"Ban on Plastic Bags" Suffered Many Other Difficulties

The data shows that from January to May in 2016, the volume of degradable plastic shopping bags in Jilin province reach to 2037 tons and the tableware were 53 tons, which increased by 26.6%, 27.8% than last year. However, the plastic bags are disposable, which can easily become the white pollution, so plastic recycling such as polystyrene recycling is very necessary to protect our environment. And then we can reuse it to do some other products.

In order to play a leading role of public agency in the whole society of energy-saving emission reduction demonstration, Jilin Province, the provincial departments, the province's colleges and universities, hospitals and other departments to strengthen the leadership of the ban on plastic work, designated person to respond to this work.

Although Jilin "ban on plastic bags" has achieved remarkable results, but also encountered many difficult to solve the problem in the province, a direct impact on the realization of the goal of ban on plastic. If the long-term problems can not be resolved, it may even make this green development practice into a bubble.

First, it is difficult to deal with the source of problem, there are many fake products. It is understood that Liaoning, Hebei, Anhui is the traditional non-degradable plastic products in Jilin Province, the main source, there are still a large number of products every day into Jilin, blocking the non-degradable product inflows is a big problem.

Second, a large area to push the ban is difficult. Reporters in some farmers market, food stores, snack street and other places found that the use of non-degradable plastic bags of the phenomenon is still exist. In the plastic bag wholesale market, some traders are still in the blatantly selling traditional plastic bags.

Third, the ban on legislation must try first. Jilin Province Development and Reform Commission deputy director Song Gang said that Jilin introduced the "ban on plastic bags" is mainly based on the State Council and nine ministries of the document, the development of local government regulations have the legal basis for legislative authority, but to expand the scope of ban on plastic bags, improve the relevant legal system, also related to the issue of local legislative authority.

The white pollution caused by tableware

Nowadays, the rise of take-away industry has led to the development of disposable tableware. All these take-away tableware are one-time use and the annual amount of usage can up to 10 billion or more. However, many people do not have the habit to categorize these plastic tableware after using it, and some people even just flinging it. Therefore, when we enjoy the convenience of disposable tableware has brought to us, the environmental pollution problems also follow up.

Disposable lunch boxes can not be naturally degraded, and were scattered anywhere which not only caused visual pollution, but also caused a potential hazard.  The waste plastic products scattered in the big cities, tourist areas, railways have caused a huge damage to the landscape and the environment, affected the overall beauty of scenic spots. When the waste lunch boxes were threw into the natural environment, it is difficult to degrade by themselves, which may cause a long-term deep-seated environmental problems and potential pollution. The structure of polystyrene tableware is stable, and can not be destroyed easily by natural microbes, so it will exist in the natural environment for a long time without decomposition. At present, the common way to deal with garbage is to landfill, and the existence of plastic tableware will affect the disposal capacity of landfill waste.

Therefore, to solve these environmental problems is very important and urgent. However, how to deal with this kind of white pollution? Recycling is a good way to relieve the pollution. By the way, these disposable tableware can not be used for utensils, and there are many difficulties in recycling, such as the economic benefits of recycling, recycling technical problems, so the recovery rate is very low, especially the expanded polystyrene tableware. Therefore, how to efficiently take polystyrene recycling and reuse disposable foam lunch boxes is a complicated problem. 

Polystyrene Foam Recycling

The main ways of polystyrene foam recycling are: reduced capacity before granulation, crushed for a variety of filling materials, cracking oil or the recovery of styrene and other methods.

1. Granulate after reduce the capacity of the xps raw material: polystyrene foam can be melt extrusion granulation to make of recycled pellets, but the volume is large, and do not convenient for transport, usually should reduce its capacity before recycle it to do other products. The methods of reduce the capacity are the mechanical method, the solvent method and the heating method.

2. Used for the filler after crushing: polystyrene foam products can be used as a filler after crushing, and then to make various products.

① re-molding into foam products

② concrete composite board products

③ gypsum brick

④ used as a asphalt enhancer

⑤ used as soil modifier

3. Cracked for oil or recycle polystyrene: the method of waste polystyrene foam plastic cracking for oil as follows:

Waste polystyrene foam deal with heat and reduction in advance, and then crackle distillation styrene.

