Quimicando com a Ciência - Chemistring with Science

PLASTIC - How can we reuse this waste?

Where does it come from?

It is one of petroleum derivatives, and so, it presents large carbon chains called polymers. The Plastic is a recent technology developed throughout the twentieth century.

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Around 1950 it began to be produced on an industrial scale as a raw material being incorporated in lots of products, mainly by having excellent physical and economical properties for the development such as good ductility and toughness with low cost. Quickly it became an essential part of our daily lives.

"The replacement of traditional materials for synthetic substances changed the concept of shape, ergonomics and utility of objects that man used to handle. With the introduction of plastic, disposable products emerged, leisure products, electronics, and packaging, among others. The use of plastics is constantly growing and evolving.” (1)

Much of the packaging we consume daily is composed by these polymers. Further, we have incorporated the plastic in our computers, cars, clothes, furniture, mobile phones and so on. Currently most of these products are consumed, discarded impulsively without a drop in production.

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Alternatives!

The way to avoid poorly planned discard and excessive production is already known, recycling.

Blest Company Corporation ⁽²⁾ has developed a machine which is able to transform oil into plastic. To read the article about this topic, visit the website: http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to-oil-fantastic/

The solar energy tower turns plastic into oil

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"The device designed by Akinori Ita converts 1kg of plastic waste into 1L of oil that can be refined into kerosene, gasoline or diesel. The only problem of this device is that it consumes too much energy for the conversion, about 1 kWh per liter produced. Since one liter of oil is equivalent to 11 kWh of electricity, the process itself consumes up to 9% of the energy that is contained in the resulting product, giving scope for further development and other ideas on the tower Plastikoleum. "(3)

The recycling and reuse of these polymers can become a way of new small businesses thrive in the country, since the plastic transformation in oil up to a broom factory. For an egalitarian distribution of income and increase in quality of life is necessary to have public policies that promote the tax incentive of cooperatives that have no link with the degradation of the environment.