WARM UP ASSIGNMENT

By
AFEEFA KHIZAR

Roll No. 17071561-086

Department of Environmental Sciences

University of Gujrat

Session 2017-2021
 REPORT
Plastic is available as polymer but to obtain its various form, it is generally broken down
in the presence of a catalyst to form monomers such as Vinyl, Propylene, Styrene,
Benzene, etc. Further to get different categories of plastic, these monomers are
chemically polymerized and 2 examples of the same are Thermoplastics and Thermoset
plastics. However, there is a significant difference between these 2 categories of plastic.
In thermoplastics, plastic is heated and can be molded into any shape, however, its
advantage is that it can be reheated and plastic will be further softened. It includes
various products such as PPS, LDPE, PVC, HDPE, PET, etc. Thermoset plastics are
totally different from thermoplastics. It can be melted into its liquid form but once after
melting when its solidified it cannot be reheated and remains in the same shape. Products
of this category are Nylon, Bakelite, etc (Kamaruddin et al.,2017).
Plastic extrusion plays a crucial role, as it efficiently converts waste plastic into
sustainable construction materials. There is no waste generated when this method is used.
It not only helps in making construction materials but also helps in plastic disposal
problem. In this raw plastic is melted and form into a continuous profile allowing
production for various construction material. This process causes no harm to any form of
life or environment and helps in avoiding the use of other harmful methods such as
landfills, burning in an incinerator, etc. Plastic beads used in this process are generally
made up of LDPE. Plastic beads are generated from plastics and are effectively converted
into plastic blocks. Bricks made up of plastic beads have the highest strength in resisting
loads. Even though it is found that composite bricks sustain lower load than plastic beads
brick, it still has compressive strength higher than conventional bricks and effectively
converts waste plastic into a sustainable building material (Aciu et al., 2018)
A roof is an essential part of a house, so when it comes to home building, there have been
many innovations in roofing methodologies over the years. Using recycled plastics to
build roofing tiles is a great way to resemble other more expensive materials, while
providing the same high-quality you can expect with materials such as slate.
Recycled plastics can be used to make stronger concrete structures in the form of
sidewalks, driveways and more. Students at MIT have recently conducted experiments
with recycled plastic by exposing small amounts of it to gamma radiation, mixing it into a
powder and then mixing that into cement paste. Doing so can produce concrete that is up
to 15% stronger than regular concrete, allowing this form of construction to be both
longer-lasting and more eco-friendly.
Insulation is another essential factor in homebuilding and buying because it keeps your
home’s temperature regulated all year-round. Various insulation companies have begun
developing insulation with recycled plastic inside of it because only a minimum amount
of plastic will maximize your home’s energy efficiency levels.
Using recycled plastic as the main ingredient in structural lumber as an alternative to
other materials such as steel, comes with indisputable advantages. By using plastic to

