Tons Of Plastic Research Articles

Source analysis of municipal solid waste in a mega-city (Guangzhou): Challenges or opportunities?

Rapid economic development accelerates the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW), and thereby calls for an effective and reliable waste management strategy. In the present work, we systematically investigated the status of MSW management in a mega-city of China (Guangzhou). The data were collected from literatures, government statistics and field sampling work. It can be found that a combination of waste sorting by individual residents and a necessary quantity of sanitation workers is one of the most feasible strategies to achieve a sustainable waste management. With implementation of that integrated strategy, approximately 0.03 million tons of metal, 0.24 million tons of paper, as well as 0.46 million tons of plastics can be recycled/recovered for further processing. A cost reduction of 70 million US$ is achieved in comparison with the un-optimized system due to the sale revenue of recyclable materials and the saving from waste disposal fees. The values of environmental assessment were expressed as environmental load units. The developed scenarios could decrease the environmental cost, namely, 0.66 million US$. Based on the studies, waste sorting is urgently needed in Guangzhou. However, to make the proposed strategy to be more economically feasible, the sorting should be performed individually as well as with public participation. The establishment of a win-win situation for all stakeholders is an effective path for the improvement of the integrated waste management system.

Replacement of coarse aggregate and fine aggregate by polyethylene terephthalates in light weight concrete

Objective: To find the property of a concrete mixture where conventional coarse and fine aggregate has been replace with PET granules at various ratios and test its suitability in real word scenario by various testing methods. Method: Test sample 108 in numbers were made and were tested at duration of 7 and 28 days. Also these samples had different replacement level so that optimum replacement ratio could be obtained. Various testing methods like compressive test, split tensile test and flexural test were performed to obtain statistical properties and characteristics of the concrete. Finding: It has been found that at replacement ratio of 10%, the compressive strength obtained was maximum. The optimum ratio for flexural test and split tensile test is also 10%. At this ratio the property of PET concrete is better than or equal to conventional concrete. Application: Around 335 million tons of plastic is produce annually worldwide of which 85% is not recycled. It can be used in concrete making to solve the problem of pollution and can help in saving natural resource. Also further study can focus on usability of light weight concrete in loose soil and in earthquake zone. Keywords: Coarse Aggregate, Fine Aggregate, Light Weight Concrete, PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate)

Genetic Engineered Ideonella Sakaiensis Bacteria: A Solution of the Legendary Plastic Waste Problem

Plastic waste has been known as the most unsolved environmental problem in this world. Instead of what have been expected, the amount of plastic waste is increasing significantly in years. Nowadays, 6.3 billion metric tons of plastic waste is produced and if present trends continue, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in landfills by 2050. Due to the fact, an effective and environmental friendly solution is urgently needed. The ability of Ideonella sakaiensis bacteria to consume polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the main material of plastic, in only 6 weeks becomes a great potential to solve this problem. These bacteria need to consume PET for their metabolism and they can produce safety secretes from it as well. Nevertheless, the habitat of these bacteria is very limited. With technology of genetic engineering, the genes of Ideonella sakaiensis can be modified with Azotobacter sp.’s genes that make them survive in areas that usually have much plastic waste, such as soil and water. This combination is expected to optimize the ability of Ideonella sakaiensis as it breaks down the limitation of where the bacteria can survive. As a result, the problem of plastic waste can be solved effectively without damaging the environment and automatically form a sustainability in nature and life.

Beating pollution by redesign

Over 8 million tons of plastic pollute the oceans each year. The problem is so severe that, if nothing changes, there could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. We must urgently rethink how we make and use this ubiquitous material, now a staple of our modern economy. The appetite to take action is real: public and private sector financial commitments to combat ocean pollution made at the European Union's Our Ocean conference this year, for instance, totalled 7.2 billion euros. Yet if cleaning up is a short-term necessity, only a whole system reset will provide a long-term solution to plastics pollution and the economic losses associated with it.

