Living without plastic

Martha Cecilia González

Luz Elena Martinez
Luz Nedy Rios
Claudia María Herrera
Jesenia María González

November, 2019
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Comfamiliar Institute.
Pereira Risaralda.
Citizen competencies.

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Dedication

We dedicate this topic to people about the importance of recycling.

take care of the environment, instead of throwing objects on the street, remember that there are

a trash can for recycling.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to our teachers for guiding us on how to do a project with recycling.

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Introduction

The term recycling can also be applied when the lifespan of a product for

A certain function has been deemed exhausted and we use that product for something else.

Different, for which the environment is the correct management of waste.

The population and per capita consumption are increasing, and thus the trash and pollution.

Although it is currently very easy to find information about recycling, a

wonderful process, not all of the population has been able to be instructed yet it would be very

It is important that we all know how to make the most of these resources. The long life of

plastics in the sea.

Plastic bags (400 years)

Cañitas (200 years)

●Technopor (more than 500 years)

Plastic bottles (450 years).

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Slogan

Logo

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Objectives

General benefits, plastic recycling is the process of recovering waste.

of plastics. The three purposes of recycled plastics are direct reuse, the

utilization as raw material for the manufacture of new products and their

conversion with fuels, or as new chemical products.

Conservation or saving of natural resources and energy.

Reduction of the volume of waste that needs to be disposed of.

Environmental protection

Improvement of the national economy, a port that is not needed nor the consumption

of raw materials, nor the energy one which are more expensive than the process of the

life industrial of recovery.

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General and specific objectives

Recycling of paper and plastics

General objectives

Contribute to the preservation of the environment by strengthening the culture of recycling, the
care for natural resources and their moderate use through
use of technicians for paper transformation, thus contributing to the
Environmental protection.
Raise awareness about recycling without neglecting our environment in the surroundings.
national.

Specific objectives

Arrive to be part of the great project of worldwide environmental decontamination.

2. Generate in recycling that can be utilized to obtain new products in
our daily consumption and also in our industries.
3. Identify within our society the ability to innovate and create a good
recycling habit within companies and families at the regional and national level.
4. Recognition of the environment as a strategy to identify the elements that
let's recycle.
5. Duration from paper containers.

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Theoretical framework

The origin of plastics

The origin of plastics dates back to 1859 in Great Britain, where a plastic appeared.
called vulcanized fiber. Later, in 1870, in the United States, John Wesley Hyatt.
he/she participated in a contest to find a material that would replace natural ivory, and
presented the 'celluloid' (cellulose nitrate treated with camphor). In 1907 it already appears
first fully synthetic plastic, phenolic formaldehyde, and four decades passed,
until the end of World War II, for low-density polyethylene to appear
density and thus the current plastics industry.
The first raw materials for the production of plastics were of plant origin,
originating from cotton, hazelnuts or starch. Nowadays the majority, not
say all, the raw materials for the production of plastics are obtained from the
crude oil or natural gas (ethylene, butadiene, and propylene), through processes
chemicals. However, the percentage used of petroleum and natural gas for the
The production of plastics is only 1.5 or 2% of their total consumption.

There are two families of plastics:

Thermoplastics: they are easily recyclable plastics as they melt when heated and
therefore they can be reshaped repeatedly without altering their original properties
too much. However, during the different reprocessing cycles, they suffer
modifications so they cannot be recycled more than 5 or 7 times. The
The most well-known thermoplastics are: LDPE, HDPE, PP, PET, PVC, PS, EPS, and PC.
Thermosets: they are difficult to recycle as they are made up of polymers with
chemically linked chains (with cross-links) that make the
destruction of its molecular structure in order to melt them, and this leads to a
large alteration of its original properties. There are different thermosets such as
example: phenolic resins, urea resins, etc..
It is important to highlight the low compatibility, in terms of chemical structure, of the two.
families, so if they were mixed, their mechanical properties would be reduced compared to
those that possess without mixing.

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Plastics, according to their definition, are materials that can change shape and
to keep this permanently, unlike elastic bodies.

Advantages of plastics:

Due to their low density, they are very lightweight materials.

They are easily moldable materials, which makes it easier to obtain products with
rare or complex forms without too much energy expenditure.
They tend to be insulating materials both thermally and electrically.
They are resistant to corrosion and the attack of different chemical agents, so they
It makes for good materials for packaging and packing.
They are very versatile, which is why they can be found in such disparate fields as industry.
aeronautics and agriculture or automotive and the food industry.

But there are also major drawbacks:

During the manufacturing of plastic products, contamination occurs, just like any other
industrial process.
Its percentage in volume is high, due to their low density, and this is
a space problem both in containers and in landfills.
Once they have been recycled, even if it was only once, they cannot be used.
for packaging products for human consumption.
There are a large number of plastics that currently cannot be recycled as they would be
necessary costly and even impossible processes.
Si se mezclan distintas familias de plásticos para reciclarlos se obtiene un producto de
low quality.

