Topic:Identify issues in the recycling of plastic and find sustainable solution
Subject:Environmental studies
Volume: 3 pages
Type: Essay
Format: MLA
Description
Plastic plays a significant role in our everyday life and it will continue to affect our lives in the foreseeable future. The production of plastic has exceeded 300 Mt per year and it is expected to double in the next 20 years. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation with McKinsey at the World Economic Forum reported in the Global Plastic Packaging Roadmap, that only 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling with just 10% actually recycled. The rest, End-of-Life Plastic, goes to landfill (40%), incineration (14%), or shockingly, leaks into the environment (32%). The vast majority of plastic is still disposed of by incineration or landfill. Worryingly, the report also points out that in excess of 8Mt of plastic enters the oceans each year. In a business-as-usual scenario it estimates that by 2025 there will be 1t of plastic for every 3t of fish and by 2050 more plastic than fish! The EU commission believes that plastic waste washed away from landfills accounts for around 80% of the plastic in the marine environment (UNEP, 2005). Extracted from [http://recyclingtechnologies.co.uk/plastic-and-environment/the-problem-of-plastic/] Project Description: You must identify issues in the recycling of plastic and find a sustainable solution that is both economical and environment friendly. Do your research to find out why the plastic recycling is not good enough in the UK, how it can be improved and how it can bring opportunities for new industries. Use online resources and data that are available in the public domain to do your analysis. Compare and contrast different recycling techniques with their cost and environmental benefits. You may find a solution or generate an idea that may lead to wider acceptance of a recycling scheme that can help keeping our environment clean. Format of the Assessment Understanding the Problem What do you want to accomplish? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ What are the constraints? ______________________________________________________________________________ _ What do you know about this problem? What do you need to learn to solve this problem? What are possible solutions? Pros Cons Chosen Solution ______________________________________________________________________
