Recycling of polymer materials

Tijekom posljednjeg desetljeća svjedoci smo velikih prirodnih katastrofa te naglih klimatskih promjena. Kao što je kroz rad prikazano, glavni krivac za sve nedaće upućene prema Zemlji su ljudi - mi koji moramo preuzeti odgovornost za poboljšanje očuvanja svih resursa u cjelini. Kroz rad sam došao do raznih zaključaka koji se temelje na tome da polimerni materijali zbog svojih karakteristika postaju materijali budućnosti. Izvrsna mehanička svojstva ih čine idealnima za razne primjene, ali njihovom upotrebom osiromašujemo planet Zemlju te je nužno upotrebljavati polimerne materijale sa mišlju o daljnjoj reciklaži. Postoji mnogo metoda koje se koriste za oporabu polimernih materijala, a najjednostavnija metoda je još uvijek materijalna oporaba polimera. Još uvijek sustav nije posložen u idealnu cjelinu kako bi se polimerni otpad reciklirao u potpunosti. Ponekad zbog ekonomske neisplativosti oporabe polimernog otpada države sa lošom zakonskom regulativom, a ponekad i zbog samog nemara ljudi, polimerni otpad ostaje samo otpad, a ne postaje korisna sirovina. Veliki istraživački napori ulažu se u proizvodnju biorazgradivih polimera te bismo tako u budućnosti mogli smanjiti velike količine otpada koje završe na odlagalištima.Throughout the last decade we have been witnessing major natural disasters as well as rapid climate changes. As it is shown in this paper, main initiator of most of these wrongdoings are humans – we who ought to take responsibility of improving preservation of natural resources as a whole. Through my work I have come to various conclusions which are based on characteristics of polymeric materials that designate them as materials of the future. Excellent mechanical features make them ideal for different purposes, but their usage depletes the planet Earth, so it is vital to use them in parallel with thinking about further recycling. There are many methods for recycling polymeric materials, but the most common because of its simplicity is still material recovery of polymers. The system still isn’t ideally composed and it doesn’t give predisposition for complete recycling of polymers. Due to lack of financial profit in countries with faulty law system or due to human negligence, polymeric waste sometimes remains just waste and it doesn’t live up to its recycling capacities. Great researching effort has been made in the manufacturing of biodegradable polymers which indicates future reduction of large amounts of waste which are now sent to landfill