The most commonly used plastics are:

PVC: polyvinyl chloride.

HDPE: high-density polyethylene.
PET: polyethylene terephthalate.
PP: polypropylene.
EPS: expanded polystyrene.
PC: polycarbonate.

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PS: polystyrene.
LDPE: low-density polyethylene.
Currently, the amount of plastic products in the market is enormous and for
consequently, the amount of plastic waste is also high. Considering the
high resistance of these to degradation and that are obtained from petroleum (gas
natural gas or coal), a non-renewable and scarce energy source, therefore more expensive according to
As time goes by, the recovery and recycling of them becomes necessary.

Management of plastic waste

The law that regulates the management of plastic waste in Spain is Law 10/98, of 21
April, on Waste and also Law 11/97 of April 24, on Packaging and Waste
Containers.
The hierarchy established in these laws regarding waste management is as follows:

Reduction at source: it consists of reducing the amount of products that become

waste, for example by reducing the weight of the packaging. It is the most desired action as it is
the most effective in waste reduction.
Reuse or recycling: it is about separating plastic waste from the rest of the
trash to be able to use them again, either with the same function they had before or
with a new one. One way to reuse them would be to wash the bottles and then use them again.
fill them, while recycling would consist of a transformation of the material
through different methods.
Valuation: it is a way of harnessing the energy that is still present within a waste.
An example for plastics would be incineration with energy recovery, as
Plastics have a high calorific value.
Disposal: it is the last alternative in plastic management and therefore the one that
it should be done last, however in Spain, until relatively recently
time has been the most used. The dumping of plastic materials is very expensive already
that occupy a lot of volume and in certain landfills are charged based on this
instead of based on weight. Similarly, by taking up a lot of space, they cause the need to
build new landfills.

Origin of plastic waste

Due to the great versatility of plastics, we can find their waste in various
sectors, among which stand out:

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Containers and packaging: they come from two sources, domestic and industrial.
The first route is the one that comes from households. The collection of plastic containers.
it must be separated, through selective collection. They are collected in the container
yellow, along with cans and cartons. The most valued materials for recycling,
they are hard plastics (bottles and other similar containers), where HDPE stands out,
PEBD and PET. The largest amount of waste comes from bottles, bags, and sacks.
and movies.
Regarding the industrial route, it is worth noting that it generates the largest amount of waste.
supplies for recycling, due to the high volume of collection of them and to the
ease of recycling of these.
Agriculture: they are abundant waste in the Levante and South of Spain, where it is used
much of plasticulture (application of plastic covers in crops to protect them
from adverse atmospheric phenomena). Of these materials that are recovered, only
you can take advantage of 40% for recycling, as they degrade a lot during their
use, which implies the use of virgin raw materials to compensate for this
loss, which increases the price of these. Most of the plastic comes from
greenhouses, cultivation tunnels, and soil mulching. The most common materials
used in agriculture are polyethylene (high and low density) and PVC. It is so
The impact of these plastics in the aforementioned areas is significant, as there is a reality.
Decree 104/2000 for the regulation of Agricultural Plastic Greenhouse Waste
Protected Crops.
Construction: the majority of the plastic materials used are the pipes (PVC
and polyethylenes), but there are also the profiles of blinds and windows (PVC), materials
insulators (PS), etc... The recovered volume from this sector is not very high since these
materials are long-lasting.
Automotive: the most used material in automotive is PP, so most of it
the waste comes from it. The problem is that many of these wastes are
difficult to recover due to their situation inside the car. An important
vehicle manufacturer has a pilot plant for car dismantling for the
extraction of the largest possible amount of plastic from them for reuse and
recycling of these. However, a large number of them are discarded as they possess
additives, paints, etc., which increase the cost of recycling. The main waste is
parachoques (PP), faros (PC), depósitos de combustibles (PEAD).
Electrical and electronic products: It is recovered thanks to electronic scrap.
dismantling the devices to separate the different plastics. The most common materials

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They are the PP, PS, and PC. Most of the plastic is obtained from cables and insulation.

Recycling of plastics
In order to carry out the recycling of plastic waste, as well as all other
waste, citizen collaboration is fundamental when it comes to selective separation of
the garbage. Citizens separate and certain companies recycle.

Separation at source

The amount of plastic containers used in households is very high, and in the

Currently, 80% of plastic recycling corresponds to containers that come from

homes, still it is advisable to increase the percentage of citizens who separate these

waste.

Plastic waste is also separated in the industry, where the amount of it is

much higher than the rest of the trash.