4. Other functions: waste polystyrene foam can be used in the manufacture of coatings and adhesives

① paint: after crushing expanded polystyrene foam, and then add the appropriate solvent can be made of paint,

Polystyrene foam is useful for polystyrene bead molding. For the use of household appliances such as packaging or frozen food packaging foam; there are a few instant noodles bowl made of polystyrene beads. 

Plastic Waste Influences Our Daily Lives Deeply

Modern life is unthinkable without plastic, but there's a catch. Some people think that the of plastic is so useful, such as it has low cost, light weight and durability, also it is hard to dispose of.

In many countries, instead of recycling all our plastic waste such as expanded polystyrene recycling, we send a third of it straight to landfill. That's a waste of resources, and also a waste of energy.

To make things worse, millions of tonnes of this waste end up in the oceans. Birds, turtles and sealife get tangled in plastic bags and abandoned fishing equipment, or they die from eating plastic debris. Over time, larger pieces of plastic break down into tiny particles called microplastic, which can form a sort of plastic soup. These particles can soak up chemical additives and endocrine disruptors, and when they are eaten and enter the food chain, they can end up on our plates.

It's a large-scale problem, and it needs a global response, which include a target to prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, including marine litter.

However, how to deal with the plastic waste is a trouble problem. We should pay attention to this problem during our daily lives. For example, Plastic waste needed to be collected separately. But the package proposes raising the recycling target for plastic packaging to 55%, and reducing landfilling to no more than 10%.

Recently, there are some dedicated plastics strategies are also being prepared, to help the country improve recycling, cut marine litter, and remove potentially dangerous chemicals.

Plastic waste has many disadvantages and do harm to people’s daily lives, the government has the responsibility to solve this problem and help to protect the environment.

The recycling of EPS

Expanded polystyrene recycling is a challenge unto itself, and relatively few recyclers, even of other plastics materials, are willing to take on EPS. Special equipment and technology setups are required to deal with this unusual material. Even conventional equipment, such as conveyors, granulators and extruders, must be adapted to the specific characteristics of EPS.

For one thing, EPS is variously described as 95 to 98 percent air, by volume. Dart Container Corp., Mason, Mich., an assertive proponent of recycling EPS, reports that a standard 48-foot-long semi trailer could hold about 1,000 pounds, a mere half a ton, of EPS before it is compacted or, as it is known in the business, densified. At a compression ratio of approximately 40-1, the same vehicle can hold about 40,000 pounds (20 tons) of the material. 

The initial problems with recycling EPS are not technical as such, but are in the realm of politics and economics. It is not easy to convince municipalities or other waste-collection entities that it is worthwhile to collect EPS, especially in a single stream, or even in mixed waste. The stuff is bulky, takes up a lot of space in collection containers, and is prone to flying away and creating debris during handling. Recycling EPS is not for the faint of heart. You’ve got to want to do it.

After used EPS material is gathered, by whatever means, the next problem, since not much of it comes in pre-sorted, is to sort it out of the stream of mixed waste. The initial step can be done by the patently low-tech means of having it taken off a moving conveyor by workers, who pull EPS off the stream as the conveyor moves along. Don’t laugh. The first step of some EPS reprocessing is done exactly this way. The work is well-lit, and requires no heavy lifting.

After that, things get a bit more complicated. The EPS scrap is thrown directly or moves by conveyor into a granulator, which need not be burning up energy and making noise by being on full time. A sensor on the hopper can determine when the hopper is full and trigger the granulator’s operation, which, with the appropriate rotor, blades, and rotor speed, can literally grind the EPS waste to bits.

Something About Expanded Polystyrene

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a rigid and tough, closed-cell foam. It is usually white and made of pre-expanded polystyrene beads. EPS is used for many applications e.g. trays, plates, bowls and fish boxes. Other uses include molded sheets for building insulation and packing material ("peanuts") for cushioning fragile items inside boxes. Sheets are commonly packaged as rigid panels, which are also known as "bead-board".