Recycling needs a revamp

What could be easier than recycling? Almost everywhere you go these days, there’s a convenient bin for your empty water bottle. Yet plastic trash continues to accumulate in the environment. A 2015 study in Science estimated that the oceans may hold 155 million metric tons of plastic by 2025, double the current amount (DOI: 10.1126/science.1260352). Turns out those convenient recycling bins aren’t always being used. Americans are doing better than ever but still submit only about one-third of their plastic waste for recycling. An even more fundamental problem with plastics becomes apparent if you look past the recycling bin. Only about 10% of plastic packaging worldwide—as well as in the U.S.—ends up getting remade into a new product, according to a 2016 World Economic Forum report. Another 14% from around the globe is burned, sometimes to generate energy. And the rest ends up in a landfill or the environment. And

Conversion of Polypropylene Plastic Waste Into Liquid Fuel with Catalytic Cracking Process Using Al2O3 as Catalyst

Approximately 129 million tons of plastic are produced each year, and from that amount, almost entirely produced from petroleum, while the needs on fuel oil (BBM) is continuously increasing, leading to the depletion of oil and gas reserves. However, besides the problem of raw materials derived from petroleum, the use of conventional plastic as packaging material facing various environmental problems, such as cannot be recycled and cannot be degraded naturally by the environment, causing a pile of plastic waste that causes environmental pollution. Thus, it is crucial to find a solution that can solve both problems. One method of processing plastic waste is to convert it into hydrocarbon fuels. Conversion of plastic waste can be done with the catalytic cracking process which is often used because it utilizes a catalyst to reduce the high temperatures used in the thermal cracking process and save on energy consumption. In this research, the raw material that was used was polypropylene in the form of mineral water cups, and the catalyst used was Al2O3. The purpose of this research was to observe the effect of the cracking process’ length of time, catalyst weight (% catalyst) and range of temperature towards the mass, characteristics, and composition of the product. The length of the cracking time was varied into 20, 40 and 60 minutes, while the % catalyst was varied into 4%, 6%, and 8%, and the operating temperature was varied into 150, 200, 300 and 350oC. From the research, the highest mass of liquid product was obtained at the variation of 350oC, 4% of catalyst for 60 minutes, with the value of 87.3 gr, with a total yield of 17.5%. While the characteristics were 0.762 gr/mL for density, 0.778 for Spgr and 50.4 for oAPI Gravity. As for the other products from different variations had lower mass and yield of liquid, but the characteristics were still in gasoline range’s characteristics. Two samples were analyzed by its composition, and although showed the different value of percentage, both also showed that the liquid product was included into gasoline range (C5-C12).

Initial Inventory of Plastics Imports in Nigeria as a Basis for More Sustainable Management Policies.

Background.Plastic is a waste stream with recycling and recovery potential. However, the recycling rates for plastic in African countries are low. Furthermore, use and production of virgin plastics are increasing. Therefore, a high proportion of plastic waste is being disposed of in landfills and dumpsites. Plastic serves as fuel for open burning at landfills/dumpsites with associated releases and constitutes a large fraction of marine litter, making it a major and growing global pollution concern.Objectives.This study aims to develop an initial inventory of plastics in Nigeria towards the development of an effective plastics management frame.Methods.A search was conducted of the recent literature and the United Nations (UN) Comtrade database using harmonized system (HS) codes for import data of various polymer categories and major product categories containing plastic. Algebraic expressions were developed for calculation of the share of plastic in these products.Results.Approximately 14,200,000 tons of plastics in primary form were imported into Nigeria between 1996–2014. Approximately 3,420,000 tons total plastic were imported in the form of products and approximately 5,545,700 tons were imported as product components. Approximately 194,000 tons of plastic toys were imported over a six-year period.Discussion.The total amount of plastics imported in primary form and as products equals 17,620,000 tons. The total volume of imported plastic, newly produced plastic and plastic components going into the technosphere was 23,400,000 tons. The huge amount of plastic and other polymers entering the technosphere in Nigeria has important implications for marine litter, pollution, waste management and resource recovery.Conclusions.A huge volume of plastics has entered the Nigerian technosphere, with less than 12% of the resulting waste entering the recycling stream. There is a need for sustainable management of this crucial waste and resource category. Potential mitigating strategies include waste plastic reuse, recycling, waste conversion to energy, and appropriate plastic control policy frameworks.Competing Interests.The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Plastic waste threatens coral reefs

Coral reefs around the world face an existential threat from overfishing, climate change, nutrient runoff, and ocean acidification. Now researchers have added another hazard to the list: plastic waste. In a survey of reefs in the Asia-Pacific region, marine biologists found that contact with plastic garbage increased corals’ risk of disease from 4 to 89% (Science 2018, DOI: 10.1126/science.aar3320). Researchers and environmentalists have been sounding the alarm about the 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic that land in the oceans every year. Still, says Douglas Rader, chief oceans scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund and one of the study’s coleaders, the strong connection between coral disease and plastic was extremely surprising. “This is striking, particularly in the context of all the other risks to reefs,” he says. The plastics study, an international effort involving researchers from Cornell University and collaborators in Indonesia, Hawaii, and Australia, examined 159