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make lumber instead of wood, you no longer have to spray wood with toxic preservatives
to protect it from aspects such as insects and weather. Rather, the polyethylene from
recycled plastics does not necessitate such requirements, and have now been used to
make materials like picnic tables and benches.
Another part of a home-building journey may include fencing in a backyard or adding a
white picket fence to your front yard. Homeowners can prioritize sustainability
by designing fences from recycled plastic. The floor covering in your house is one of the
most essential aspects in creating your dream home, and it has become more common to
utilize floor tiles that contain recycled plastics.
Distribution of plastic waste is associated with human populations. Increase in human
population has led to increase demands for plastics and plastic products. Indiscriminate
disposal of wastes from plastics and plastic products can lead to environmental pollution
which is evident in several ways including environmental natural beauty deterioration,
entanglement and death of aquatic organisms, sewage system blockage in towns and
cities especially in developing countries, resulting in creating conducive environment for
breeding mosquitoes and other disease causing vectors and production of foul smells,
reduction in water percolation and normal agricultural soils aeration thus causing reduced
productivity in such lands ( Manju et al., 2017).
In human occupational and residential environment, plastic products are present in large
volume. Pollution by plastics and plastic products can damage and contaminate the
terrestrial environment and can be subsequently transferred to the aquatic environment.
There is a shortage of data on the volume of plastic wastes on land in comparison to the
voluminous data which exist on plastic debris in marine habitat, despite the fact that
about 80% of plastic waste present at sea originates from land-related sources. Dumping
of plastics on land or landfilling plastics leads to abiotic and biotic degradation of the
plastics, where plastic additives (e.g., stabilizers, harmful colorant moieties, plasticizers
and heavy metals) can leach and eventually percolate into various aspects of the
environment, thereby causing soil and water contamination. Reports have shown that
microplastics as well as synthetic polymer fibers are still detectable five years after they
have been applied to sewage sludge and soils. Chlorinated plastics are capable of
leaching out toxic chemicals into the soil and subsequently seep into the underground
water or surrounding aquatic system thereby polluting the ecosystem. Methane, a
dangerous greenhouse gas, which significantly contributes to global warming is released
during microbial biodegradation of plastics (Corinaldesi et al., 2015).
Approximately 165 million tons of plastic wastes were estimated to be present in the
oceans of the world in 2012, while an average of 8 million tons of plastics are annually
released into the ocean, with about 5 trillion plastic pieces floating on the ocean.
Typically, plastics in the oceans can degrade within a year but not completely. During
this plastic degradation process, toxic chemicals like polystyrene and BPA can be
released into the water causing water pollution. Wastes found in the oceans are made up
of approximately 80% plastics. Plastic debris which are floating on the ocean can be

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rapidly colonized by sea organisms and due to persistence on the ocean surface for a long
period of time, this may aid the movement of 'alien' or non-native species. Contaminants
from microplastics are bioavailable for many marine lives because of their presence in
benthic and pelagic ecosystems and their small sizes. Within the marine ecosystem,
plastics have been reported to concentrate and sorb contaminants present in the seawater
from different other sources. Examples of such contaminants are persistent organic
pollutants like nonylphenol, PCBs, dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and
phenanthrene, with potential to accumulate in several fold on the plastic debris compared
to the surrounding seawater. More than 260 species of marine organisms such as turtles,
invertebrates, seabirds, fish and mammals ingested or are entangled in or with plastic
debris, leading to reduced movement, feeding, reproductive output, ulcers, lacerations
and eventual death (Haque, M. S. 2019).
Carbon dioxide and methane are released into the air when plastic wastes which were
landfilled finally decompose. During the decomposition of solid waste in landfills in
2008, an estimated CO2 equivalent (eqCO2) volume released into the atmosphere was 20
million tons. CO2 is also released into the atmosphere during the burning of plastics and
plastic products, and this CO2 is capable of trapping radiant heat and hinder it from
escaping from the earth causing global warming. Air pollution is one of the major
environmental threats to public health, and it is responsible for more than 6 million
deaths associated with environmental pollution. Open burning of plastics and plastic
products releases pollutants such as heavy metals, dioxins, PCBs and furans which when
inhaled can cause health risks especially respiratory disorders. The role of plastics in air
pollution in the developing and poor countries of the world cannot be overemphasized,
and the impact on the future generations may be massive (Jalaluddin, M. 2017)

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 REFRENCES
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Potential use of plastic waste as construction materials: recent progress and
future prospect. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering (Vol. 267, No. 1, p. 012011). Iop Publishing.

[Link], C., Ilutiu-Varvara, D. A., Manea, D. L., Orban, Y. A., & Babota, F. (2018). Recycling of
plastic waste materials in the composition of ecological mortars. Procedia
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[Link], R., Sathya, S., & Sheema, K. (2017). Use of plastic waste in bituminous pavement. Int J
ChemTech Res, 10(08), 804-811.

[Link], V., Donnini, J., & Nardinocchi, A. (2015). Lightweight plasters containing plastic
waste for sustainable and energy-efficient building. Construction and Building
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[Link], M. S. (2019). Sustainable use of plastic brick from waste PET plastic bottle as building
block in Rohingya refugee camp: a review. Environmental Science and Pollution
Research, 26(36), 36163-36183.

[Link], M. (2017). Use of plastic waste in civil constructions and innovative decorative
material (eco-friendly). MOJ Civil Eng, 3(5), 00082.

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