How to Recycle Non-recyclable Plastics

In the United States, how much of the 35.4 million tons of plastic produced each year gets recycled?

• 8.4%

• 10.2%

• 25.7%

• 50%

Plastics that do not get recycled can take hundreds of years to degrade or break down. What issue or issues does this cause?

• Plastic Waste ends up in the oceans

• Tiny particles called microplastics are spread by water and air

• Plastics create a surface for greater microbial growth

• Plastic ends up being ingested by humans and animals

• Plastics create carbon dioxide emissions

Long chains of repeating groups of atoms is called...?

• microplastics

• monomers

• thermoset plastics

• polymers

True or False - The type of plastic that currently cannot be recycled is...?

• Thermoset

• Thermoplastic

• Thermodated

• Thermodynamic

Crosslinks in polymerization are created when..

• long polymer chains are linked using free radicals to make a single dense molecule

• long polymer chains are linked using free radicals to make longer and longer polymer chains

• short polymer chains add monomers to make longer polymer chains

• Four different polymers are added together to create two new polymer chains

Vitrimers are...?

• A catalyst that breaks apart polymer chains

• A bacteria that eats plastic

• a polymer that can release crosslinks

• a process where thermoplastic can be turned into thermoset plastic

One scientific team used a ball mill to grind thermoset with zinc into fine powder. This created free radicals. What are free radicals?

• Freedom fighters

• molecules that cannot bond with other molecules

• positively charged ions that escape polymerization

• molecules with one or more unpaired outer electrons

After the process of using a ball mill to grind thermoset with zinc into fine powder, what occurs?

• crosslinked bonds become non-permanent like vitrimers

• polymer chains become crosslinked

• the powder can be disposed of easily

• none of these

Why do scientists want to be able to use vitrimers?

• These are tough plastics that can be recycled

• They want to reduce plastic waste in industry by replacing thermoset plastic

• They need polymers bonds that can easily be unlinked

• all of these

• none of these