Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Mechanical Department
Instructor:
Hamed Almutairi
Contents
Introduction
Properties of plastics
Increasing Usage of Plastic
Positive impact of plastic
Negative impact of plastic
Types , categories and families of plastics
effect of environment in Plastics
Green manufacturing
References
Introduction
The goal of this course is to give the trainee general idea about the effect of
environment in the plastic and the effect of plastic in environment .
Also, Environmental issues in area of plastic are covered such as green
manufacturing. Positive and negative aspects of plastics are covered.
Plastics are the most versatile materials ever invented. Indeed, the word
"plastic," which derives from the Greek word plastikos, meaning to mold or form,
has come to be used as a general description for anything particularly adaptable or
flexible. Since the first plastic, celluloid, was developed as a replacement for
elephant ivory in the 1860s, many different types of plastics, including nylon, ,
and polyethylene have revolutionized the manufacture of commercial goods as
diverse as nylon stockings and car-body parts. Although the use of plastic
continues to grow and revolutionary new plastics are constantly being developed,
concerns have been raised about the environmental effects of using and disposing
of so much plastic material, prompting the invention of bioplastics.
Plastics are synthetic chemicals extracted mainly from petroleum and composed
of hydrocarbons (compounds made from chains of hydrogen and carbonatoms).
Most plastics are polymers, long molecules made up of many repetitions of a basic
molecule called a monomer; in effect, the monomers are like identical railroad cars
coupled together to form a very long train. Thus, as many as 50,000 molecules of
ethylene (which has two carbon atoms bonded to four hydrogen atoms) can be
joined end to end into a familiar polymer called polyethylene (or polythene). The
process of building polymers by adding together monomers is called additive
polymerization. Another process called condensation polymerization (or
polycondensation) builds up polymers by removing some atoms from each
monomer so they can join together in a different way. Polyesters such as Terylene
(two different brand names for similar materials) are made by polycondensation.
Whichever process is used, the chemical properties of the monomer normally
govern those of the polymer that is eventually formed.
Polymerization produces two different kinds of plastics. Sometimes, polymers
form very long straight or branched chains. These are present in so-
called thermoplastics, which always soften when heated and harden when cooled
down. Examples include polyethylene and polystyrene. Polymers can also form
more complex three-dimensional structures, which give plastics very different
physical properties. Thermosetting plastics, as these are called, harden the first
time they are heated when cross-links form between different plastic molecules.
Thermosetting plastics never soften again no matter how many times they are
heated and this makes them particularly suitable for objects that need to operate in
hot environments. Epoxy resins and bakelite are examples of thermosetting
plastics.
Once the raw material has been prepared, the final product is produced through a
range of different manufacturing processes. Extrusion involves squeezing plastic
like toothpaste through a mold and is used to make goods such as hosepipes and
polyethylene sheets. Injection molding involves heating resin pellets until they
melt, then forcing them under pressure into a mold, where they cool and harden to
make objects such as plastic telephones or toy cars. A similar technique
called blow molding makes plastic bottles by forcing a thin layer of plastic against
the mold with compressed air. Casting is used to shape thermosetting plastics by
pouring them into a mold then heating them until they set.
Andcalendering involves squeezing sheets of plastic between huge rollers to make
thin, flexible materials such as plastic folders.
Properties of plastics
Plastics have numerous properties that make them superior to other materials in
many applications. Plastics generally have: resistance to corrosion and chemicals,
low electrical and thermal conductivity, high strength-to-weight ratio, colors
available in a wide variety and transparent, resistance to shock, good durability,
low cost, are easy to manufacture, resistant to water and have low toxicity.
Plastics are one of the most common materials in countless products and
applications including: appliances, auto interior panels, side shields, fender liners,
head liners, bottles, CD and cassette boxes, cutlery, displays, disposable cups,
electrical connectors, electronic enclosures, eyeglasses, food packaging, fridge
liners, ID cards, instrument panels, jars, lenses, microwavable packaging, name
tags, outdoor signs, packaging, pallets, pipes, plates, seat backs, security shields,
shutters, trays, window frames, windows and windshields.
The properties of plastics are defined chiefly by the organic chemistry of the
polymer such as hardness, density, and resistance to heat, organic
solvents, oxidation, andionizing radiation. In particular, most plastics will melt
upon heating to a few hundred degrees celsius. While plastics can be made
electrically conductive, with the conductivity of up to 80 kS/cm in stretch-
oriented polyacetylene, they are still no match for most metals like copper which
have conductivities of several hundreds kS/cm.
