Plastics Processing Methods

Extrusion Molding -- the main process used to form plastics. A heated plastic
compound is forced continuously through a forming die made in the desired shape
(like squeezing toothpaste from a tube, it produces a long, usually narrow,
continuous product). The formed plastic cools under blown air or in a water bath and
hardens on a moving belt. Rods, tubes, pipes, Slinkys®, and sheet and thin film
(such as food wraps) are extruded then coiled or cut to desired lengths.
Plastic fibers also are made by an extrusion process. Liquid resin is squeezed
through thousands of tiny holes called spinnerets to produce the fine threads from
which plastic fabrics are woven.
Injection Molding -- is the second most widely used process to form plastics. The
plastic compound, heated to a semifluid state, is squirted into a mold under great
pressure and hardens quickly. The mold then opens and the part is released. This
process can be repeated as many times as necessary and is particularly suited to
mass production methods. Injection molding is used for a wide variety of plastic
products, from small cups and toys to large objects weighing 30 pounds or more.
Blow Molding -- pressure is used to form hollow objects, such as the soda pop
bottle or two-gallon milk bottle, in a direct or indirect method. In the direct blow-
molding method, a partially shaped, heated plastic form is inserted into a mold. Air is
blown into the form, forcing it to expand to the shape of the mold. In the indirect
method, a plastic sheet or special shape is heated then clamped between a die and
a cover. Air is forced between the plastic and the cover and presses the material into
the shape of the die.
Plastic Pollution Plastics are used because they are easy and cheap to make and they can last
a long time. Unfortunately these same useful qualities can make plastic a huge pollution
problem. Because the plastic is cheap it gets discarded easily and its persistence in the
environment can do great harm. Urbanisation has added to the plastic pollution in
concentrated form in cities. Plastic thrown on land can enter into drainage lines and chokes
them resulting into floods in local areas in cities as experienced in Mumbai, India in 1998. It
was claimed in one of the programmes on TV Channel that eating plastic bags results in death
of 100 cattles per day in U.P. in India. In stomach of one dead cow, as much as 35 kg of
plastic was found. Because plastic does not decompose, and requires high energy ultra-violet
light to break down, the amount of plastic waste in our oceans is steadily increasing. More
than 90% of the articles found on the sea beaches contained plastic. The plastic rubbish found
on beaches near urban areas tends to originate from use on land, such as packaging material
used to wrap around other goods. On remote rural beaches the rubbish tends to have come
from ships, such as fishing equipment used in the fishing industry. This plastic can affect
marine wildlife in two important ways: by entangling creatures, and by being eaten. Turtles
are particularly badly affected by plastic pollution, and all seven of the world's turtle species
are already either endangered or threatened for a number of reasons. Turtles get entangled in
fishing nets, and many sea turtles have been found dead with plastic bags in their
stomachs.Turtles mistake floating transperent plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them. In one
dead turtle found off Hawaii in the Pacific more than 1000 pieces of plastic were found in the
stomach. A recent US report concluded that more than 100000 marine mammals die each
year in the world's oceans by eating or becoming entangled in plastic rubbish, and the
position is worsening World-wide, 75 marine bird species are known to eat plastic articles.
This includes 36 species found off South Africa. A recent study of blue Plastics may be
either (a) photodegradable or (b) semi-biodegradable or (c) 100% biodegradable.
Photodegradable plastics have light sensitive groups incorpora ted directly into
backbone of the polymer as additives. This produces non-degradable smaller
fragments which cause loss of material integrity. Example of semibiodegradable
plastic can be blends of starch and polyethylene. PHB is an example of 100%
biodegradable plastic. Approximately a dozen of inherently biodegradable plastics
are now in the market, with range of properties suitable for various consumer
products. Some examples of biodegradable films or other raw material (for
biodegradable plastic articles) made by different companies are -

(1) BASF - Ecoflex - for biodegradable garbage bags - made up of polyester

building blocks that offer properties similar to LDPE (10000 tonnes production
plant at Ludwigshafen, Germany.
(2) Bayer - BAKbiodegradable polyester amide. - contains ester and amide groups
similar to that in nature.- therefore biodegradable.
(3) Dupont's - BioMax
(4) Eastman's - EasterBio
(5) Cargill-Dow's - EcoPla
All of them are targetting market of 70000 tonnes by 2001.
(6) Arrow Coated Products Ltd. (ACPL) has started bioplastic watr soluble film
production in India in Gujrat State at Ankleshwar. But capacity is only 600
tonnes per annum. They do not export any of it.
(7) Om Engineers (India) - have also tested and about to introduce LDPE
modified biodegradable film (for which they have applied for patent even.
(8) Fasalex, The Institute for AgroBiotechnology, Kopfig, Austria have developed
biodegradable material using sawdust and corn grit held together with cellulose
based natural resin. This material can be processed by same machines which are
otherwise used for normal plastic.
(9) Environmental polymers of Warrington make biodegradable polymer which
can be melt - processed by film blowing or injection moulding etc. Product is water
soluble and is useful for interior purpose. It is based on PVOH.
Estimate of current global market for biodegradable plastic is 1.3 billion kg per
year. Estimated global market for biodegradable polymers will reach 1.4 billion
tons by the year 2000. In response to increasing public concern over environmental
hazard caused by plastic, many countries are conducting various solid waste
management programmes incl uding plastic waste reduction by development of
biodegradable plastic material. There is an intense research for making the
biodegradable plastic. Some biodegradable plastic materials under development are
-
1. PHAs
2. Polylactides
3. Aliphatic polyesters
4. Polysaccharides
5. Co-polymers and/or blends of above.
Different approaches are -
 • (I) modification of existing material,
• (II) chemical co-polymerisation of known biodegradable material,
• (III) use of biopolymers for making plastics.

