Plastics have versatile qualities of strength, lightness,
durability and resistance to degradation. They have become
an important commodity to enhance the comfort and quality
of life. Plastics are an essential part of almost all industries
and have replaced glass and paper in packaging, but these
very desirable properties have now become their greatest
problem. Accumulation of recalcitrant plastics in the environment
has become a world-wide problem. Solutions
to plastic waste management includes source reduction,
incineration, recycling and bio- or photo-degradation. However,
most of these have problems associated with them.
Incineration of plastics is potentially dangerous and can be
expensive. During the combustion of plastic waste, hydrogen
cyanide can be formed from acrylonitrile-based plastics
and may cause potential health hazards. Recycling can be
done but is very tedious. The sorting of the wide variety
of discarded plastic material is also a very time-consuming
process.