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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Some things
become so familiar,
we cease to
notice them.
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Some objects are


so everyday, we
think we know all
there is to know
about them.

Plastics: overturning received ideas

What exactly do we
know about
plastics?
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastics in
everyday
life
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastics have helped to


reduce the average weight of cars by
200kg thereby economising 500 litres of petrol
every 100,000km?

source: Fdration de la Plasturgie - France

Plastics: overturning received ideas

How could we organise hygienic


waste collection without plastic binbags?

Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastics make it


possible to store and transport
corrosive substances safely?

Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that PVC doors and


windows help to avoid the chemical
treatment of wood and the need for
painting?

Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastic gas and


water pipes have a guaranteed life
of 50 years?

source: Total Petrochemicals

Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastic insulating foams


in a house can save the equivalent of
150 litres of heating oil a year?

source: Fdration de la Plasturgie - France

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastic toys offer


much greater safety for children?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Have you ever thought


about the convenience of
plastic containers for food
storage and protection?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastics are an integral


part of data storage media: vinyl discs,
magnetic tapes, CDs, DVDs, memory
cards, etc?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that


the insides of
fridges are made of
polystyrene for ease
of cleaning,
hygiene and
insulation?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

What are
plastics?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas


* 1% derived from agriculture

99% of all plastics are derived from crude


oil, used to produce different monomers
that are then joined together to form
polymers.

Polycarbonat
Polyethylen
e
e Polystyrene

PE

AB
PMMA
PV S

Polypropylene

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that only 4% of the total


volume of crude oil produced is used to
make plastics?
Plastics 4%
Transport
&
heating
80%

Oils/tars
16%

How crude oil is used


source: Plastics Europe

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Plastics: overturning received


ideas

Did you know that if plastics in packaging


were replaced by traditional materials, world
energy consumption would double ?

e=x
source: Plastics Europe / Gesellschaft fr umfassende Analysen

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Plastics: overturning received


ideas

Did you know that if plastics in


packaging were replaced by traditional
materials, CO2 emissions would
increase 7 times over, adding to the
greenhouse effect?

co x
2

source: Plastics Europe / Gesellschaft fr umfassende Analysen

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastics are derived from


recuperated naphtha, a simple refining
residue which was once just flared off?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastics are
practical!

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastics can be formed into an infinity


of shapes, from the simplest of bottles
to the most complex technical
components.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastics are highly durable,


weather-resistant and lowmaintenance.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastics possess mechanical properties


(elasticity, robustness, etc.) essential for
demanding applications.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

By reducing the weight of packaging,


plastics help to reduce the number of
goods vehicles on the road.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

What happens
to plastic
waste?
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Landfill is not the answer, whatever the


nature of the waste concerned.
Waste of
energy
Pollution
of the
water table
Chemical
instabilit
y

Prohibitive costs

Growing
shortage of
space

Visual and sensory


pollution
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Plastic waste should go either to recycling


or to clean waste-to-energy incineration.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

In Europe, almost 20% of plastic waste


is actively recycled.

source: Plastics Europe / images : www.save-a-cup.co.uk

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that it takes just 35


recycled plastic bottles to produce a
polar fleece jacket?

35 plastic bottles

1 jacket

source: Plastics Europe

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Recycling has its limits: it is not


technically possible or economically
feasible to recycle everything.
Costs &
pollution associated
with transport of
materials
Difficulty of processing
(cleaning)

Difficulty of
selective waste
collection
High energy costs

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

For non-recyclable waste, clean


incineration is clearly the environmentfriendly complementary solution.

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Waste incineration today is one of the


cleanest and most strictly regulated and
monitored industrial activities, producing
very small quantities of final waste.

photo : Solvay

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that incineration reduces


the volume of waste by 90%?

source: www.incineration.org

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that


between 1995 and 2006,
dioxin emissions from
incinerators were
reduced by 97% ?

source: www.incineration.org

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Plastics: overturning received


ideas

Did you know that the electricity


generated by the incineration of just one
is
enough
to power a 60-watt light bulb
plastic
bag
for 10 minutes?

1
bag

source: Fdration de la Plasturgie - France

60
W

10
min

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that the incineration of


household waste produced by 5
million Parisians generates enough
energy to heat 198,000 apartments?

source: Plastics Europe

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that the plastics


included in waste enable incinerators
to operate
without fuel, and even to generate
energy?

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

Did you know that plastics have an


energy value comparable to that of
heating oil, and over double that of paper,
wood and coal?
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10

source: Plastics Europe

Heating oil
Coal

Plastics

Wood
Average

Paper

Energy value (MJ/kg)

Metal

urban
waste
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Plastics: overturning received ideas

In Europe, the countries with the best


green credentials set an example by
incinerating up to 75% of their waste.
100 %
90 %
80 %
70 %
60 %

l AndFi l l

50 %
reCyCling

40 %

inCinerAtion

30 %
20 %

greeC
e

irelAnde

g
B

PortugAl

FinlAn
d

itAly

SPAi
n

FrAnC
e

gerMAn
y

Belgiu
M

norWA
y

SWede
n

denMAr
k

netHerlAnd
S

source: Plastics
Europe

AuStri
A

0%

SWitzerlAnd

10 %

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Plastics: overturning received ideas

The trend is evident: landfill tipping is


increasingly being replaced by 80%
incineration, 20% recycling.
100 %

100 %

100 %

90 %

90 %

90 %

80 %

80 %

80 %

70 %

70 %

70 %

60 %

60 %

60 %

50 %

50 %

50 %

40 %

40 %

source: Plastics Europe

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40 %

Plastics: overturning received ideas

Conclusion : plastics render us countless


everyday services. Just because they are
cheap does not mean we should waste them.
At the end of their useful life, they should be
recycled or sent for clean waste-to-energy
incineration. Like any other form of waste,
they should no longer be dumped in landfill
sites or carelessly thrown away.
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