As environmental performance becomes increasingly important, the development of man-made polymers and their associated benefits has been overshadowed by problems relating to their ultimate disposal. In the light of wider acceptance of polymers for use in high technology applications, Polymers and the Environment aims to redress the balance. The book reviews the properties and industrial applications of polymers and discusses their environmental benefits compared with traditional materials. It also addresses the issues of polymer durability, recycling processes to aid waste minimization and biodegradable polymers. This text is intended to introduce the non-specialist reader to the benefits and limitations of polymeric materials from an environmental viewpoint, and will prove a useful book for both students and professionals.

* Timely information on the environmental impact of polymer recycling. * Ample sample questions and answers in chapters. * Provides material on the economics and legislation of recycling, and on LCA. * Examines the advantages and disadvantages of polymer recycling.

Plastics offer a variety of environmental benefits. However, their production, applications, and disposal present many environmental concerns. Plastics and the Environment provides state-of-the-art technical and research information on the complex relationship between the plastic and polymer industry and the environment, focusing on the sustainability, environmental impact, and cost—benefit tradeoffs associated with different technologies. Bringing together the field’s leading researchers, Anthony Andrady’s innovative collection not only covers how plastics affect the environment, but also how environmental factors affect plastics. The relative benefits of recycling, resource recovery, and energy recovery are also discussed in detail. The first of the book’s four sections represents a basic introduction to the key subject matter of plastics and the environment; the second explores several pertinent applications of plastics with environmental implications–packaging, paints and coatings, textiles, and agricultural film use. The third section discusses the behavior of plastics in some of the environments in which they are typically used, such as the outdoors, in biotic environments, or in fires. The final section consists of chapters on recycling and thermal treatment of plastics waste. Chapters include: Commodity Polymers Plastics in Transportation Biodegradation of Common Polymers Thermal Treatment of Polymer Waste Incineration of Plastics The contributors also focus on the effectiveness of recent technologies in mitigating environmental impacts, particularly those for managing plastics in the solid waste stream. Plastic and design engineers, polymer chemists, material scientists, and ecologists will find Plastics and the Environment to be a vital resource to this critical industry.

Green Polymers and Environment Pollution Control examines the latest developments in the important and growing field of producing conventional polymers from sustainable sources. Presenting cutting-edge research from a group of leading international researchers from academia, government, and industrial institutions, the book explains what green poly

Polymers, plastics, and composite materials are widely used in the shipping industry and so get exposed to marine waters. Biofouling of these leads to problems for ships and boats in the form of reduced speed and corrosion, which these industries would like to prevent. Several hundred thousand tons of plastics that are discarded reach the marine environment every year either from land run-off or because of maritime activities. It has been estimated that because plastics do not degrade easily, one million marine animals are killed every year either by choking on floating plastic items or by becoming entangled in plastic debris. For the shipping industry the polymer should not foul and should be stable for extended periods of time in the marine environment. For the environmentalist the waste dumped after its use should degrade fast without causing problems to flora and fauna as well to the coastal economies. Addressing one of these issues leads to enhancement of the other issue and so this is not an easy problem to solve. This book covers the interaction of polymers with the marine environment, the problems they cause to ecology, their biofouling and biodegradation, and possible solutions.

Few scientific developments in recent years have captured the popular imagination like the subject of'biodegradable' plastics. The reasons for this are complex and lie deep in the human subconscious. Discarded plastics are an intrusion on the sea shore and in the countryside. The fact that nature's litter abounds in the sea and on land is acceptable because it is biodegradable - even though it may take many years to be bioassimilated into the ecosystem. Plastics litter is not seen to be biodegradable and is aesthetically unacceptable because it does not blend into the natural environment. To the environmentally aware but often scientifically naive, biodegradation is seen to be the ecologically acceptable solution to the problem of plastic packaging waste and litter and some packaging manufacturers have exploited the 'green' consumer with exaggerated claims to 'environmentally friendly' biodegradable packaging materials. The principles underlying environmental degradation are not understood even by some manufacturers of 'biodegradable' materials and the claims made for them have been categorized as 'deceptive' by USA legislative authorities. This has set back the acceptance of plastics with controlled biodegradability as part of the overall waste and litter control strategy. At the opposite end of the commercial spectrum, the polymer manufactur ing industries, through their trade associations, have been at pains to discount the role of degradable materials in waste and litter management. This negative campaign has concentrated on the supposed incompatibility of degradable plastics with aspects of waste management strategy, notably materials recycling.

Continuous research advances have been observed in the field of environmentally-friendly polymers and polymer composites due to the dependence of polymers on fossil fuels and the sustainability issues related to plastic wastes. This book compiles the most recent research works in biopolymers, their blends and composites, and the use of natural additives, such as vegetable oils and other renewable and waste-derived liquids, with their marked environmental efficiency devoted to developing novel sustainable materials. Therefore, Environmentally Friendly Polymers and Polymer Composites provides an overview to scientists of the potential of these environmentally friendly materials and helps engineers to apply these new materials for industrial purposes.