Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the “cyclic” consumption model already alluded to. Ensuring that products
are recyclable or amenable to feedstock chemical recovery is a significant
step toward sustainability. Chemical recycling of waste into valuable
building blocks or the recapture of embodied energy (via incineration), also
falls under this topic. What is to be avoided is landfilling and indiscriminate
burning of waste.
Cosmetic packaging waste (tubes, bottles, lids) is generally of little interest
to recyclers who tend to focus on high-volume plastic waste such as soda/
accepting all cosmetic empties, regardless of brand, in their stores, for
sorting and recycling, preventing them from ending up in the landfill.
This allowed the recovery of single-use plastic cosmetic bottles from the
thousands of hotel rooms across the United States.
2.5.1.7 Minimizing Externalities at Source: Green Chemistry
Designing products where the materials and processes contribute to
minimal externalities is the best practice in this strategy. The challenge is to
use green chemistry, bio-based resources, and clean energy to minimize the
environmental footprint while still maintaining market competitiveness for
the product.
A flooring manufacturer (Tarkett North America) announced a switch
from conventional phthalates to alternative plasticizers in their vinyl
flooring product worldwide in 2014. This reduces human exposure to
unsafe phthalates in residential and commercial buildings. Some
European manufacturers (Upofloor OY) were promoting phthalate-free
flooring as early as 2010.
2.5.1.8 Avoiding Toxic Components and Potential Hazards Associated
with Products and Processes
Chemical species used in plastics and rubber industry (including the resin
itself) can be released inadvertently, polluting the environment. If some
of these in water, air, or food can potentially reach the human consumer,
the risk is clearly unacceptable. Where conventional designs of products
include known hazardous chemicals, it is incumbent upon the industry to
voluntarily phase out these and redesign products that are innocuous but
functionally equivalent:
