Burnt plastic
Placing a FLAMING PRODUCT ON A PLASTIC BELT OR CHAIN. For example, the output of a furnace or high temperature process where the conveyed material is passed onto a conveyor system equipped with plastic belts and chains.
Maintenance and other work that will SPARKLE SPARKS AND OTHER INCENDIARIES TO PLASTIC STRAPS OR CHAINS. For example, welding a support structure near a conveyor system with plastic belts and chains.
The use of fire detection, alarm and suppression systems is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED in areas near furnaces and other high temperature processes where conveyed products are likely to catch fire or become hot enough to ignite plastic belts and chains. National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, as well as local building codes and statutes pertaining to fire protection, should ALWAYS be followed.
What happens when you burn plastic
“As countries like China close their doors to foreign waste and an overstretched recycling industry fails to keep pace with the plastic pollution crisis, incineration will be an easy alternative that is increasingly used,” explains John Hocevar of Greenpeace.
Incinerating plastic waste to generate energy seems sensible. After all, plastic is composed of hydrocarbons, like petroleum, and is more energy dense than coal. But there are several obstacles to the expansion of waste incineration.
For a start, deciding where to locate waste-to-energy plants is difficult, as with landfills: no one wants to live near a plant that receives hundreds of truckloads of garbage every day. Typically, these plants end up being located near low-income communities. Only one new incineration plant has opened in the United States since 1997.
The plants generate enough electricity to power tens of thousands of homes. But studies have shown that recycling plastic saves more energy – by reducing the need to extract fossil fuel and process it to create new plastic – than incinerating it along with other household waste.
Burning plastic is toxic
The NGO Tearfund has calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from the open burning of plastic bottles, sachets and cartons produced by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever in developing countries, where waste can be poorly managed because people do not have access to collection.
Taking a sample of six developing countries, reflecting the situation worldwide, the NGO estimated that the burning of plastic packaging put on the market by the companies creates 4.6 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, equivalent to the emissions from 2 million cars.
The charity is calling on companies to urgently switch to refillable and reusable packaging instead of plastic sachets and bottles. And it enabled a petition to the managers of these companies to solve the problem.
The NGO estimated how much of its plastic waste in each country is mismanaged, burned or dumped using World Bank data. Their analysis of emissions quantities was calculated by estimating the proportion of each company’s mismanaged plastic that is openly burned, and combining these quantities with emission factors for three different types of plastic. Their analysis was independently reviewed.
Why plastic burns
More than one without a doubt!!!. The microwave heating of food in plastic containers is very common nowadays because it is a very practical system to have the food cooked in a short space of time, allowing to improvise a quick meal when there is no time or desire to cook…
Water bottles, trays, film-films…, precooked or cooked food containers… etc., if heated or exposed to high ambient temperatures, run the risk of decomposition of the plastic that covers them and the formation of undesirable substances such as dioxins and other toxins that can migrate into the food.
The need to manufacture packaging today is very great. Food packaging is any material that is used to contain, transport and store food products, from raw material to finished product, and from the manufacturer to the consumer. Packaging also makes it possible to maintain and even extend the life of the food and preserve its nutritional qualities by providing physical protection and adequate information to prevent contamination of the food it contains.