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Plastics 2020 Challenge
The Plastics 2020 Challenge is a campaign to reduce the quantity of plastic waste sent to landfill. In 2009, the plastics industry, PlasticsEurope, the Packaging and Films Association (PAFA) and the British Plastics Federation (BPF), launched its Plastics 2020 Challenge campaign in the UK to challenge itself, consumers and government to step up resource efficiency and stop sending plastic materials to landfill. The Plastics 2020 Challenge was named runner-up "Campaign of the Year" for 2009 by '' Packaging News''. Pledges The industry is pledging several commitments including to help double the recycling rate of plastic packaging in the UK by the year 2020 and the diversion of plastics from landfill. Plastic recycling Plastics are too valuable a resource to send to landfill at their end of life. Industry wants these materials back to recycle whenever possible. When plastics cannot be sustainably recycled such non-recyclable plastics provides a valuable energy resource for therm ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plastic Waste
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are categorized by size into micro-, meso-, or macro debris. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, making them very adaptable for different uses; as a result, manufacturers choose to use plastic over other materials. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors allow large volumes of plastic to enter the environment as mismanaged waste and for it to persist in the ecosystem. Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean from coastal communities each year. It is estimated that there is a stock of 86 million tons of plastic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incineration
Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high-temperature waste treatment systems are described as "thermal treatment". Incineration of waste materials converts the waste into ash, flue gas and heat. The ash is mostly formed by the inorganic constituents of the waste and may take the form of solid lumps or particulates carried by the flue gas. The flue gases must be cleaned of gaseous and particulate pollutants before they are dispersed into the atmosphere. In some cases, the heat that is generated by incineration can be used to generate electric power. Incineration with energy recovery is one of several waste-to-energy technologies such as gasification, pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion. While incineration and gasification technologies are similar in principle, the energy produced f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2009 In The Environment
This is a list of notable events relating to the environment in 2009. They relate to environmental law, conservation, environmentalism and environmental issues. Events * The United Nations General Assembly declared 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres. Promoting sustainability was one of its aims. * The town of Picher, Oklahoma in the United States is depopulated due to environment and health problems from mining operations. February *The 2009 USS ''Port Royal'' grounding of the United States Navy guided missile cruiser ''Port Royal'' occurred off Oahu, Hawaii. In the incident, the ship ran aground on a coral reef, damaging and necessitating repairs to both the ship and the reef. The incident received wide press coverage in Hawaii, at least in part because of the damage caused to a sensitive coral environment. *The West Cork oil spill was an oil spill off the southern coast of Ireland. March *The 2009 southeast Queensland oil spill occurred off the coast of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Department For Environment, Food And Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom. Concordats set out agreed frameworks for co operation, between it and the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive, which have devolved responsibilities for these matters in their respective nations. Defra also leads for the United Kingdom on agricultural, fisheries and environmental matters in international negotiations on sustainable development and climate change, although a new Department of Energy and Climate Change was created on 3 October 2008 to take over the last responsibility; later transferred to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister in July 2016. Creation The department was formed in June 2001, under the leadersh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waste Implementation Programme
The Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) is the UK Government's response to the package of strategic measures recommended by the Strategy Unit "Waste Not, Want Not" report published in 2002. The WIP is the route map of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, aimed at delivering the action required to meet the UK's legally binding targets under Article Five of the EU Landfill Directive related to reducing levels of biodegradable waste that are landfilled. The UK's targets are: *By 2010 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 75% of that produced in 1995 *By 2013 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 50% of that produced in 1995 *By 2020 reduce biodegradable municipal waste landfilled to 35% of that produced in 1995 See also *New Technologies Demonstrator Programme The New Technologies Demonstrator Programme is a scheme part of Defra's Waste Implementation Programme, New Technologies Workstream, to demonstrate advanced solid waste processi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reuse Of Water Bottles
A reusable bottle is a bottle that can be reused, as in the case as by the original bottler or by end-use consumers. Reusable bottles have grown in popularity by consumers for both environmental and health safety reasons. Reusable bottles are one example of reusable packaging. History Early glass bottles were often reused, such as for milk, water, beer, soft drinks, yogurt, and other uses. Mason jars, for example, were developed and reused for home canning purposes. With returnable bottles, a retailer would often collect empty bottles or would accept empty bottles returned by customers. Bottles would be stored and returned to the bottler in reusable cases or crates. Glass milk bottles were transported in milk crates and would be picked up by a milkman. At the bottler, the bottles would be inspected for damage, cleaned, sanitized, and refilled. Beginning in the second half of the 20th century, many bottles were designed for single-use, eliminating the cost of collection. This o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plastic Recycling
Plastic recycling is the reprocessing of plastic waste into new products. When performed correctly, this can reduce dependence on landfill, conserve resources and protect the environment from plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Although recycling rates are increasing, they lag behind those of other recoverable materials, such as aluminium, glass and paper. Since the beginning of plastic production in the 20th century, until 2015, the world has produced some 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste, only 9% of which has been recycled, and only ~1% has been recycled more than once. Additionally, 12% was incinerated and the remaining 79% disposed of to landfill or to the environment including the sea. Recycling is necessary because almost all plastic is non-biodegradable and thus builds-up in the environment, where it can cause harm. For example, approximately 8 million tons of waste plastic enter the Earth's oceans every year, causing damage to the aquatic ecosystem and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fossil Fuels
A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels may be burned to provide heat for use directly (such as for cooking or heating), to power engines (such as internal combustion engines in motor vehicles), or to generate electricity. Some fossil fuels are refined into derivatives such as kerosene, gasoline and propane before burning. The origin of fossil fuels is the anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing organic molecules created by photosynthesis. The conversion from these materials to high-carbon fossil fuels typically require a geological process of millions of years. In 2019, 84% of primary energy consumption in the world and 64% of its electricity was from fossil fuels. The large-scale burning of fossil fuels causes serious environmental damage. Over 80% of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy Resource
Energy development is the field of activities focused on obtaining sources of energy from natural resources. These activities include production of renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel derived sources of energy, and for the recovery and reuse of energy that would otherwise be wasted. Energy conservation and efficiency measures reduce the demand for energy development, and can have benefits to society with improvements to environmental issues. Societies use energy for transportation, manufacturing, illumination, heating and air conditioning, and communication, for industrial, commercial, and domestic purposes. Energy resources may be classified as primary resources, where the resource can be used in substantially its original form, or as secondary resources, where the energy source must be converted into a more conveniently usable form. Non-renewable resources are significantly depleted by human use, whereas renewable resources are produced by ongoing processes that can sus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landfill
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, refuse was simply left in piles or thrown into pits; in archeology this is known as a midden. Some landfill sites are used for waste management purposes, such as temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or for various stages of processing waste material, such as sorting, treatment, or recycling. Unless they are stabilized, landfills may undergo severe shaking or soil liquefaction of the ground during an earthquake. Once full, the area over a landfill site may be reclaimed for other uses. Operations Operators of well-run landfills for non-hazardous waste meet predefined specifications by applying techniques to: # confine waste to as small an area as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
