sustainability of plastic packaging

8/11/2019 Sustainability of plastic packaging

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What is sustainable development?

It is defined as the development that

meets the needs of present without

compromising the ability of the

future generations to meet their

own needs.


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What are plastics?

Plastic is any synthetic or semi-synthetic

organic polymer and often consists of many

things. Most industrial plastic is made frompetrochemicals.


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Some eye-opening stats: The total amount of plastic in the municipal solid waste

stream in 2006 was almost 30 million tons (nearly 60 billion

pounds).

In 2006, the US generated 14 million tons of plasticthrough containers and packaging.

Americans threw more than 22 billion water bottles in the

trash in 2006.

56 percent of plastic waste is packaging-related. Around 75percent of this waste comes from residential households.

Plastic bottles are a petroleum product and use 151 billion

litres of oil to produce each year. Thats enough to run

500,000 cars per year 2,500,000 tons of a carbon dioxide was produced in the

manufacturing of the plastic bottles each year

In a 1998 survey, 89 per cent of the litter observed floating on

ocean surface in the North Pacific was plastic.


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Thermoforming-Give waste a new shape

Whatis THERMOFORMING?

Thermoforming refers to the manufacturing process of heating and

molding plastic materials into packaging solutions.

Sample end products include containers, lids, trays, clamshells and blister

packaging.

These packages are used in such a wide range of industries as medical,

food, electronics and consumer products.

We can call it a closed loop recycled process as the no plastic is wasted

and is remolded into new product


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Reduced Energy Consumption.Without thermoforming we would need an

additional energy equivalent to 58 million barrels of oil to manufacture

packaging grade plastic.

Recycled Scrap. After the production process, excess plastic is trimmedand recycled instead of headed to a landfill.

Reduced Packaging. Thermoforming allows retailers to use only as much

packaging as they need for their product thus reducing raw material

consumption.

Preserved Natural Resources. The use of plastics in thermoforming

replaces such natural resources as wood and paper

How Can Thermoforming Be Eco-Friendly?


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P.L.A : Poly-Lactic Acid

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a transparent plastic produced

from corn or dextrose. It not only resembles conventional

petrochemical-based mass plastics (like PET, PS or PE) in itscharacteristics, but it can also be processed on standard

equipment that already exists for the production of some

conventional plastics.

PLA and PLA blends generally come in the form of granulates

with various properties, and are used in the plastic processing

industry for the production of films, fibers, plastic containers,

cups and bottles.


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HOW IT WORKS


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Sustainability of P.L.A

Polylactic acid can be recycled to monomer by thermal depolymerization,or hydrolysis.

When purified, the monomer can be used for the manufacture of virgin

PLA with no loss of original properties (cradle-to-cradle recycling).

Made from renewable resources

Plastic-like consistency

Freezer safe

Allergen free

Composts in 30-45 days in a commercial composting facility

Produces no toxic compounds when burned, unlike many plastics.

It's made from plants that can be grown in 100 days, not oil that takes 100

million years
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Designhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradle_to_Cradle_Design


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PROBLEMS WITH P.L.A

PLA Biodegrades Slowly Unless Subjected to IndustrialCompostingBut critics say that PLA is far from a panacea for dealing with theworlds plastic waste problem. For one thing, although PLA does

biodegrade, it does so very slowly.

Recyclers Cant Mix PLA and Other PlasticsAnother issue with PLA is that, because it is of different origin thanregular plastic, it must be kept separate when recycled, lest itcontaminate the recycling stream.

Cannot Withstand High Temperature

Due to PLA's relatively low glass transition temperature, PLA cupscannot hold hot liquids. However, much research is devoted todeveloping a heat resistant PLA


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Road To SustainabilityMove on

Plastic

Plastic roads mainly use plastic carry-

bags, disposable cups and PET

bottles that are collected from garbagedumps as an important ingredient of

the construction material. When mixed

with hot bitumen, plastics melt to form

an oily coat over the aggregate and the

mixture is laid on the road surface likea normal tar road.


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Advantages of plastic roads

Use higher percentage of plastic waste.

Reduce the need of bitumen by around 10%.

Increase the strength and performance of the road.

Reduce the cost to around Rs. 5000/Km. of single laneroad.

Generate jobs for rag pickers. Develop a technology,which is eco-friendly .

100% improvement in fatigue life of roads. Reduced penetration and ductility, a higher softening

point, less rutting and cold cracking


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Plastic-To-Oil

Over 500 billion pounds of new plastic is manufactured each year and roughly 33%

of that is single use and thrown away.

We need to stop polluting our oceans with plastic before it is too late, and start

collecting all plastics suitable for this new fairly simple technology, a technology that isavailable now.


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The Pros:All those dirty waste plastics going into landfill and leaching chemicals can be avoided by

this process. It can be utilized in a better way.

Saves both energy and carbon emissions, and depending on regional landfill costs, it can

also be more cost efficient.

The Cons:

In long term, there may be environmental risk from the gas emissions, the impurities and

potentially toxic compounds that will be left behind in this process.

If this oil production process becomes successful, use of plastic may not be put on check.


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Alka Zadgaonkar wrings plastic waste

for profit

The process invented and patented by Alka Zadgaonkar is capable of

accepting all tribes and castes of plastic waste as input: carry bags, broken

buckets and chairs, PVC pipes etc.

The results of 11 experiments conducted at the Indian Oil Corporation's

(IOC) R&D centre, at Faridabad in Uttar Pradesh, between July 1-10, 2003,

have proved that the plastic-to-petrol process.

The invention yields 40-60% liquid petroleum from a kilogram of waste

plastic.The production cost is a mere Rs 7 per litre.


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THE FUTURE SCOPE

According to a 2012 study prepared for the American

Chemistry Council, by the research organization RTI

International, these Pyrolysis conversion technologies that

turn plastic waste into fuel have developed to the point where

they are likely to be commercially viable in just 5-10 years.

The study also points that although theres plenty of plastic

waste available to convert into fuel, plastics-to-oil technology

alone is not likely to be an energy cure-all. This is because theextent of oil consumption around the world is massive, and

this plastic conversion into oil cannot cater all those needs.


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DO WE NEED ALL THESE ALTERNATIVES?

WHY CANT WE JUST BAN PLASTIC?

WOULD IT AFFECT THE ECONOMY OF

THE DEVELOPING NATIONS?


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Metallocene Catalyst

Metallocene is a positively charged metal ion sandwiched between

two negatively charged cyclopentadienyl anions.


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1. Mpe sacks weighed lighter than their

counterparts.

2. Cumulative energy demand is 39-54% of the

paper sacks.3. Total green house emissions are 20-25% of that

of paper sacks

sustainability of plastic packaging

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