Recycling plastics - problems and possibilities

Most plastics are made from oil and other natural materials which will not last for ever. At the moment, we use plastic wastefully because it is cheap to produce. We pack things in it, then we throw away the packing. In Europe and the USA, about seventy per cent of plastic that an ordinary family throws away in its rubbish comes from packing materials.
 
Plastic is a wonderfully strong, long-lasting material which is very difficult to destroy. Most plastic does not decay, like wood or paper, because bacteria will not eat it. It stays the same for hundreds of years. If you throw a plastic bottle in the see, it will land, undamaged, on a beach hundreds of miles away. If you burn plastic on an ordinary fire it produces slimy smoke and poisonous gases. Although some special plastics have been produced which decay, they are expensive. It is much better to find a way or reusing or recycling plastic.
 
Many foods and drinks are sold in plastic bottles. boxes and pots which can be reused. They make useful containers in the kitchen, or plant pots for the garden.
Some shops encourage customers to return their plastic containers. This conserves both energy and materials. It also saves customers` money!
 
Recycling plastic is more difficult than reusing it, because there are many different kind of plastic. Some plastic melt when you heat them. Others do not. You can make these "unmeltable" plastics into a few products - posts or garden furniture, for example - but these cannot be recycled again.

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    Misha
    05.02.2011 15:52

    Very good! i like this great post!

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