ABSTRACT
Waste disposal management is one of the serious problems which mankind is facing in this century. Management of solid waste is especially important with most materi-
als. Polymeric materials (plastics and rubbers) comprise a steadily increasing proportion of the municipal and industrial waste going into landfill in many countries, even though global plastics production is estimated to have fallen from 245 mt in 2008 to around 230 mt in 2009 as a result of the economic crisis. Development of technologies for reducing polymeric non-recycled waste, which are acceptable from the environmental standpoint, and which are cost-effective, has proven to be a difficult challenge due to complexities inherent in the reuse of polymers. Europa for instance has introduced several policies and regulations for plastic recovery and recycling targeted at key industrial sectors (Waste Framework Directive, 2008/98/EC). The plastics recycling rate was 21.3% in 2008, helping to drive total recovery (energy recovery and recycling) it should be enhanced to 51.3% whereas the US recycling rate was only 8% in 2010. Establishing optimal processes for the reuse/recycling of various elastomeric materials thus remains a worldwide challenge.
