WorksheetsHow to Recycle Non-recyclable Plastics
Total questions: 9
Worksheet time: 5mins
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
