How long does it take for an aluminum can to decompose? How long does it take for food waste, diapers and other garbage to decompose?
It's not for nothing that different countries it is customary to sort the world garbage waste, which residents throw away, and in some of them you can get a fine for incorrect sorting. Why were such laws passed? developed countries peace? The reason is simple: many types of waste do not decompose for a very long time, or when decomposed they cause irreparable harm to the environment, which is why they are destroyed or processed in a special way. We present to you the decomposition times different types household waste.
1. Animal droppings - decomposition period 10-15 days
Least harmful garbage, which can be seen on the streets of small towns and villages, but it causes a lot of trouble for residents.
2. Food waste - decomposition period 30 days
Potato peelings, meat trimmings and everything that remains edible after cooking can be classified as this type of garbage. Also not that dangerous.
3. Newsprint - decomposition period 1-4 months
Before you throw the newspaper on the road, think that for another 4 whole months the residents of your yard will admire the paper trampled into the dirt.
4. Leaves, seeds, twigs - decomposition period is 3-4 months
If the parks weren't cleaned up natural debris utilities, then soon people would be walking through mountains of branches and leaves.
5. Cardboard boxes - decomposition period 3 months
It is completely harmless waste if you throw it in trash cans.
6. Office paper - decomposition period 2 years
Yes, just imagine. It's all about composition and density: paper is made precisely so that documents printed on it can be stored for a long time, which, unfortunately, does not ignore the period of its decomposition.
7. Boards - decomposition period 10 years
Ordinary boards that are used on construction sites. Of course, if they are not subject to any processing (for example, impregnation with fuel oil).
8. Iron cans - decomposition period 10 years
Like boards, cans of stewed meat or condensed milk will rot in the ground for another 10 years after you throw them under a tree in the forest.
9. Old shoes - decomposition period is 10 years
Everything here, of course, depends on the composition of the shoe and the degree of its wear, but on average, shoes made of leatherette will decompose within a tenth of a century.
10. Fragments of brick and concrete - decomposition period is 100 years
This is exactly the garbage that every development company prefers to bury under the playground in the courtyard of the house. Yes, they do this quite often. Perhaps this is justified: after all, the “Stalin” ones have already been standing for 80 years =)
11. Car batteries - decomposition period is 100 years
This kind of waste is, of course, more profitable to recycle. After all, for 1 used battery (20-25 kg) you can earn about 500 rubles.
12. Foil - decomposition period is more than 100 years
Yes, despite the fact that the thickness of the iron leaf is less than 0.5 mm, it is very strongly compressed. So don't throw away the packaging from yours. meat products on hikes.
13. Electric batteries - decomposition period 110 years
Here, not only the decomposition period plays a role, but also the harm to the environment that a lithium battery causes when it oxidizes. A lot of charitable organizations, fighting for the cleanliness of the planet, offer to save batteries so that they can later come and take them from you.
14. Rubber tires - decomposition period 120-140 years
Rubber is one of the most durable materials. Fortunately, when changing tires at a service station, most drivers leave their old ones as a gift, or for a symbolic price there. And smart service holders then hand it over for recycling.
15. Plastic bottles - decomposition period is 180-200 years
Plastic is also highly dangerous and toxic, not to mention that it is not very pleasant to look at the side of the roads strewn with empty plastic bottles from .
16. Aluminum cans - decomposition period 500 years
Almost the most dangerous garbage. It takes a long time to decompose, releases harmful substances during oxidation, and predominates on our planet.
17. Glass - decomposition period is more than 1000 years
No one knows how much of it is already packed in our holiday destinations. Just think: a millennium! At least another 12-15 generations will enjoy our fragments.
Dear readers, today main theme became our article! Did you know that decomposition time various materials in natural conditions:
Cotton - 1-5 months.
Paper - 2-5 months.
Plastic bag - about 400 years
Plastic containers, packaging - does not decompose
*about 400 years- decomposition time of one plastic bag in nature
*20 minutes- this is the average time to use one plastic bag
*60%
plastic bags do not decompose and do not burn
*60 %
waste polluting sea bottom- plastic bags
A plastic bag and the people of planet Earth!
* Approximately 6 million 300 thousand tons of garbage, most of which plastic is dumped into the world's oceans every year. The ecology of the planet is greatly disturbed due to plastic waste.
*According to the UN Committee for Nature Conservation, every year plastic waste causes the death of 1 million birds, 100 thousand marine mammals and an innumerable number of fish.
* Less than 1% of plastic is ever recycled for reuse.
* The final decomposition period of polyethylene is about 500 years. And when burned, they release harmful substances that are dangerous to nature and human health.
And the most important thing:
Almost every piece of plastic EVER produced still exists.