Sustainability Growing Strong

The troubling reports of the increasing CO2 emissions in 2017 are in and taken together with the recent political developments across the globe, further highlight the need for intensified research into climate change mitigation as one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Advanced Sustainable Systems embarked on a mission to publish the best and the most important research results and concepts, addressing one or more of the SDGs in: Climate action (SDG 13), Renewable energy (SDG 7), Sustainable food and agriculture (SDGs 2, 3), Urban development and sustainable living (SDGs 9, 11), Ecology (SDGs 6, 14, 15), Cradle-to-cradle processing (SDG 12), Social and economic challenges (SDGs 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16) and Policy and governance (SDGs 16,17). For details, please go to “Aims & Scope” of our journal. While the majority of the contributions published in Advanced Sustainable Systems so far address recent developments in the fields of renewable and sustainable energy, we are gradually publishing a broader topical spectrum, thus, covering more of the mentioned SDGs. This is reflected in the upcoming special issues in 2018 covering diverse topics such as renewable energy technologies, natural hazards and biodiversity. So far, researchers from China and the United States have made the largest contribution to the journal, followed by authors from Australia, Japan, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, and the Netherlands (see Figure). We would like to highlight a few papers of high interest from the areas of energy, environment, and cradle-to-cradle with applications in energy. Dendrite growth is a challenging problem for batteries with lithium metal electrodes. Researchers from the Manthiram group at the University of Texas showed that by simply wrapping Li electrodes in a Kimwipe paper dendrite growth can be suppressed, leading to significantly improved stability and cyclability.1 Solving the problem of the ever increasing frequency of flood and drought periods is vital since more than 40% of the world's population is affected by clean water scarcity (addressed in SDG #6). Fratalocchi and co-workers from KAUST2 have come up with a really innovative idea. They loaded super-dark nanoparticles on a spongy substrate which can float on water and by converting solar radiation into heat, seawater could be transformed into clean water steam. In addition, the whole system is recyclable and can be produced on a large scale. Another major environmental concern is the overwhelming accumulation of plastic waste. 269 million tons of plastic were produced worldwide in 2015, with 50 million tons of that within the EU. 40% of this amount was for product packaging. Although the recycling rate of packaging is the highest of all plastic products, in the EU it measures to less than 40%. Gao, Richards and co-workers from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology reviewed the recent advances in the efficient and complete sorting of plastic waste.3 In addition to publishing the very best of scientific research, one of the first milestones in the history of a young journal is its inclusion in the major indexing services. We are happy to announce that Advanced Sustainable Systems has been included in the Web of Science (the Emerging Sources Citation Index), which is an important step for increased discoverability and accessibility. Equipped with many great ideas and a fantastic feedback from our board members, authors and reviewers, we look forward to further developing Advanced Sustainable Systems, after a very promising start. We would like to thank all who made this journal a success and to offer you the chance to get complimentary access to the next volume of Advanced Sustainable Systems!

A comprehensive review on microbial degradation of plastic waste

Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight, which can be degraded by various processes. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. When plastics are used as substrates for microorganisms, evaluation of their biodegradability should not only be based on their chemical structure, but also on their physical properties (melting point, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, storage modulus etc.). In this review, microbial and enzymatic biodegradation of plastics and some factors that affect their biodegradability are discussed. Plastics have become an important part of modern life and are used in different sectors of applications like packaging, building materials, consumer products and much more. Each year about 100 million tons of plastics are produced worldwide. Degradation is defined as reduction in the molecular weight of the polymer. The Degradation types are (a). Chain end degradation/de-polymerization (b).Random degradation/reverse of the poly condensation process. Biodegradation is defined as reduction in the molecular weight by naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes. That is involved in the degradation of both natural and synthetic plastics.

Firms act on ocean plastic

Two initiatives involving industry aim to stop ocean plastic pollution at the source. At the Our Ocean 2017 conference, held in Malta earlier this month, the Ocean Conservancy—in partnership with the Trash Free Seas Alliance, Closed Loop Partners, PepsiCo, 3M, Procter & Gamble, the World Plastics Council, and the American Chemistry Council—unveiled a plan to raise $150 million to fund waste management projects in Southeast Asia. The project aims at the root of the problem, the partners say. They say only five countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam—are responsible for 8 million metric tons of ocean plastic pollution each year, half of the world’s total. The partners say the oceans today are contaminated by 150 million metric tons of plastic, a number that could rise to 250 million metric tons by 2025. Closed Loop Partners, an investor in recycling companies and technologies, will manage the fund. It plans to