Due to its technical properties such as low weight, rigidity, and formability, EPS can be used in a wide range of different applications. Its market value is likely to rise to more than US$15 billion by 2020. However, the expanded polystyrene are disposable, which can easily become the white pollution, so expanded polystyrene recycling is very necessary to protect our environment. And then reuse it to do some other products.

Thermal conductivity is measured according to EN 12667. Typical values range from 0.032 to 0.038 W/(m·K) depending on the density of the EPS board. The value of 0.038 W/(m·K) was obtained at 15 kg/m3 while the value of 0.032 W/(m·K) was obtained at 40 kg/m3 according to the data sheet of K-710 from StyroChem Finland. Adding fillers (graphites, aluminium, or carbons) has recently allowed the thermal conductivity of EPS to reach around 0.030–0.034 (as low as 0.029) and as such has a grey/black color which distinguishes it from standard EPS. Several EPS producers have produced a variety of these increased thermal resistance EPS usage for this product in the UK & EU.

ICC-ES (International Code Council Evaluation Service) requires EPS boards used in building construction meet ASTM C578 requirements. One of these requirements is that the oxygen index of EPS as measured by ASTM D2863 be greater than 24 volume %. Typical EPS has an oxygen index of around 18 volume %; thus, a flame retardant is added to styrene or polystyrene during the formation of EPS.

The boards containing a flame retardant when tested in a tunnel using test method UL 723 or ASTM E84 will have a flame spread index of less than 25 and a smoke-developed index of less than 450. ICC-ES requires the use of a 15-minute thermal barrier when EPS boards are used inside of a building.

According to EPS-IA ICF organization, the typical density of EPS used for insulated concrete forms is 1.35 to 1.80 pcf. This is either Type II or Type IX EPS according to ASTM C578. EPS blocks or boards used in building construction are commonly cut using hot wires.

Polystyrene Will Play an Important Role in 3D Printing

According to EckartHerrmann of Volkswagen, the use of 3D printing is possible to achieve the printing of large samples of automotive and other industries. The current cost of production of these components is very high, EckartHerrmann think that 3D printing is a good way to economically produce these samples. Norbert Neessner also supports these ideas about 3D printing:" Polystyrene will play an important role in turning high-end technology into affordable technology for people around the world." So,we should make measures to get on polystyrene recycling.

In the future, what opportunities polymers can create for the development of new products? According to the changes in the molecular level, can make plastics fully meet almost any desired performance, which is essential for the final product. In addition, it is important to relate plastics to specific functional requirements.

NorbertNiessner thought that these functions may be, for example, self-cleaning surface or "feel cool", so that the plastic not only looks like a metal, but also like the metal touch. Polystyrene may in the future make point-like lighting into flat lighting. This is the way an LED light can evenly distribute the light on a computer screen. Volkswagen found that vehicle interior lighting is a major development trend of the automotive industry to regulate the vehicle on-demand lighting in all regions.

Styrolution also found that the demand for lifestyle-based, ambient and design-based solutions is increasing. NorbertNiessner is convinced that polystyrene will make outstanding contributions in this area for a number of industries. Hans-WernerSchmidt believed that another important contribution of polystyrene reflected in the field of 3D printing. 3D printing has a very bright future, which has opened up many new ways for manufacturers and consumers.

The Supply and Demand Status of Plastic Cup

Plastic cup in the restaurant industry has an indispensable position, and the development of the catering industry also promote the demand for plastic cups. These factors will increase the demand of cup lid and increase at an annual rate of 4.4%. Until 2018, the market value will reach to $ 10 billion.

"Beverage is an important source of income for restaurants and the operators are increasingly focusing on the introduction of specialty beverages," said Esther Palevsky, an analyst. These factors will drive the demand for high-value cups and cup lids, such as paper cups, PET cups and specialty cups.

In addition, as more and more cities have enacted bans to prohibit or restrict the use of disposable expanded polystyrene products,restaurants generally reduce the use of  for sustainable development demand. There is another reason that why the country prohibit to use plastic foam cups, because the polystyrene recycling process is  difficult. However, there are also some ways to solve the problems. In 2016, the catering industry's demand for cups and cups accounted for 2/3 of its total demand, this industry is still the most important demand market in the future.

