbiota, microbial short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) metabolites, and anthropometry in the first year of life.Methods462 infants from the prospective Nurture Birth Cohort were included to examine frequency of plastic bottle feeding (every feeding vs. less than every feeding) at 3 months with anthropometric outcomes (skinfolds, length-for-age, and weight-for-length) at 1 year. A subset of 64 and 67 infants were included in analyses examining the fecal microbiota and fecal SCFAs, respectively. Microbial taxa were measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the V4 region and SCFA concentrations were quantified using gas chromatography at 3 and 12 months of age.ResultsAfter adjustment for potential confounders, less frequent plastic bottle use was associated with lower fecal microbiota alpha Shannon diversity at 3 months (mean difference for plastic bottle used less than every feeding vs. every feeding = −0.53, 95% CI: −0.90, −0.17, p < 0.01) and lower propionic acid concentration at 3 months (mean log + 1 difference for plastic bottle used every feeding vs. less than every feeding = −0.53, 95% CI: −1.00, −0.06, p = 0.03). Furthermore, compared to infants who used plastic bottle at every feeding, infants who were plastic bottle-fed less frequently (1 −3 times/day) at 3 months had significantly lower length-for-age z-scores at 12 months (mean difference= −0.40, 95% CI: −0.72, −0.07, p = 0.016).ConclusionPlastic bottle exposure may impact early infant gut microbiota and microbial SCFAs, which may in turn affect growth.

Evaluation of the capacity of PET bottles, water aeration, and water recirculation to reduce evaporation in containers of water

nIn building construction brick is one of the major ingredients in the material used for construction. In the process of brick making, it has to be burn in kiln which introduced to evolve the CO2 gas in major quantity. This CO2 gas pollutes the environment. So the solution on this disadvantage of the burnt clay bricks is replacing the bricks with another material i.e. bricks made from waste plastic bottles. Today we need cost effective and environment friendly material which not pollute the environment. Therefore We can use the waste plastic bottles for making an affordable house. This project report consist of use of plastic waste bottle in construction as a brick which the bottles are filled with mixture of sand and soil with proportion of 40%-60% in three layers and tamp each layer with tamping rod by 25 blows and use as a brick in construction. Therefore, there were two types of experiments were used to evaluate the properties plastic bottle filled with sand and soil which are Compression test, temperature test in indoor and outdoor and humidity. The compression test conducts on 1000 ml, 600ml and 300 ml bottle. As a result all the bottles are achieving the strength over the permissible limit required for burn clay brick. The comparison of indoor and outdoor wall temperature, air Humidity between the plastic bottle green house and normal brick house has indicate that plastic bottle has recorded highest reading for outdoor wall temperature with 36°C and indoor temperature is 27°C . From these result it can be concluded that plastic bottle house have a potential to us this material in construction.

Plastic bottles have become part of the daily activities, especially in activities relating to packaging of mineral water. The use of plastic bottles for packaging of mineral water is an alternative that is practical and concise, but on the other hand is also harmful to the environment because it adds to discharge garbage plastic bottles. Plastic bottles is not derived from biological compounds, plastic bottles have difficult nature degraded (non - biodegradable) that can contaminate soil, water, sea, and even air. Specific target science and technology community service programs for the community (IBM) are (1) understanding of the technological waste processing machine plastic bottles into plastic pellets, (2) the public's understanding of the plastic bottle waste management, (3) labor absorption and production of plastic pellets more leverage. The program will increase the sale value of plastic garbage that has become plastic pellets, so as to improve the economic welfare of society. Activities in this program include: (1) design and design thrasher plastic pellets, (2) sending power to the transfer of knowledge (apprentice), (3) socialization to the community group enumerator plastic pellets, (4) submission thrasher plastic pellets, (5) trial thrasher plastic pellets, (6) the application of machines in the field and practice of making plastic pellets, (7) management training.

Does mechanical stress cause microplastic release from plastic water bottles?

Plastic brick is the form of brick manufactured from the combination of non-recyclable waste plastic with other constituents (sand, aggregate, cement, water, stone dust, fly ash, etc.) This study aimed to examine the research findings on transforming waste plastic into bricks that might be used to replace traditional bricks. Different journal articles were reviewed entitled the transformation of waste plastic into bricks to replace traditional clay bricks. Different open-access journal articles were searched to fit the topic of this study. The results indicate that the concrete blocks made with plastic bottles have 57% higher compressive strength and which was cited seventy-nine times by the other researchers (n = 79) "Use of recycled plastic water bottles in concrete blocks". The results further show that the compressive strength and other properties can be increased significantly when plastic is used as a binder with sand. But when it is used as filler, it produces competitive strength as ordinary bricks and can be used without any restrictions or hesitation. The main reflection of this review is to conduct primary research on a large scale to find an innovative model to transform waste plastic into environmentally friendly bricks. The implication of this study would be beneficial to students, future researchers, the Engineering Department of Oxford College of Engineering and Management, Gaindakot 2 in Nawalparasi district and young academicians.

