Recycling Plastic Waste as Class Activity

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Table of Contents

Introduction and Background
Topic Introduction
History of Plastics
Journaling and interviews
Discussions
Reference

Introduction and Background

Our daily life revolves around a lot of polymeric materials that are useful but harmful to the environment. People use plastics as store wrappers, product packages, disposable containers for food takeout, and other household products like plates and cups. All these plastic products need disposal after use or when they break, but landfills are becoming fuller and cannot contain any more plastic waste since plastics are non-biodegradable. Therefore, it is better to reuse and recycle these plastics to avoid ruining our environment and find economic value for garbage. This essay reports grade ten students’ class activities involving reducing plastic waste through reusing and recycling.

Topic Introduction

The topic was introduced by creating awareness on the amount of plastic waste production and its effects on the environment. America is the leading nation producing the most plastic garbage per person worldwide, and waste disposal affects marine life and waterways (Nasr, 2020). Students responded with enthusiasm and engaged in discussions highlighting the effects of marine pollution on organisms and nature in general. Students were then asked to mention some of the plastic materials they encounter daily. Most students said that they use a lot of plastics daily and know their harmful effects on the environment. Since students were now aware of the topic, they could conduct the activity’s objective, which involves identifying different types of plastics, their composition, uses, and strategies to minimize plastic waste.

History of Plastics

Students went through the history of plastics and their industrial classification. Industrial plastic fabricators categorize plastics as either specialty resins or commodity resins. Historically, the name resin refers to amorphous solids occurring naturally, such as rosin (Nasr, 2020). Commodity resins include plastics made in large amounts at low costs, such as disposable plastic bags. On the contrary, specialty resins are produced in lower quantities and have higher production costs. Specialty resins include plumbing and hardware appliances and consist of polyamide, Teflon, and polyacetal materials (Nasr, 2020). The chemical composition of commodity resins comprises independent molecules that allow movement and easy flow. Thus, the polymeric material can be heated repeatedly and molded into various shapes and containers. Plastics with polyester and polyethylene cannot be reheated and remolded because their chemical composition changes during processing, making them insoluble when reheated.

Journaling and interviews

Students were required to identify different categories of standard plastics and create a journal entry that summarizes each type of plastic, its composition, and its uses. Through illustrations, students could identify plastics using industrial codes which label each type of plastic. Interviewing students ensured a follow-up in the activities accomplished and to identify where things were wrong. Most students reported that Identifying plastics by observing physical appearance was very challenging. A recommendation to use the water, alcohol, and oil test to determine plastics with complex polymeric materials identified polypropylene material, high and low-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, and Polystyrene. Students also interviewed each other on the results of each test to obtain conclusive results. A summary of all responses was recorded in the journal for reference and assessment.

Discussions

After summarizing the different types of plastics and their composition, students held discussions to describe the various uses of plastic, particularly in packaging. Product wrappings at home, eating outlets, and industrial products are significant contributors of plastic waste to the environment. In brief discussions in groups of ten, students realized that people use plastics unnecessarily, leading to a lot of plastic waste. Each student was required to give at least three ways of reducing and reusing plastics to minimize disposal and analyze their finding and suggestions in groups of ten.

Since the most common plastics are thermoplastics, students suggested recycling the plastic waste through gasification, pyrolysis, and chemical recycling. Pyrolysis converts plastic to crude oil, and chemical recycling involves melting and remodeling plastic waste to other products such as dustbins and reusable nylon packages. Gasification converts plastic to gas (Nasr, 2020), providing an alternative source of clean energy. Students suggested the use of alternative packages made of renewable material.

Household and food outlets should reuse disposable takeout containers by distributing bins in various locations for collecting the containers. Reusing minimizes danger, disposal, and raw material for more production, which contributes to carbon emissions. Manufacturing industries and food processors should Reduce packaging through rationing products in large portions. Lastly, students recommended making toys from plastic waste around the community and selling to support the plastic waste reduction movement.

Finally, the activity was successful because students got to learn and formulate ideas individually and in groups. Students learned the history of plastics, their composition, variety, and uses in different areas. Students suggested many approaches to reducing and recycling plastic waste through the activity using the project’s guidelines. Using journal summaries, interviews, and discussions to assess students’ progress was very effective and would apply to future cases. Everything went well, and students are anticipating the beginning of their toy production using plastic waste.

Reference

Nasr, N. (2020). A push for plastics recycling: IE. ISE; Industrial and Systems Engineering at Work, 52(3), 24. Web.

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Recycling Plastic Waste as Class Activity

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