Plastic is one of the most used materials these days. It is being used in almost
every industry. But along with its advantages, there are lots of disadvantages of
plastic too. Let’s take a look at the positive and negative effects of plastic.
Plastic consumption has grown at a tremendous rate over the past two decades
as plastics now play an important role in all aspects of modern lifestyle. Plastics
are used in the manufacture of numerous products such as protective packaging,
lightweight and safety components in cars, mobile phones, insulation materials in
buildings, domestic appliances, furniture items, medical devices etc. Plastics are
used because they are easy and cheap to make and they can last a long time.
Disposal of plastic waste has emerged as an important environmental challenge
and its recycling is facing roadblocks due to their non-degradable nature. Because
plastic does not decompose biologically, the amount of plastic waste in our
surroundings is steadily increasing. More than 90% of the articles found on the sea
beaches contain plastic. Plastic waste is often the most objectionable kind of litter
and will be visible for months in landfill sites without degrading.
Positive impact of plastic
There are several advantages with plastic which can’t be compared with others.
Plastic is highly durable material and it lasts longer. Another positive thing about
plastic is its ease in converting to required shape. The weight of the plastic is very
less and it is almost as strong as metals. Plastic converted into the shape that
required and they look equally beautiful like glass or other expensive materials.
Unlike glass which has to be handled carefully, it can be roughly use plastic
materials. One more advantage of plastic is it is recyclable. The wear and tear of
plastic parts is very less when compared to other materials available.
Plastic constitutes a noble use of oil, a transformation of the raw material into
products which have become indispensable for our daily lives. Plastics are durable
materials that contribute significantly to energy saving, the manufacture of plastic
articles involving less energy than that necessary for the same production from
traditional materials (consumption reduced overall by fifty per cent).
Plastics are going to play an increasingly important role in responses to the oil
supply crisis which is looming in the next decade or two. They are used as
insulating material, thus significantly improving the overall energy efficiency in
housing. Their lightweight properties reduce fuel consumption in vehicles, planes
and freight transport. They also play a part in the exploitation of renewable energy:
The plastics industry, at least in its final phase of the transformation of base
powders or granules, does not require a large capital investment and is not
restricted to any particular location. It is an activity ideally suited to the
development and stabilization of the economies of non-developed countries and
the creation of employment locally.
Plastic is good, light, strong and cheap to produce. There are many advantages
to using plastic. It does not decompose but it can instead be recycled. This is done
more easily than producing more plastic.
Plastic materials show properties that are unique when compared to other
materials-contributing greatly to the quality of our everyday lives. These materials,
when properly applied, will perform functions at a cost that other materials cannot
match.
Plastics can provide many advantages over other materials like:
• lightweight
• high wear resistance;
• high impact resistance;
• less roughness;
• easily processing;
• corrosion resistance and aesthetics;
These benefits lead to the preferable plastics’ usage, because they
give increased productivity, longer life. The new product is reliable, with no
lubrication requirements, significant cost savings provided, less down time and
improved appearance. The polymer products are also preferred because they are
environmentally friendly and easily recycled.
Advantages of plastic:
Advantages of plastic are light in weight.
They can be easily moulded and have excellent finishing.
They possess very good strength and toughness. They possess good shock
absorption capacity.
Advantages of plastic are corrosion resistant and chemically inert.
They have low thermal expansion of co-efficient and possess good thermal
and electrical insulating property.
Advantages of plastic is very good water resistant and possess good
adhesiveness.
Plastic is strong, good and cheap to produce.
Plastic is a recycling process and it does not decompose.
Plastic bottles can be reused and restored over again and again.
Plastic is one of the unbreakable.
Plastic is an odourless.
Plastic is used for building, construction, electronics, packaging (gladwrap)
and transportation industries.
Used to make - Water bottles, pens, plastic bags, cups etc.
Advantages of plastic are Very cheap to make.
Durability
Strength
Chemical resistance.
Advantages of plastic are used to produce another product.
Used to reduce soil and wind erosion.
Negative impact of plastic
There are some negative things about plastic which has to be considered equally
like advantages. Plastic items can’t tolerate high temperatures and releases harmful
gases (at high temp.) which cause pollution. Plastic is not easily disposable and it
will take thousands of years to completely dispose in soil. This result in other
harmful things like blockage of water (resulting floods), death of animals, birds
because of eating plastic etc. which are serious concerns of several environmental
activists. Even the process of making plastic by industries releases heavy amounts
of carbon dioxide.
