Constituents of Plastic Pellets and Their Position in Waste Management from the Technological, Economic and Environmental Safety Aspects

Abstract

Although, according to the principle of the waste management hierarchy, recycling is only in the third place in the order of priorities, it is often presented to the public, unjustifiably, as a key solution that will contribute to the reduction of environmental pollution. However, almost all plastic, which represents a significant share of municipal solid waste, contains various toxic substances that, without elimination, find their way into the next production cycle. The suggestion is, justifiably, that plastics containing such contaminants should be labelled as nonrecyclable materials. However, the question arises whether these are all contaminants or, in fact, at this level of production technology, constituents. This paper shows that toxic substances are present in plastic pellets for two reasons. The first is the production process of polymers and the raw materials used, and the second is an inadequate recycling process. Therefore, this paper goes one step further and proposes to limit, if not ban, the production and circulation of certain polymers.