If You Eat Seafood, You're Probably Eating Plastic

Editorial| October 01 2017 If You Eat Seafood, You're Probably Eating Plastic Friedman Mark Friedman Mark 1MARK FRIEDMAN is mentor to the Microplastics Team. Teachers and student environmental clubs interested in collaborating on Microplastic research and educational action campaigns should contact him at: Marklewisfriedman@gmail.com. The author is a Marine Biology Educator for the Los Angeles Maritime Institute, San Pedro, CA and a Mentor to the Animo, CA High School NABT Bio Club. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2017) 79 (8): 609–610. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.8.609 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Friedman Mark; If You Eat Seafood, You're Probably Eating Plastic. The American Biology Teacher 1 October 2017; 79 (8): 609–610. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.8.609 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search Researchers announced recently that regular seafood eaters could be ingesting up to 11,000 microplastic particles a year. Even though 99 percent pass through the body, as much as 1 percent, or about 60 particles, may be absorbed and will accumulate over time. In the ocean, plastic acts like a sponge picking up toxins and chemicals. Annually, almost 9 million tons of plastic gets dumped into the ocean, threatening the existence of marine life and potentially tainting the human food supply. The plastic that makes its way into the world's oceans comes from a diverse range of sources, including most clothing made from synthetic materials. Surprisingly, when such clothes are washed they shed thousands of tiny plastic microfibers. These microplastics are ingested by marine organisms, which we eat, in turn. In addition, the sun's ultraviolet rays break down plastic polymers into chemicals that can disrupt human hormonal systems, especially those of... You do not currently have access to this content.

Why we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution

Plastic pollution is strewn across beaches and in oceans, bays, and estuaries. Tiny particles of plastic debris (often called microplastics) are so pervasive in aquatic ecosystems that we find them in seafood (1) and table salt (2). Marine organisms ingest or are entangled by plastic, sometimes with fatal consequences. Research suggests plastic pollution may impact biodiversity, ecosystem services, food security, and human health. In short, plastic pollution is a global threat. Plastics are accumulating across the globe at an astounding pace, even in remote places like the one pictured here—the uninhabited Henderson Island in the South Pacific. The time is ripe for an international agreement with measurable reduction targets to lessen the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. Reprinted with permission from ref. 19. Despite the ubiquity, persistence, and cross-boundary nature of plastic pollution, stemming it is not an insurmountable task. Motivation for addressing the issue is building at the international level. The time is ripe for the initiation of an international agreement with measurable reduction targets to lessen the plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. An estimated 4.4–12.7 million metric tons of plastic are added to the oceans annually (3). Like many other contaminants (such as greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances), plastic is not constrained by national boundaries, because it migrates via water and air currents and settles in benthic sediments. More than 50% of the ocean’s area sits beyond national jurisdiction, including the infamous “garbage patches” in oceanic gyres where plastic accumulates. Plastic can affect organisms at every level of biological organization—altering gene expression, cells and tissues, causing death, and altering population size and community structure (4). Microplastics can impair reproduction and development (5) and alter how species function, disperse, and assemble (4, 6). These impacts, combined with evidence for accelerating plastic production and emissions into … [↵][1]2To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: chelsea.rochman{at}utoronto.ca. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

Challenges and opportunities of biodegradable plastics: A mini review.

The concept of materials coming from nature with environmental advantages of being biodegradable and/or biobased (often referred to as bioplastics) is very attractive to the industry and to the consumers. Bioplastics already play an important role in the fields of packaging, agriculture, gastronomy, consumer electronics and automotive, but still they have a very low share in the total production of plastics (currently about 1% of the about 300 million tonnes of plastic produced annually). Biodegradable plastics are often perceived as the possible solution for the waste problem, but biodegradability is just an additional feature of the material to be exploited at the end of its life in specific terms, in the specific disposal environment and in a specific time, which is often forgotten. They should be used as a favoured choice for the applications that demand a cheap way to dispose of the item after it has fulfilled its job (e.g. for food packaging, agriculture or medical products). The mini-review presents the opportunities and future challenges of biodegradable plastics, regarding processing, properties and waste management options.

Technofossils of the Anthropocene

From the inception of modern, petrochemical-derived synthetic plastics to the contemporary situation in which over 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year, media assemblages and plastics constitute a range of intra-actions that contribute to our understanding of contemporary material politics. This article explores a number of issues surrounding entanglements of media and plastics, including the formation of vast oceanic plastic garbage patches, the treatment of highly toxic electronics waste, the usage of thermal papers that disrupt the human endocrine system, and the formation of technical fossils whose lack of biodegradability forms one strand of evidence within discourses of the Anthropocene. The material politics of plastics places into conversation temporal scales ranging from geological rhythms, which are measured in millions of years, to the hyperconsumption of 24/7 global capitalism, asking pertinent questions about how we conceptualize contemporary ethical and biopolitical issues surrounding humans and other living systems.