There are so many advantages with plastic and it has to be used carefully and
within the limitations to protect environment. Plastic is recyclable and hence
instead of disposing it, everybody must take initiative to recycle so that the effect
of plastic on environment will be less. Recycling of plastic not only helps
environment but also gives you money. Several governments are making
regulatory laws to regulate the use of plastic and several NGO’s from all over the
world are trying to create awareness among people about plastic. Presently plastic
accounts 10% of waste which is a serious concern of several environmental
activists. It has to be reduced substantially for better future.
Plastic is virtually ubiquitous. It's hard to even glance around a room without
seeing things made wholly or partly out of the substance. While plastic has many
uses in medicine, science, industry and consumer goods, it also has its
disadvantages. Plastic and plastic products can adversely affect human and
environmental health.
The mass use of plastic bags and bottles and plastic in general has had a
negative impact on the environment. Unlike other materials, plastic takes a long
time to decompose, so discarded plastic ends up in waterways, oceans, forests and
other natural habitats. Moreover, animals often mistake plastic items for food,
ingesting them and causing injury or death. Plastic that's incinerated as a method of
disposal also releases harmful, carcinogenic compounds into the air.
The final plastic product is often a chemical entity that in and of itself has had
insufficient toxicological and ecotoxicological testing. An example would be PVC,
forms of which are banned in Europe but exist widely in children's toys in
America. Recent controversies over plastic bottles (many toxicologists
recommending not re-using plastic water bottles and not storing food in
tupperware) have highlighted the potential risks. Exacerbating the problem is that
science is only now advancing to where it can detect plastic components in human
blood and then trace concentrations and link them to human ailments and diseases.
The plastics industry itself often spins plastic and related plastic chemicals into
a variety of products, some of which are hazardous and controversial (Teflon,
PVC, Polyethylene, polystyrene, various silicones in body and hair care). Plastic-
producing companies are often chemical companies or subsidiaries of chemical
companies, both with poor track records when it comes to their adherence to
regulatory compliance and their willingness to perform toxicological analysis on
the products they make.
Plastics make our lives easier; however is their cost on the environment worth it?
We can only hope that soon someone will invent a way to safely and cheaply melt
and reuse plastics.
Disadvantages of plastics:
Plastic is a nonrenewable resources.
Plastic is softness.
causes CANCER
Disadvantage of plastics are embitterment at low temperature.
Disadvantage of plastics are deformation under load.
Disadvantage of plastics are low heat resistant and poor ductility.
Disadvantage of plastics are combustibility.
Produces toxic fumes when it is burnt
It is a recycle process, but it is very costly.
Plastics can be classified by chemical structure, namely the molecular units that
make up the polymer's backbone and side chains. Some important groups in these
classifications are the acrylics, polyesters, silicones, polyurethanes, and
halogenated plastics. Plastics can also be classified by the chemical process used in
their synthesis, such as condensation, polyaddition, and cross-linking.
Other classifications are based on qualities that are relevant for manufacturing
or product design. Examples of such classes are the thermoplastic and thermsoet,
elastomer, structural, biodegradable, and electrically conductive. Plastics can also
be classified by various physical properties, such as density, tensile strength, glass
transition temperature, and resistance to various chemical products.
Due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility, and
imperviousness to water, plastics are used in an enormous and expanding range of
products, from paper clips to spaceships. They have already displaced many
traditional materials, such as wood; stone; horn and bone; leather; paper; metal;
glass; and ceramic, in most of their former uses.
Plastic bags have been known to cause a lot of environmental damage. A single
plastic bag can take up to 1000 years, to decay completely. This makes the bags
stay in environments longer, in turn leading to great build-up on the natural
landscape (much more than degradable materials like paper). In other words, the
more plastic bags you use, the greater the chances of environmental damage.
Threat To Animal Life
As what come in many studies , as many as 100,000 whales, turtles and birds die
have been reported to die every year, mainly because of plastic in their
environment. Plastic bags not only have adverse effects on our natural habitats, but
have also been found to be responsible for the death of many animals, mainly on
account of the suffocation encountered on eating them.
Suffocation
Not only animals, infants and young children have also been reported to have lost
their life, on account of plastic bags. Since plastic bags are thin and airtight as well,
children often end up blocking their mouths and nostrils with them. In case they
are not being monitored by an adult, this leads to suffocation and, in some cases,
even death.
Pollution
Plastic bags are extremely durable. In case you are thinking of this as an
advantage, just bring to mind an image of the huge landfill that you visited on the
city outskirts, the other day. In most probability, majority of the rubbish present
there will comprise of plastic bags only. In other words, plastic bags have led to a
great increase in the pollution levels.