The temporary life of plastic packaging is extremely short; it is sent to garbage dumps. It is almost impossible to get rid of used plastic. Until recently, there were only two ways to solve the problem: burial and incineration. plastic waste. But plastic does not decompose in the soil, and when it is burned, it releases substances that are extremely toxic to humans. Penetrating into the soil, the “poison” enters the groundwater and then into the water supply.
Now let's think! For example, we visit the store 1-3 times a week. Every time we pack our purchases in free plastic bags (or even buy them). Let's do the math. It turns out that throughout the year we bring home about 160 bags, and if we also take into account those bags in which fruits, vegetables, meat (double bag), fish (double bag), pickled vegetables (double bag) are packed. It’s hard to even calculate how much cellophane and plastic each of us can use!
Let's take the average inhabitant of planet Earth at the present time. So, the average resident:
- visits stores 1-6 times a week.
- brings home from 160-300 packages throughout the year!!!
How to minimize the use of plastic packaging in our lives?
What can each of us, the inhabitants of our beautiful planet Earth, do to make our conscious contribution to solving this problem?
There are several simple steps:
1. Use reusable bags made from natural materials to visit stores and supermarkets, buy groceries and other goods! Canvas, fabric, baskets, string bags! It is both beautiful and most importantly, very convenient. You can go shopping with them an infinite number of times! 🙂
And also, using an ecological bag, you avoid using 6 plastic bags per week and 300 per year!
2. Stop using the plastic bags that come free with your grocery purchases. If we start to refuse cellophane in stores, the demand for them will fall. This means that in the near future, where demand falls, supply will also fall. And if people stop consuming, production will stop!
Example. One inhabitant of the Earth, by refusing plastic for a year, does not use 50 liters of oil, which means the number of oil developments is reduced, and the risk of polluting our nature with oil spills is reduced!
3. If you use plastic, find a way to recycle it. As we found out, other people won’t be able to do this for you anyway. It turns out that by throwing away plastic, you take responsibility for this non-recyclable garbage onto yourself.
How can you recycle plastic?
Keep using it. Go shopping with the same plastic bags, then wash and reuse.
Read materials on the Internet about how people have come up with a lot of creative crafts from cellophane, polyethylene and plastic bottles. For example, many people knit bags, baskets, bath mats, slippers and flip-flops from cellophane. From plastic bottles you can make absolutely various crafts- feeders, flowers, butterflies, etc. You can read about this in our next articles. 🙂
If you already have similar experience in recycling or recycling plastic, write to us about it! And also write in the comments how we can solve the issue of plastic packaging in our daily lives?
The ecology of life is in our hands. Thank you for your attention. Have a good day.
If you accidentally drop a bottle of water at your feet, you will breathe a sigh of relief, thinking “how good it is that scientists have invented such a practical material as plastic.” After all, if it weren’t for him, the floor would have been filled with liquid, and you risked stepping on sharp fragments.
Imagine that you went on a hike and, of course, took with you mineral water in a plastic bottle. After a few hours, all the water is used up and the unnecessary plastic can be thrown away. But here’s the problem - there’s not a single trash can around, and the thought creeps into my head: “should I throw this bottle somewhere here - sooner or later the plastic will decompose.” But a responsible and sensible person would never do that. Organic materials such as wood, when buried in soil, are quickly decomposed and turned into compost by bacteria. But when it comes to plastic, bacteria won't help with its decomposition.
It may seem like an abandoned plastic bottle will take forever to decompose, but of course this is not the case. Where bacteria won't help, it will help sunlight. Ultraviolet rays destroy the molecular structure of plastic, gradually turning the plastic bottle into a pile of small plastic shards. This process is especially noticeable in those parts of the ocean where currents collect plastic waste into huge islands from plastic bottles and plastic bags. Ecologists have noticed that if the “island” is not joined new trash, over time it begins to decrease. It has been established that under the influence of direct sun rays An ordinary plastic bottle breaks down in about a year.
Can you breathe a sigh of relief - has the problem of plastic decomposition been solved? Not at all. The harmful substances contained in plastic are not going away. Decomposed on the surface of the ocean plastic box highlights toxic substances(for example bisphenol A, which causes oncological diseases), which, sinking to the bottom, poison sea creatures, settling in their gills.
Modern civilization can no longer imagine its life without plastic bottles and bags, but the problem with pollution environment plastic needs to be addressed in as soon as possible. Most promising idea seems to be used natural products for production plastic containers. Advantages this method are obvious: plastic bag made, for example, from corn starch, will decompose in just half a month.
In the meantime, new technologies are on the way, each of us can contribute to the preservation surrounding nature. To do this, you just need to throw the plastic bottle or bag into the designated place, and not throw it away anywhere.
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If you at least sometimes pay attention to environmental problems, then you probably know the damage plastic causes to our planet. This collection contains 20 facts about plastic that will make you think even more about whether it is worth using it en masse
1. It takes about 450 years before plastic begins to decompose. After this, another 50-80 years will pass until it completely decomposes. At the current rate of production of this material, our planet will be completely covered in plastic before its decomposition begins.
