Smart Approach of Solid Waste Management for Recycling of Polymers: A Review

Abstract

The world’s annual utilization of plastic materials is growing day by day and simultaneously solid waste management is becoming one of the major environmental concerns throughout the world. Current approach for their usage and disposal is not sustainable because of the durability of the polymers involved. Partially digested products of these plastics in the form of micro-plastics are accumulating as debris in landfills and in natural habitats because of their remaining in the environment for millions of years. Easy availability, low cost and ubiquitous applications make the plastics most attractive polymer whose proper disposal through specific technology seems the only alternate and that may lessen down the pollution over the next decades. Recycling as a waste management strategy provides opportunities to reduce the use of petrochemical resources and improving environmental conditions. Reuse of bulky plastic wastes in concrete and Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) seems a smart approach for solving the problem of disposal. The development of new construction materials using recycled plastics is important to both the construction and the plastic recycling industries. This review article presents the details of recycling of waste management, their probable application for concrete and WPC production, types of recycled plastics, role of microbes and microbial enzymes for recycling of plastics and emphasis on use of biodegradable plastics to make the environment green.