Example collocations logo

Plastics in sentence

151 examples of Plastics in a sentence

Given that a non-renewable resource forms the basis of many plastic products – most of which will not last long – current plastics usage patterns are not sustainable.
Closed-loop recycling, in which plastics waste is used to make another product, thus carries significant environmental benefits, such as reduced energy and oil consumption.
But the process of separating the petroleum-based recyclable plastics from other kinds of plastics and solid waste is difficult, costly, and labor-intensive, so only a small proportion is recycled.
If consumers knew to collect and separate household plastics based on their number, when available, the resulting boost to recycling efforts would demonstrate to government and industry the viability of a more sustainable approach, reduce exposure to rising oil prices, and support growing global demand for plastics.
There are four categories of plastics recycling: primary recycling, in which the plastic is re-used in the same application; secondary recycling, in which material (mixed or contaminated) is used in less demanding applications; tertiary recycling, in which the plastic is converted into monomers or chemicals; and quaternary recycling, in which only energy is recovered through incineration.
(All of the embodied energy is lost if the plastics are landfilled, a common disposal method worldwide.)
Given the difficulty and expense of separating plastics, the most economically viable option is often secondary recycling of a few commodity thermoplastics – mostly bottles, for which collection infrastructure is already in place.
More economical separation methods are crucial to expanding the scope of plastics recycling, as is the identification of new potential markets for the recyclates.
Although all 40 kinds of plastics used in a North American automobile can be recycled, the need to separate and clean them makes using them more expensive than using virgin plastic resins.
This translates into a higher proportion of plastics in the remnants of shredded end-of-life automobiles – a contaminated mixture of plastics and non-plastics that is usually disposed of through some combination of landfilling, incineration, and secondary recycling.
Increasing the proportion of re-used plastics is a crucial step toward more sustainable plastics consumption.
To this end, some automobile manufacturers have adjusted their designs to allow for easy disassembly of parts made of compatible plastics, while governments have set recycling target proportions for end-of-life vehicles.
Government legislation can be enacted to support such measures, as well as to require plastics manufacturers to get involved in the disposal of plastic items – a responsibility long imposed on packaged-goods manufacturers in Europe.
In the last decade, Japan passed several laws obliging both businesses and individuals to separate plastics waste.
This, combined with a lack of landfill space and the country’s expanding population, has enhanced plastics recycling efforts.
But bioplastics are not a silver bullet for managing plastics waste.
In fact, they may threaten the secondary recycling of petroleum-based plastics, owing to possible contamination during sorting of mixed streams.
And critics have expressed concern about the environmental impact of corn and other crops grown for industrial purposes, such as plastics and ethanol production, not to mention the potential effects on global food prices.
In a world that is reliant on plastics, more sustainable production, consumption, and disposal of plastic products is crucial.
Civil society, industry, and government must work together to increase the share of recycled plastics, thereby ensuring that plastics’ costs do not outweigh their benefits.
Based on the study’s simulations, robots probably cost about 400,000 US jobs each year, many of them middle-income manufacturing jobs, especially in industries like automobiles, plastics, and pharmaceuticals.
Disturbingly, recent reports indicate that the ocean may contain one kilogram of plastics for every three kilograms of fish by 2025.
Metals, chemicals, cement, and plastics are vital building blocks of the modern economy, and involve processes that cannot be easily electrified.
But Europe’s economy will not grow, and a sufficient number of jobs will not be created, if such vital industries as aluminum, steel, fuels, plastics, and cement are not allowed to thrive.
But in steel, cement, and plastics production, the routes to decarbonization are less clear, may differ between locations, and may involve complex combinations of different techniques.
Compostable plastics also needto be composted.
For example, we believe that converting oil intospecial plastics for lighter-weight vehicles, thereby lowering fuel consumption,would make more sense than burning it as gasoline or diesel.
It means more pesticides, detergents, antibiotics, glues, lubricants, preservatives, and plastics, many of which contain compounds that mimic mammalian hormones.
The Risks of Mislabeled RiskSTANFORD – Increasing numbers of supposedly health-conscious consumers are choosing products with “free from” labels, from “BPA-free” plastics to “non-GMO” foods.
The study explores, mainly through the lens of product labeling, how people evaluate the risks of Bisphenol A (BPA) – a chemical that is commonly used to harden plastics and prevent the growth of bacteria in food cans – compared to its alternatives.
Back