Fumes
Since plastic bags are not bio-degradable, the only way to get rid of them is to burn
them up. Though lighting a match to them is easy, it has more than its fair share of
disadvantages. The biggest of them is that smoldering plastics can release toxic
fumes into the environment, in turn taking the air pollution to much higher levels.
Non-renewable
One of the main disadvantages of plastic bags is that they are not renewable. The
reason behind this is that they are made of petrochemicals, a non-renewable source
of energy. They can be recycled, but not as easily as paper bags. Plastic bags can
last for as much as hundred of years. In other words, long after you are no more,
the plastic bag used by you will be in existence.
Plastics are manufactured from petroleum. This brings a host of issues (destruction
of habitat, extraction of crude oil, security issues from the volatile countries where
oil is produced, processing of petroleum, chemical manipulation into various types
of plastics). The manufacture involves many chemicals, many of which have not
been sufficiently tested for their toxicological impact on humans or animals.
The final plastic product is often a chemical entity that in and of itself has had
insufficient toxicological and ecotoxicological testing. An example would be PVC,
forms of which are banned in Europe but exist widely in children's toys in
America. Recent controversies over plastic bottles (many toxicologists
recommending not re-using plastic water bottles and not storing food in
tupperware) have highlighted the potential risks. Exacerbating the problem is that
science is only now advancing to where it can detect plastic components in human
blood and then trace concentrations and link them to human ailments and diseases.
The plastics industry itself often spins plastic and related plastic chemicals into a
variety of products, some of which are hazardous and controversial (Teflon, PVC,
Polyethylene, polystyrene, various silicones in body and hair care). Plastic-
producing companies are often chemical companies or subsidiaries of chemical
companies, both with poor track records when it comes to their adherence to
regulatory compliance and their willingness to perform toxicological analysis on
the products they make.
Plastics are durable materials. Thus, they are hard to eliminate once used and
create tremendous waste. While some common plastics can be recycled (#1 and #2
plastics used in common soda and milk bottles), the vast majority cannot. They
take up a lot of space in landfills and create air pollution when incinerated.
Plastic recycling
Plastic recycling is the process of recovering scrap or waste plastic and
reprocessing the material into useful products, sometimes completely different in
form from their original state. For instance, this could mean melting down soft
drink bottles and then casting them as plastic chairs and tables. However, this kind
of "recycling" is rather a misnomer since plastic beverage bottles (soda, juice,
milk) are never truly reformed into new beverage bottles, as this requires virgin
plastic. So there is actually no true cycle in the "recycling" of plastic beverage
containers, which actually and more precisely should be referred to as
"downcycling".
Plastics are also recycled during the manufacturing process of plastic goods such
as polyethylene film and bags. A percentage of the recycled pellets are then re-
introduced into the main production operation. This closed-loop operation has
taken place since the 1970s and has made the production of some plastic products
amongst the most efficient operations today.
This process is the answer to a need of the global community – for cleaner air,
water and earth, while at the same time, not having to compromise on quality and
quantity of services, products and technology. Looking at it from a global
perspective of population growth, total emissions, rainforest depletion and all the
other maladies afflicting the earth, "it’s pretty easy to see that in the next 50 years
there are going to be major disasters," and "To keep things the way they are right
now, the environmental impact has to be reduced by something on the order of a
factor of 10."
Part consolidation is also an aspect of Design for Disassembly. Since there are
fewer pieces to manufacture, energy costs in production are saved. Industry
Weeks states, “Design for Disassembly is one way that we’re trying to make
products more environmentally responsible. It’s designing the product so that it
can be disassembled inexpensively. If we can’t do that, we’ll never get anywhere
in the recycling process.”
This process is already being actively used in the American Car manufacturing
industry and in several Polymer manufacturing units.
Another new concept that grew out of Green Manufacturing is Green Auditing,
where we take into account the cost of environmental losses and resource depletion
to measure absolute welfare.
References
1- "Plastic pollution". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 1
August 2013.
2- Daniel D. Chiras (2004). Environmental Science:
Creating a Sustainable Future. Jones & Bartlett
Learning. pp. 517-518. ISBN 0763735698.
3- What is Green Engineering, US Environmental
Protection Agenc.
4- "Historical Overview and Industrial Development".
International Furan Chemicals, Inc. Retrieved 4 May
2014.
5- Life cycle of a plastic product. Americanchemistry.com.
Retrieved on 2011-07-01.