2. Taking into account the decomposition period, we can say that not a single piece of plastic produced will even begin to decompose in the next 4 centuries
3. The average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. Already in 2006, this figure increased to 28.3 gallons and continues to grow rapidly
4. 40% of total plastic waste is plastic bottles
5. One more interesting fact is that 90% of the price you pay for water is the cost of plastic, while water itself costs about 10%
6. One resident of any highly developed country buys an average of 150 bottles of water per year, without paying attention to the alternative
7. 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
8. Just 25 recycled bottles are enough to produce a jacket for an adult.
9. Europeans are also not interested in recycling plastic. IN currently in Europe only 2.5 percent of total mass
10. One of the main polluters of the ocean is the fishing industry. ejecting great amount plastic waste. About 150 tons end up in the water annually, including packaging, fishing nets, and other debris
11. This garbage causes the death of many marine life, which mistake the garbage for food. The number of animals dying is in the millions. The dumping of garbage also leads to the formation of the Great Pacific Garbage Island, where currents carry all the discarded plastic
12. Over 13 billion plastic bottles are produced worldwide every year
13. A good sign is that over the past few years, plastic recycling in the United States has at least tripled; more than 1,600 enterprises are already involved in recycling
14. However, the percentage of recycled plastic in the US is only 27%, which is still the highest in the world
15. Recycling just one plastic bottle can generate sufficient quantity energy for a 60 V light bulb to glow for 6 hours
16. Recycling plastic can save up to 2/3 of the energy needed to make plastic from raw materials
17. 4 out of 5 bottles in the US are made of plastic. In other countries of the world this figure is much higher
18. Research shows that about 90% of consumers reuse plastic bags, as garbage bags or for some other purpose.
19. Storing and shipping water in plastic bottles is the least energy-efficient method, but nevertheless the most popular
20. Some countries have completely banned the use of plastic bottles. Among them are Australia, China, Austria, Bangladesh, Ireland and several other countries
Have you ever wondered how quickly the environment will turn a plastic bottle into dust? old tire or banana peel? The problem of household waste disposal is not limited to the fact that unscrupulous people throw out garbage in undesignated places, including during outdoor recreation. Those household waste, which are collected centrally and sent to landfills without sorting, cause no less harm to the planet.
It will take hundreds of years before mountains of garbage covered with soil will no longer pose a danger to the environment. We suggest you see how long it will take for the generated garbage to become part of nature.
Food waste
This category includes the most rapidly decomposing waste. Leftovers food products rot under the influence of microorganisms within 1 month. The exception is orange peel: it takes much longer for the environment to process it - from 4 to 6 months.
Paper and printed matter
Ordinary paper and cardboard decompose in 1-2 months, but books or printed products may take up to two years. The process of recycling beautiful glossy magazines takes the longest: nature will spend about 5 years to destroy them.
Clothes and shoes
Remains of clothing made from cotton, linen, bamboo fiber or viscose will be completely recycled under the influence of moisture and microorganisms in 3 years. At the same time, wool products are less stable and will take no more than 1 year to decompose. But it takes about 50 years to recycle clothes made from synthetic materials and old shoes.
Wood and boards
Wood thrown into a landfill decomposes in about 3-10 years, but wooden products coated with paints and varnishes can rot for up to 13 years.
Chewing gum
Chewing gum thrown on the ground will disappear only after 30 years. Moreover, only territories with warm temperatures fit within this optimistic period. tropical climate, where decomposition processes last all year round.
Waste batteries
Batteries and accumulators for household appliances take about 100 years to decompose in nature.
Plastic bags
How quickly did they enter our daily life, making it more comfortable and easier. Meanwhile, the decomposition time of a plastic bag cannot be compared with its short service life: it will take from 30 to 200 years.
Plastic bottles
Another scourge modern civilization. the main problem plastic recycling is that it is several times cheaper to produce a new batch of bottles than to recycle them. But plastic bottles take from 450 to 1000 years to decompose, depending on the climate and the composition of the plastic.
Aluminum cans
Aluminum is a cheap and accessible material, which is also used in the manufacture of disposable beverage containers. Unfortunately, aluminum cans will remain part of the environment for a long time: it will take 80 to 500 years for them to disappear.
Iron cans
It will take about 10 years for used cans to completely decompose.
Rubber tires
Waste tires are an integral part of the life of any motorist. It takes nature up to 100 years to process this type of waste.
Dish sponges
This convenient household item is found in every home. But we pay too much for convenience high price: Foam sponges take about 200 years to decompose.
Glass
Despite the fact that glass things are made from natural material, its decomposition period in nature can exceed 1000 years. At the same time, experts believe that glass does not completely decompose.