In different types of cups, due to the consumer trends and the convenience of their own, the growth rate of demand for packaging cup is the fastest. With the changing pattern of competition, paper cups will become the largest demand in drinking cups. On the one hand, the environment will limit its demand. On the other hand, the commercial production of recyclable plastic cups will also threaten their demand, because the heat preservation properties of recyclable plastic cups are similar to those of foamed plastic cups .

The growth rate of demand for cup lips will exceed the cups, with an annual growth rate of 4.7%. To 2018, the market value will reach to 1.3 billion dollars. Some of the factors that have contributed to its growth including the development of food and beverage outreach in restaurants and wholesale stores, the increased use of cup lips in drinking cups, the increased price, and the improved integrity of the cups, which supporting different types of lids.

How to recycle or replace your polystyrene blocks and boxes

There are many Styrofoam/polystyrene blocks and boxes in the world which are harmful to our body. So, we should think some ways to effect polystyrene recycling. And, the following ways are useful. 
1. Remove all tape and labels. Boxes must be empty, with no contamination (no ice packs, packing peanuts, paper, etc.). Styrofoam that has tape/labels or contamination is not accepted by the recycling vendor.
2. Collect Styrofoam/polystyrene blocks and boxes in clear plastic bags. Note: large lidded boxes do not need to be bagged.
3. Close full bags securely and label them with your department’s name and box number.
4. Place bags and stack large lidded boxes next to the recycling containers at your building’s loading dock; do not block doors or walkways. This is a self-serve recycling program; custodians are not responsible for transporting the Styrofoam.

We can also finding alternatives.
1. Use biodegradable packing materials. The vast majority of Styrofoam is produced because of packing purposes, padding and securing things for shipping. While it can be difficult to avoid receiving Styrofoam when you make a purchase, you can always cut down on your own use of Styrofoam when sending packages by avoiding the use of loose-fill packing "peanuts" and using other kinds of biodegradable packing materials.
Use newspaper, or other recyclable plastic materials to pad your packages. If it's not super-breakable, there's probably no need for Styrofoam.
Using corn and soy-based packing materials is becoming more and more common. If you work for a business that regularly sells things that require packing protection, consider making the alternative to biodegradable alternatives to Styrofoam.

2. Purchase post-consumer recycled materials. When you're making consumer purchases, try your best to only purchase things packaged in and made from post-consumer recycled materials. It can be difficult to know if something you buy will contain styrofoam included in the packing materials, but if you're buying with an eye for companies that make recycling and reusing a priority, you can be fairly certain that the packaging won't include any.

The recycling of EPS packaging

In Australia about 45,000 tonnes of expanded polystyrene (EPS) is created and consumed each year. 
Much of this EPS is embedded in long-term use (such as waffle pods used in housing construction and engineering/manufacturing components) however, approximately 40% (or 18,000 tonnes p.a) is single-use or short-term packaging that can be recycled after use. We currently only recycle about 27% (or 4,900 tonnes p.a.) of this EPS packaging，so there is a plenty of opportunity to recycle more. 

MWRRG is currently looking at ways to assist industry, businesses and councils in metropolitan Melbourne to recover more EPS packaging and divert it from landfill for reprocessing.

Look for ways that you can reduce the amount of polystyrene waste that you generate.

Polystyrene packaging can’t be recycled from your kerbside recycling bin, and when thrown in your garbage bin it ends up taking up precious space in landfill, and does not break down. So, taking actions to realize polystyrene recycling is important.

Using a reusable cup instead of the disposable polystyrene cups will stop some polystyrene from entering the waste stream.

Polystyrene meat trays are not accepted for recycling because they are contaminated by uncooked meat products; they must be disposed of in your general trash. Biodegradable meat trays made from plant oils are in development but are not widely available due to high manufacturing costs. Improvements in manufacturing efficiency will hopefully bring the cost of these trays closer to the cost of polystyrene food trays and we will begin to see more and more of them on our supermarket shelves.

Because of the varied uses for EPS, recycling requirements are a little more complex than, say, paper and other plastics, but it is worth taking the time in order to keep this prevalent material in use and out of landfills.