BRAINCAKESolutions to Plastic Pollution
Because poly(alkenes) do not biodegrade, the way plastic waste is handled matters. The main options, from best to worst, are:
Reduce and reuse. Using less plastic, and using items more than once, saves raw materials and energy and creates no waste to treat.
Mechanical recycling. Waste is sorted by polymer type (the recycling code number on an item shows which), then washed, shredded, melted and remoulded into new products. Sorting is essential, because mixed polymers give a weak material, and quality falls each time a plastic is recycled.
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Key terms in this lesson
- polymer
- A long-chain molecule built from many repeating monomer units joined together.
More in Alkenes
- Reaction with COncnetrated Sulfuric Acid
- Asymmetrical Alkenes
- Reaction with Water
- Addition Polymers
- Identifying the Repeating Group
- Identifying the Monomer
- Low and High Density Polythene
- Biodegradability
All 23 lessons in Alkenes · All AQA AS-level Chemistry topics