Selective collection of plastics

In the Community of Madrid, there are fundamentally two types of collection:

Door-to-door collection: it consists of the use of two-wheeled containers,

yellow, whether in a community of neighbors or in private houses, that

Subsequently, they are taken to the door of the house and the trucks collect these containers.

from door to door.

Collection in the contribution area: they are placed on the street, in a properly designated area.

marked, different containers for the selective collection of certain waste and

They are collected in these areas by trucks. Sometimes the container can be collected.

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yellow together with the organic waste container in the same truck, since there are

vehicles with compartmentalized boxes consisting of two areas, one for containers and the other

for organic waste.

Plastics that are not containers are collected with the rest of the garbage, but the quality and

the amount of plastic waste that can be utilized for recycling is not too much

elevated.

Transport

There are different collection vehicles for container packaging, which vary in

function of the type of container they must collect. For example, if we have a container

the igloo type vehicle would be for heavy cargo. As containers are normally used.

With two or four wheels, the vehicles that collect are either side-loading or rear-loading, and inside.

From the rear-loading ones, there is the divided-box type, which has been explained earlier.

If the sorting plant is far away from the city, the collection vehicles

llevan la carga a una estación de transferencia, donde descargan los residuos en una fosa

and later another vehicle, with greater capacity, reloads them to take them to a

classification plant. With this method, a lot is saved on transport always

that the sorting plant is more than 30 km away from the place where the

waste.

Sale of plastic to recyclers

Companies that buy recovered plastic to recycle it can do so.

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reaching an agreement with the company that manages the recovery of the containers or

buying them from companies or industries where large quantities of them are generated.

The prices of these materials vary depending on how they are sold, either in

scraps, crushed or in granules and also depend on the place where they are generated, whether they are

of post-consumption or of production.

Some of the properties of plastic materials that can affect their price

they are the following:

Transparency and color: if what is purchased is colored plastic, it can only be recycled.

to obtain dark colored plastic products (gray, brown, etc..) and therefore they

limits their usefulness. Due to this drawback, colored plastic

sells cheaper than the natural or white.

Cleaning: the cleaner the plastic, the more value it gains in the market. If the

materials are printed, their price is reduced since the inks have to be eliminated or

simply use them to make dark colored pieces.

Presentation: with this term we refer to the way in which plastic will be sold.

recovered. Usually, the smaller the pieces, the higher the price that

they acquire. The most expensive ones are in the form of granules, then crushed and finally as

scraps.

Fluidity and processability: these characteristics are important for the processing of the

pieces. They are related to the internal (molecular) structure of the plastic and with the

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chemical agents (additives) that are added to impart certain

properties. Obviously, the more fluid and easier to process they are, the higher the price.

will pay for them.

Resistance: recyclers take into account the resistance of materials to different

exposures, for example to thermal degradation during the processing of parts or, a

once they have been manufactured, the resistance to external agents (humidity, sunlight,

etc..)

Classification: if the recovered plastic materials have been sorted by colors or

for rigid and flexible, or for bottles and films, etc., they reach greater value than if they go

mixed since they save time and expenses for recycling companies.

The largest buyers of secondary plastics are the companies themselves.

plastics, as they can normally manufacture their products by mixing materials

virgin primaries and secondaries.

Plastic recycling process

There are different recycling processes depending on the types of plastics available.

The main recycling systems are as follows:

Mechanical recycling: it consists of cutting plastic pieces into small grains for

subsequently treat them. Work is done with macromolecules of polymers. All the

Mechanical recycling processes begin with the following stages:

Cleaning: once the recovered plastics arrive at the company where they are going to

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The first step is to prepare them to obtain suitable raw material, without

dirt or substances that can damage both the machines and the final product

remove papers, plugs, etc..). Normally, the recovered plastics come from

The industry usually arrives in very good condition, so this stage would be skipped.

Classification: different types of plastics must be separated before being processed,

especially in the case of those who come from the industry, because those who come from the

Classification plants are already separated. It can be done in water tanks by

densities.

Crushing: this phase occurs when the materials have not been crushed.

previously or because the grain size is not appropriate.

Washing: in large tanks or tubs, plastic grains are washed to eliminate

any type of dirt or impurity. This stage is very important in plastics that

They come from post-consumption, as they have contained substances that may remain in them.

for a long time.

Granulated: plastic waste is usually sold in granule form but if this does not

They must be converted into granules in order to be introduced into the recycling machines.

With granulation, the material is homogenized through casting.

dyed and cut into small pieces.

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Methodology

Resources

Plastic cups

● Paper cups

● Paper

● Painting

● Plastic bag for scarf

● Silicone

● Hat

● Bulb with wiring

● Stick with tree or wooden sticks

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Evidence (photos)

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Appendix

The tables and figures can be included in the appendix as mentioned earlier.

It is also possible to use the appendix to include raw data, instruments of

research and additional material.

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Life

Here is a brief biography of the thesis author.

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