###### tags: `English`

# 2020/10/14 English Magazine Study
## 1. [PLASTICS: What’s recyclable, what becomes trash and why](https://apps.npr.org/plastics-recycling/)

1. More than 250 pounds of plastic waste in the US
--> most comes from **'Packaging'**
--> Solution: recycling bin **(cofused to classify)**

2. Plastic around us:
(1) **Plastic wrap**(Not recyclable curbside): hard to deal with at MRF.
MRF:Material recovery facility, collected, sorted, baled, sold
--> bring to a standfill(equipments)

(2) **Small plastics**(Not usually recyclable): roughly 3 inched (7.62cm) or smaller.
--> bring to a standfill(equipments)
--> Bread bag clips, pill packaging, single-use condiment pouches, plastic tampon applicators(衛生棉條)

(3) **Flexible packaging**(Not recyclable curbside): flatten, mixed with paper
--> no interests on this: not products or couldn't be useful(not easy to separate)
--> potato chip bags(plastc+aluminum)

(4) **Deodorant**(Not recyclable): several types of plastic.
--> the shiny adhesive labels, protective cap, twistable gear.

(5) **Beverage bottles**(Recyclable, removing the film label): don't flatten out, a kind of plastic.
--> easily sell
--> carpet, fleece clothing, plastic bottles
--> cap: dangerous(high pressure-->high speeds)

(6) **Other bottles**(Recyclable, but rinse out first): bottle with a cap, the same size or smaller than the base of bottle.
--> bottles for laudary detergent, shampoo, soap
--> metal springs have to remove and discard them

(7) **Plastic clamshells**(Sometime recyclabel): molded affects make them hard to recycle.
--> resin identification code: 1~7 numbering system(help recyclers)
--> **not necessarily mean the item is recyclabel**

(8) **Yogurt & Butter tubs**(Often Recyclable): Marked with a **5 inside a triangle**.
--> mix of plastic types.
--> turn into paint cans etc.

(9) **Polystyrene foam**(Not recyclable): made of mostly air.
--> little value bc of little material remain
--> have banned throughout the US

(10) **Plastic bags & some wrappers**(Not recyclable):
--> sandwitch bags, dry cleaning bags, grocery bags
--> create problems for recycling machine

GreenBlue--> How2Recycle label(2500 variations)

Recycling-->business vulnerable to the ups and downs of commodities markets.

Packagers-->raw, virgin plastic(cheaper)
plastic packaging in oceans, landfills, incinerators--> not designed to be recycled.
-->design packaging can be recycled

Holiday lights, batteries, medical waste, baby diapers--> not recyclable into the curbside.\

Recycle--> global scrao trade(hundreds of millions)
--> 2018 China stopped taking plastic waste from the US.
--> overall strategy: **reducing packaging & replacing disposables with reusable materials.**

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## 2. [Seven charts that explain the plastic pollution problem](https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42264788)

Marine life --> irreparable damage(millions tonnes of plastic waste)

**Why:**
Plastic only exsited for 60~70y
--> clothing, cooking, catering product design, engineering
--> last for a very long time

**How Much:**
--> virgin plastic produced to date: 8.3bn tonned
--> 2015 (6.3bn tonnes):9% recycled, 12% incinerated, 79% accumulated in landfill or the natural env.(throwaway or single use, from drinks bottles and nappies to cutlery and cotton buds)
--> 12bn tonnes will be in landfill or env by 2050.
--> 480bn plastic bottles were sold in 2016(millon bottle per min, 110bn were made by Coca Cola)
--> proposals(UK): deposit-return schemes, free-drinking water supplier
--> ocean: 10m tonnes/year
--> Contries: China(mismanging plastic waste), US(higher rate of waste per person)
--> Gyres(環流): suck in any floating debris
--> North Pacific Gyre: plastic soup(fragments hang suspanded below the surface) take hundreds of years to biodegrade(Ocean Cleanup begin in 2018)
--> UK: 718 pieces of litter for every 100m stretch of beach(10% increas on last year), at least 20% are from food and drink


**Harmful to marine life, Why?**
--> marine creatures(tutles, seals, dolphins): entagled in plastic bags and other debris or making plastic for food(cause inernal blockages).
--> Larger pieces of plastic: damage the digestive systems(potentail fatal).
--> break into mircofragements and lead to plastic ingestion in human too.

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## 3. [Going plastic-free: The rise of zero-waste shops](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46574402)

**Zero-waste shopping**:cost effective, buy much smaller quantities
--> bring their own containers
--> sell a variety of dried bulk foods, fresh fruit and vegetables(often orgaic)
--> encourage to shop plastic-free.
-->average cheaper than the major supermakets.

**Welsh Governments:**
--> be resuing and recycling or composting 70% of ots waste by 2025
--> zero waste nation by 2050(no landfill or tradional incineratoin)
--> promote free drinking water at refill point(2018)(700 refill stations)
--> Difficulties in UK's recycling industries:
1. Chinese ban on import of plastic waste
2. National Audit Office acclaim