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(I) Partially biodegradable shopping bags are already manufactured from thin
matrix of conventional polythene filled in with starch. After the bag has been
thrown away, microorganisms eat away starch, leaving polythene film structure
which soon disintegrates. Fertec (Ferruzzi, Ricercae Technologia) of Italy and
Warner Lambert of the US are developing fully biodegradable starch-based
plastics. Starch forms upto 50% by weight of the Fertec material and remaining is
the synthetic polymer. Material shows partial biodegr adability in Warburg test.
Warner Lambert's starch-based plastic is called Novon and contains 80% starch.
Additives like plasticizers are used to make the material tougher and to improve
processing. Novon is biodegradable in accelerated landfill, controlled compost,
aerobic and anaerobic aquatic environments. Warner's starch-based plastic can be
used for capsules for drugs, disposable single-use items like cups and food trays.
The company has 25000 tonnes per annum production capacity from 1992. At
present, biodegradable plastic represents just a tiny market compared with the
conventional petrochemical material whose production amounts to >100 million
tonnes per year. Bioplastics will comparatively prove cheaper when oil prices will
continue to hike up.
(II) 'Bioceta' is the new biodegradable plastic which is cellulose diacetate-based
product. It has been developed by Rhone Poulenc's Belgium subsidiary, Tubiz
plastics. Bioceta uses additives which both plasticize and accelerate degradation by
micro-organisms. The Sekisui chemical company has developed a new
biodegradable plastic by co-polymerisation of two different biodegradable
chemicals based on aliphatic polyester derivatives. The plastic has both good
properties and complete biodegradability. The biodegradability and properties of
new plastic can be adjusted to a larger extent by controlling the conditions of
polymerization. It is thermoplastic and can be recycled. The plastic can be used
effectively for agriculture, for goods packaging, but high-value add ed plastic can
also be produced using the co-polymer. The plastic was developed in co-operation
with the Government Industrial Research Institute, Osaka. Plastic is based on
polyester which is decomposed by means of enzymes such as lipase to H2O + CO2
causing no secondary contamination as in other degradable plastics. According to
firm s claim, this plastic is stronger than polyethylene, has a higher melting point
(over 900C) than the ordinary polyester resin and have fastest biodegradability. A
film of 100 micron thickness of this plastic is totally decomposed in soil in just two
months. Biodegradable plastic film comparable in strength to the general purpose
 polyethylene has been developed in Japan by the Agency of Industrial Science and
Technology's (AIST) Fermentation Research Institute. The film has tensile strength
of 200 kg/cm and is produced from a mixture of polycaprolactone (PCL) which is
completely biodegradable and special compatible polyolefin. The mixture has a
PCL content of 50-80% by weight a nd is formed with higher proportion of
biodegradable PCL towards the surface, thus promoting high biodegradability
while retaining the strength of special polyolefin. If buried in soil for a year, the
film is degraded by micro-organisms into a powder with particles ranging from 1-
10 microns. It releases no harmful gases when incinerated and has calorific value
of 8000 k.cal per kg which is 80% of ordinary films. Co-polymers of succinic acid,
glycerol and polyethylene glycol are found to be 100% biodegradable in 90 days in
soil. They have glass transition temperature (Tg), 21}
(III) Bioplastics - Biopolymers obtained from growth of micro-organisms or from
plants which are genetically-engineered to produce such polymers are likely to
replace currently used plastics at least in some of the fields. Poly - hydroxy
butyrate and polylactic acid are the kind of polymers which are used as materials of
bioplastics.
This WebSite will concentrate on biopolymers the real Bioplastics - Biodegradable
and of complete natural origin.
petrel chicks at South Africa's remote Marion Island showed that 90% of chicks
examined had plastic in their stomachs apparently fed to them accidentally by
their parents. South African seabirds are among the worst affected in the world.
Plastics may remain in the stomachs, blocking digestion and possibly causing
starvation
Biotechnology in Plastic Industry in Reducing Pollution Control - Conventional process for plastic industry uses oil based raw materials.
Alkenes like ethylene and propylene, produced from these raw materials, arc first converted into alkene oxides, which are then polymerized to form
plastics, such as polypropylene (used for making containers) and polyethylene (commonly called polythene).

The use of these raw materials has inherent danger of escaping into the atmosphere, thus causing pollution. Therefore, it is suggested that in plastic
industry raw materials like sugars (glucose) should be used, which can be enzymatically (or through direct use of microbes), converted into alkene
oxide to be used in this industry. Methylococcus capsulatus has also been successfully used for converting alkene into alkene oxide.

What can be done to control plastic pollution in the marine environment?

• Support and encourage enforcement of environmental regulations.

• Buy consumer products that use a minimum of plastic packing materials. Reduce your personal use of
plastics.

• Encourage local harbors and marinas to provide adequate facilities for collection of solid wastes including
plastics. Bring everything back from your boating adventures. Throw nothing overboard

• Most plastic debris (80%) that pollutes the ocean comes from the uplands and not from boaters. Local
communities can do a better job with maintenance of their storm sewer systems, solid waste disposal facilities
like landfills, and trash collection.

• Participate in clean-up day activities and pickup trash when you see it. Call the Center for Marine Conservation
at 1-800-CMC-BEACH for information on clean-up campaigns happening in your region. Leave the beach or
campsite cleaner than you found it