Solid Wastes

Composition of solid waste

in 1993 (% by weight)
Putrescibles

Leather,Rubber,
Wood
Textiles

Glass

Fine Material &

Miscellaneous
Metals

Plastic

Paper
Solid Wastes in Hong Kong
 An average of 2x107 kg solid waste
daily in 1993.
 About 3.5 kg per head of
population.
 Plastic, paper and metals occupied
about 40% by weight of the
domestic waste.
Disposal of solid waste
 Two common disposal methods:
Land filling and Incineration
 Incineration
 Advantages:
 reducing the volume by ~85%

No risk of underground water pollution
 Disadvantages:
 polluting the atmosphere with toxic
chemicals
Disposal of solid waste
 Incineration
 Disadvantages:
 Potential environmental problems are
 (1) Generation of landfill gas, mainly
methane.
 (2) Polluting the underground water
Pollution problem
associated with the
disposal of plastics
 Plastic waste in the sea pose direct
danger to fishes.
 Plastic waste can last for a long
time, they do not undergo
decomposition easily in the landfill
site.
 Incineration produces air pollutants
such as hydrogen chloride from
PVC and other chlorine containing
polymers.
 Disposal methods of solid
waste in Hong Kong
Incinerated
16% Commercial

Landfilled
6%
Landfilled

73% 21%
Domestic
Industrial

57%
Degradable plastics
 Slow degradation because enzymes in
micro-organisms attack only at the ends
of the polymer chains.
 Several types of degradable plastics:
(1) Biopolymers: polymers made by living
organisms. Poly(hydroxybutyrate), PHB, a
natural polyester made by bacteria.
Degradation completed within 9 months. 15
times more expensive than poly(ethene).
Degradable plastics
(2) Photodegradable plastics: light
sensitive functional groups such as
carbonyl group (C=O) can in
incorporated into the polymer chains.
The long chains can be broken down
under the action of sunlight into
shorter fragments which can then be
biodegradable.
(3) Synthetic biodegradable plastics:
made by incorporating starch or
cellulose into the polymer during
production.
Recycling of plastics
 Direct recycling : applies only to
thermoplastics. The plastics are
separated, cleaned, pulverized,
and remoulded into plastic items.
 The regenerated plastics usually
have deteriorated properties due
to repeated thermal and
mechanical processing.
Coding symbols for sorting
waste plastics
Polyethylene 4 Low density
1
terephthalate polyethene
PETE LDPE
High density 5 Polypropene
2
polyethene
HDPE PP
Polystyrene
3 Polyvinyl 6
V chloride PS
All other resins
7
OTHER
Recycling of plastics
 Recycling of energy: energy values of
plastics are quite high. The energy
obtained from burning plastic waste can
be used for heating or generation of
electricity.
 Recycling of chemicals: plastic waste is
pyrolysed (decomposed at high temp. in
the absence of air), the products are
fractionally distilled to give useful
chemicals.