Sustainable plastic waste management in a circular economy

The discovery of plastics as useful materials for human existence, providing comfort and ease has now turned into a menace in the society and a pain in the neck as plastics have also become co-habitat of the human ecosystem. Plastics were made by men, but plastics now live way longer than the men who gave them the privilege of existence. Since these colonies of materials cannot be eradicated, it is very pertinent to discover possible ways of useful diversion through recycling by converting plastic bottle waste into useful raw materials for other sectors of the economy. This paper has stirred the pool of relevant literature to extract some of the innovative efforts that have been deployed into redirecting the potential of plastic waste into useful applications like engineering and building construction, horticulture in agriculture, and the most advanced application is the 3D printing using plastics as filaments. Following the trend of technology, 3D printing is a grey area of plastic recycling, it is quite expensive however, it worth exploring.

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Plastics are not biodegradable in nature because they can live up to hundreds of years.

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Incineration of plastics is not environmentally healthy because of the harmful gases emitted during the process.

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The circular economy has provided the possibilities for recycling and sustainable management of plastic wastes.

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Waste pet bottles are used for arts, crafts and reinforcement aggregate for building construction.

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Plastics are also used as filaments for 3D printing of various items.

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[Figure: see text].