Olefins and Ethanol from Polyolefins: Analysis of Potential Chemical Recycling of Poly(ethylene) Mexican Case

Abstract Plastic solid waste (PSW) presents challenges and opportunities to society regardless of their sustainability awareness and technological advances. A special emphasis is paid on waste generated from polyolefin sources, which makes up a great percentage of our daily commodities’ plastic products. In Mexico 7.6 millions of tons of plastic in 2012 were wasted, which low density polyethylene LDPE, and high density polyethylene HDPE were the most abundant. Increasing cost, and decreasing space of landfills are forcing considerations of alternative options for PSW disposal. Years of research, study and testing have resulted in a number of treatment, recycling and recovery methods for plastics that can be economically, and environmentally viable. The following work studies the possibilities of polyethylene recycling. Nowadays, non-catalytic thermal cracking (Pyrolysis) is receiving renewed attention, due to the fact of added value on a crude oil barrel and its very valuable yielded products, but a fact remains that advanced thermo-chemical recycling of polyolefin still lacks the proper design, and kinetic background to target certain desired products and/or chemicals. On the other hand some research have shown a good performance that can be used in a real plant. ASPEN Plus is used to simulate a non-catalytic thermal cracking process. The process behavior of simulation is similar to the experimental data from other authors. Using gibbs free energy to identify the chemical equilibrium in system, its global minimization allows identifying the amount of substances present in the process. The simulation results demonstrate that it could be produced 49 % and 34 % wt of ethylene and propylene respectively from gas yield at 850 °C. Then scale the plant to produce ethylene and propylene from the pyrolysis and ethanol from a direct hydration of ethylene. Aspen Process Economics Analyzer is used in order to find the feasibility of the pyrolysis and ethanol production. The total sales/total production cost ratio obtained for the integrated process approaches was 2.55.

Microplastic's triple threat

Ecotoxicology The billions of tons of plastics that we release into the environment for the most part do not biodegrade. But they do degrade, breaking into ever smaller particles that end up in the oceans. Lonnstedt et al. show that the impacts of these microplastics are multifold (see the Perspective by Rochman). Eurasian perch larvae exposed to microplastics were less active, less responsive to predator cues, more likely to be eaten, and less likely to thrive—preferring to eat plastic rather than their natural prey. ![Figure][1] Perch larvae will consume microplastics. PHOTO: OONA LONNSTEDT Science , this issue p. [1213][2]; see also p. [1172][3] [1]: pending:yes [2]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aad8828 [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf8697

RETRACTED: Environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic particles influence larval fish ecology.

The widespread occurrence and accumulation of plastic waste in the environment have become a growing global concern over the past decade. Although some marine organisms have been shown to ingest plastic, few studies have investigated the ecological effects of plastic waste on animals. Here we show that exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic polystyrene particles (90 micrometers) inhibits hatching, decreases growth rates, and alters feeding preferences and innate behaviors of European perch (Perca fluviatilis) larvae. Furthermore, individuals exposed to microplastics do not respond to olfactory threat cues, which greatly increases predator-induced mortality rates. Our results demonstrate that microplastic particles operate both chemically and physically on larval fish performance and development.

Hazards Of Plastic & Its Substitute Bioplastic—The Future

Plastic, the wonder material of the 20 th century has awarded every aspect of life primarily because of its sociability and relative lightness. It is an important and of modern life and used in different sectors, such as packaging, building materials, consumer products and much more. Each year about 100 million tons of plastics are produced worldwide. Ever ever, plastic's non-biodegradability poses serious environmental and health problems.

Some bacteria think plastic is fantastic

Biodegradation![Figure][1] Bacteria found near a plastics recycling plant can degrade plastic PHOTO: PAVLIHA/[ISTOCKPHOTO.COM][2] Bacteria isolated from outside a bottle-recycling facility can break down and metabolize plastic. The proliferation of plastics in consumer products, from bottles to clothing, has resulted in the release of countless tons of plastics into the environment. Yoshida et al. show how the biodegradation of plastics by specialized bacteria could be a viable bioremediation strategy (see the Perspective by Bornscheuer). The new species, Ideonella sakaiensis , breaks down the plastic by using two enzymes to hydrolyze PET and a primary reaction intermediate, eventually yielding basic building blocks for growth. Science , this issue p. [1196][3]; see also p. [1154][4] [1]: pending:yes [2]: http://ISTOCKPHOTO.COM [3]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aad6359 [4]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaf2853