How to reduce waste and cost of plastics
To reduce waste and cost of plastics you can do many things. For example: don't put those black bin liners in your bin, just put your rubbish straight into it and take it to your larger Council. Stop the smell by giving the bin a quick rinse and reusing the water on your garden. Or, alternatively you could cover the inside of your bin with newspapers so they get recycled too and you don't have to use plastics.
Reducing the number of plastic bags you use can be a problem, but you can help reduce plastic bags at convenience stores, take away food shops and mainly supermarkets. Supermarkets account for 53% of single use plastic shopping bags. Keeping a reusable bag in your car or handbag to use, if you have bought a lot tell the supermarket to pack your food in cardboard boxes, as cardboard boxes can be easily recycled than many plastic bags, and many more.
How to reduce harm plastic causes
Some plastic bags can be returned to your supermarket for recycling and many large supermarkets have recycling facilities. Turn bags inside out and remove any receipts and food before recycling as contamination can cause problems in production and stop recycled plastic from being used. If you have a dog don't collect the poo in a plastic bags:
- Use a recycled paper bag
- Wrap it up in old newspaper
- Use a biodegradable dog poo bag.
To help stop harm from plastics being caused remember this: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle plastics whenever possible. For example, if you throw a plastic bag away, tie it in a knot so animals cant get in.
Why recycling isn't always a solution
Recycling isn't always a solution as although polymers can be burnt and release a lot of heat energy when they burn which can be used to heat homes and generate electricity. However, there are problems with incineration; CO2 is produced, which adds to global warming and toxic gases are produced unless the polymers are burnt at high temperatures, which requires more heat energy.
Still many polymers can be recycled, which reduces disposal problems. But, different polymers have to be separated from each other before burning, and this is hard and very expensive to do. Another thing is that polymers are un-reactive allowing them to store food, chemicals, etc. this makes it extremely difficult to destroy it.
Most polymers, such as polythene (polyethylene) and polypropene (polypropylene) are not biodegradable. If something is not biodegradable then micro-organisms cannot break them down, so they last for years in rubbish dumps. However, it is possible to include chemicals that cause the polymer to break down quicker. Plastic bags are recycled in a mixed plastics process to make garden stakes, garden furniture, garden sleepers, flower pots and new plastic bags.
译文:
从我做起：减少塑料垃圾
如何减少塑料垃圾，降低塑料成本？
为了减少塑料垃圾，降低塑料成本，你可以从身边的许多小事做起。比如说，不要在你的垃圾桶里放垃圾袋，直接把垃圾倒桶里，然后汇总到大的垃圾桶里。当然，你必须马上冲洗才能清除桶的异味，然后把清洗用的水拿来浇灌你的花园。或者，你还可以用报纸代替垃圾袋，这样，不仅报纸得以循环使用，而且你也不用依赖塑料袋。
虽然减少塑料袋的使用量对你来说有点困难，但你还是要为此做点贡献。在便利店，快餐店，尤其是超市购物的时候你就要注意节约了。因为仅超市就占了塑料袋使用总量的53%。所以，最好在你车上放一个可反复利用的袋子或手提包。如果你买了很多的话，可以要求超市把你的东西装进纸板箱，因为纸板箱与许多塑料袋相比，更容易再生利用。
如何降低塑料引起的危害？
有些塑料袋用过后可以让超市回收再利用，而且许多大超市都有再生装置。在进入再生程序前，先把袋子里外翻个身，把里面的发票，剩余食物等都清除干净以免污物妨碍生产，导致塑料不能再生利用。如果你养狗的话，不要把狗的排泄物放入塑料袋。你可以：
一， 用再生的纸包；
二， 用废旧的报纸包起来;
三， 用可降解的专用包。
为了防止塑料引起的危害，一定要记住：尽可能地拒绝使用，减少使用，循环使用塑料袋。比如说，在你丢掉塑料袋的时候，记得把它打个结防止动物就钻进去。
为什么再生处理终究不是解决办法?
依靠塑料再生终究不是解决方法，因为虽然塑料聚合体可被燃烧，散发热能，用来取暖和发电，但是，在焚化的过程中必会带来许多问题，包括产生二氧化碳，使温室效应加剧；另外，除非塑料燃烧时保持在一个很高的温度（但持续高温需要消耗很大的能量），否则就会产生大量有害气体。
当然，多数聚合物是可以再生的，这类塑料就避免了处理的问题，但是，不同种类的聚合物在燃烧前必须惊醒分类，可惜这种分类难度大，价格高。另外，由于聚合物的稳定性高，不会与放入其中的食品，化学制品等发生反应，因此，它也极难被降解。
大部分的聚合物，如聚乙烯和聚丙烯都是不可降解的。某物不可降解也就意味着微生物无法将他们分解，所以，那些塑料垃圾就一直堆在地面上，几十年，几百年都不会消失。当然，某些化学药品能加速塑料的分解。经过一个混合的加工程序后，塑料可以再生成为盆栽装饰杆（一根木杆的一头插在盆栽中央，另一头是小动物，小木偶等小饰品），园林桌椅设备，园林卧池（用木头搭建的多边型的微型小池), 花盆，亦或者再生成为新的塑料袋。