Plastics waste handling practices in solid waste management

In order to see the impact of plastics on the overall solid waste picture, the sources and nature of wastes generated by that industry will be defined. At one end of the spectrum are industrial wastes resulting from plastics formation and from packaging and transfer. Fabrication follows and then the intermediate markets. Finally, there is the consumer. Each step generates a waste stream. The options for disposal or recycle are discussed for each waste source and the economics included are reviewed. The fate of plastics in the environment has been of concern to some, principally because plastics generally do not disappear very fast. Activity in this sector will be discussed. Engineering and other technical input for all waste handling follows economic reality and higher scrap values are resulting in new market potentials for waste plastics. The emergence of energy as a key decision point in environmental concern has highlighted the energy value of waste plastics as fuel. Current activity in this area will be discussed. An increased legislative role in solid waste management is needed. Some of the currently considered legislative practices that help and that hurt the industry's ability to assist in managing the solid waste problem will be reviewed.