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From 2012.igem.org

Background

Why Plastic is Bad

“Plastics: made to last forever, designed to throw away”--5gyres.org

Plastics play an integral role in our modern world. Due to their relatively low cost of production, they serve to promote the development of industry and lower the cost of consumer goods but perhaps the largest advantage to using plastics is their ease of production on a large scale. Because of this ease of production, products using plastics account for over a third of the products manufactured today. However, because this plastic is marketed as disposable, much of it ends up in landfills or in the ocean. Although 10% of the waste generated in the world is plastic, plastic makes up a much greater percent of the waste that is strewn about in the environment [1]. Plastic pollution is more than a problem of aesthetics. One of the many environmental problems associated with plastic pollution is that debris in the ocean are ingested by wildlife and often result in injury or death [2].

Methods [Top]

Results Summary [Top]

Future Directions [Top]

Parts Submitted [Top]

Sources [Top]

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2. Gregory, M. R. "Environmental Implications of Plastic Debris in Marine Settings--entanglement, Ingestion, Smothering, Hangers-on, Hitch-hiking and Alien Invasions." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364.1526 (2009): 2013-025. Print.
3. "Global Polyurethane Market to Reach 9.6 Mln Tons by 2015." Plastemart.com. N.p., 30 Aug. 2011. Web.
4. "Polyurethane Recycling." Polyurethanes. American Chemistry Council, n.d. Web. .
5. "Frequently Asked Questions on Polyurethanes." Polyurethanes.org. European Diisocyanate and Polyol Producers Association, n.d. Web. .
6. Takasuga, T., N. Umetsu, T. Makino, K. Tsubota, KS Sajwan, and KS Kumar. "Role of Temperature and Hydrochloric Acid on the Formation of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons during Combustion of Paraffin Powder, Polymers, and Newspaper." Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (2007): 8-21. Print.
7. Teuten, E. L., J. M. Saquing, D. R. U. Knappe, M. A. Barlaz, S. Jonsson, A. Bjorn, S. J. Rowland, R. C. Thompson, T. S. Galloway, R. Yamashita, D. Ochi, Y. Watanuki, C. Moore, P. H. Viet, T. S. Tana, M. Prudente, R. Boonyatumanond, M. P. Zakaria, K. Akkhavong, Y. Ogata, H. Hirai, S. Iwasa, K. Mizukawa, Y. Hagino, A. Imamura, M. Saha, and H. Takada. "Transport and Release of Chemicals from Plastics to the Environment and to Wildlife." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 364.1526 (2009): 2027-045. Print.
8. Kang, Chul-Hyung. "A Novel Family VII Esterase with Industrial Potential from Compost Metagenomic Library." Microbial Cell Factories 10.41 (2011): n. pag. Print.
9. Bokinsky, Gregory, Et. Al. "Synthesis of Three Advanced Biofuels from Ionic Liquid-penetreated Switchgrass Using Engineered Escherichia Coli." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108.50 (2011): 19949-9954. Print.
10. Boronat, Albert, Estrella Caballero, and Juan Aguilar. "Experimental Evolution of a Metabolic Pathway for Ethylene Glycol Utilization by Escherichia Coli." Journal of Bacteriology Jan. (1983): 134-39. Web.