Modena's Local Health Authority (AUSL) is a public service with more than 5,000 employees. In its facilities, drinking water is available as tap water. However, disposable plastic bottles are also widely used, thus increasing plastic waste. In the present study, we aimed to investigate employees' drinking habits through an ad hoc 10-item online questionnaire, which was administered in spring 2023. Of the 584 participants (10.8% response rate), 75% of workers reported drinking less than 1.5 liters of water per day. In addition, 74% of workers brought water from home, while 62% used disposable plastic containers bought in the workplace or outside. When asked if they would appreciate a water refilling station in the workplace, whether that would induce them to consume less plastic and to drink more water, 91%, 82%, and 72% of workers said "yes", respectively. By installing water coolers, the estimated mean number of plastic bottles spared every day at the AUSL would be about 6,000. Our data shed light on most employees' perceived need for alternative sources of drinking water, not only in order to drink more for health benefits, but also to reduce plastic usage in favor of reusable, more environmentally friendly materials.

This programs is an effort to utilize plastic bottle waste to become a container of viticulture planting media with external products in the form of a vertical garden and hanging plant garden. Starting from the abundance of used plastic bottles buried in the garbage bank of Pojok village and the existence of plant nurseries by the community and added enthusiasm and community participation in building the village. The object of this service was the people of Pojok village Central Java Province. This service program aims to increase public awareness in utilizing used plastic bottles that were previously only sold and as an effort to improve the agro-tourism opportunities. The method used in this activity is Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA). PRA is an approach method in the process of empowerment and increasing community participation. The Pojok village community will be actively involved in identifying problems, prioritizing the problems to be resolved, making alternative solutions to problems, planning and implementing programs. In addition, the community is also involved in program evaluation. The analytical method is to measure changes in the knowledge and behavior of the pretest and posttest design using the Wilcoxon test. At the end it can be concluded that the program can be the best solution in utilizing the former plastic bottles into a park as well as an effort to make people aware and motivate the people in Pojok Village to be more creative in using former plastic bottles.

The wide use of plastic bottles has led to a drastic increase in the disposal of plastic bottles. Reusing waste plastic bottles in concrete may be beneficial to the environment and help ensure economic viability at the same time. Previous researchers had investigated the application of waste materials in the construction field by using polyethylene terephthalate as one of the solutions to address this environment threat. In this research, the aim of the study is to investigate the modulus of elasticity of concrete material incorporated with polyethylene terephthalate. To achieve the objective of the study, the modulus of elasticity test was conducted to determine the Modulus of Elasticity (MOE). A comparison of MOE between Eurocodes (EC), British Standard (BS) and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standards was conducted. At the end of this study, the value of modulus of elasticity resulting from the plastic bottle concrete material was expected to be classified as the same category as common concrete. Besides, the plastic bottle concrete material was also expected to possess similar properties as other conventional materials. Optimistically, the results of this research resulting from the MOE concrete plastic bottles that are not classified as a similar category as conventional concrete recorded a difference of 4.26% to 59.29%. It can be concluded that shred plastic bottles have a lower feasibility and do not have the potential to be used in concrete mixes.

Flexible pavements are frequently damaged with excessive cracks, settlements, and potholes. Due to various reasons, these defects are occurring namely: less bitumen content, overload and poor subgrade compaction, poor drainage or poor subgrade itself. There are many options to maintain and repair such defects. Since last few decades, geo-synthetics material is introduced in market for various geotechnical application. These include use of geotextiles, geo-nets, geo-grids, geo-membrane, geo-cell etc. for ground improvement, providing drainage, separating two layers, as impervious layer and reinforcement. Out of all these applications geo-cell have great capacity to overcome poor bearing capacity of subgrade by its installation. On other hand use of plastic bottles for storing water, juice, oil, milk and other multiple things have increased exponentially. The polyethylene bottles have same material properties as that of geo-synthetic material. In this study, an attempt is made to study the effectiveness of waste plastic bottle fabricated in geo-cell for repair of potholes. For this, geo-cell derived as above is placed at the area of pothole near base course. This is simulated in the laboratory model of 1 × 1 × 1 m pit and plate load test as well as CBR is carried out for pavement performance after repair in terms of settlement and bearing capacity.