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This chapter introduces the basic features of polymers and their additives. The main ageing and degradation phenomena, which relate to the reliability and durability of polymers, from manufacture and service, to final disposal or recovery, are reviewed. The prediction of the long-term performance of polymers is discussed. Polymers are giant molecules, or macromolecules, constructed from smaller repeating chemical units, or monomers. They are divided in two main classes: thermoplastics and thermosets. Upon heating, the properties of any polymer undergo marked changes at certain temperatures. At very low temperatures, the polymer is frozen in its glassy state, as no part of the molecules can move. For industrial purposes, where material reliability and durability is required, a large variety of substances called additives have been developed to limit the effect of processing and service conditions on the polymer. The combination of a polymer with appropriate additives creates a plastic. These additives not only prolong the life of the material in its application, but also prevent the material from degrading under the high temperatures and mechanical loads induced by processing. It has been shown that polymer properties change over time, as a result of the combined action of numerous external factors. The microscopic structure of polymers also changes over time, even in the absence of external factors. Competitive knowledge of material behavior and characterization and predictive skills for long-term performance are vital for the fulfillment of life cycle engineering strategies.

Publisher Summary Plastics waste is receiving increased attention in the environmental debate. The technology of recovery and recycling is rapidly progressing, but there is no unique solution for treating plastics waste. The strategy to apply depends on the type of material and product and on consumption patterns. Mechanical recycling, feedstock recycling, energy recovery and environmentally degradable plastics are discussed. The importance of efficient collection and separation systems, of steady material supply and quality and of available markets for revaluated material is shown. Early recycling efforts have been plagued by the high capital costs of setting up recycling plants, an irregular supply of material and the low quality of products made from recycled material, which kept recyclers from working at full capacity. The efficiency of collection and sorting structures is measured by collection costs, capture rate and purity of generated feedstock. Automated identification and separation technology is necessary to reduce the cost of recycling and enable greater volumes of waste to be processed. Reclaiming is labor intensive. The material passes through more hands and is transported longer distances than virgin material. This greatly raises the cost of producing competitive material. Each of the described collection and sorting methods has inherent strengths and weaknesses. They will most likely have to be used in combination to achieve good sorting. It remains to be seen whether the economy and energy efficiency of such systems will be competitive compared to incineration or landfill.

Life Cycle Assessment is a tool permitting the study and evaluation of emissions and environmental impacts over the entire life cycle of a product or process. The aim is to relate the environmental load to the product functional unit to assess technological improvements for reduced resource use and environmental impacts on humans and on the ecosystem. LCA is becoming a key component in the monitoring of environmental performance of products and processes as well as an element of product development and long-term strategic planning. Financial institutions are increasingly using environmental performance indicators as criteria for access to finance and insurance policies. This chapter presents a brief review of the concept of Life Cycle Assessment and its role as a decision-making tool for the plastics industry. The "SETAC LCA-Code of Practice" (1993) is followed with LCA divided into four parts, namely: goal definition and scoping, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and improvement analysis. The inventory analysis is reviewed according to the Centre of Environmental Science of the University of Leiden's guidelines on Environmental Life Cycle Assessment of Products. Special attention is paid to issues specific to polymer, with reference to the inventory analysis methodology proposed by the Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe: feedstock energy issues, open- and closed loop recycling and reuse are treated. Guidelines to aid in the analysis of LCA results are given.

The implementation of technical solutions to environment-related problems requires organizational change. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) allows companies to systematize their approach to environmental issues by identifying environmental liabilities and by improving efficiency as well as creating business opportunities. The ICC Business Charter for Sustainable Development, the British green audit Standard BS 7750, the European Community Environmental Management and Audit Scheme and the international standard series ISO 14000 are reviewed. Adhering to these standards is not free from cost, but long-term competitive advantages such as access to markets, finance and insurance as well as improved operational efficiency are likely to compensate for initial costs. Opportunities for support in the implementation of EMS for small and medium-sized companies are discussed. The implementation of such systems is not free from cost, and they demand a certain level of commitment from their participants. There are nevertheless inherent advantages of managing environmental issues in a systematized way, in terms of access to finance and insurance, but more importantly to identify potential liabilities and avoid unnecessary expenditure on clean up and noncompliance. Other reasons for adhesion to a standardized EMS are the possibility of gaining competitive advantage in international trade. The creation of national and international standards for environmental management systems is no guarantee for environmental improvement. Neither does the existence of an EMS within a company make its activities environmentally sound. The increasing adoption of environmental management systems as a core management tool will probably create a common language between companies to aid quicker learning and progress.

The preservation of non-renewable natural resources is an issue that has assumed great importance in modern society. It is now widely recognized that continued economic development should be accompanied by more appropriate use of natural resources. Just how the economy should be organized to achieve such balanced growth is at present open to a great deal of debate. Industry is under great pressure to improve its practices. The polymer industry is particularly under fire, no doubt due to the short lifespan of many plastics based consumer products, the high visibility of polymers in municipal solid waste and the rapid increase of plastics consumption. Sustainable development has been widely accepted as a viable concept for ensuring long-term survival of humankind and of other species on the planet under acceptable conditions. Sustainable growth must therefore encompass environmental, social, and economic factors and maintain a balance between them. This implies consideration of a wide range of factors in determining solutions to environmental problems. Life cycle engineering (LCE) provides a methodology of how to design, manufacture, use, maintain and recover materials and products with the aim of optimizing resource use and minimizing environmental impact. The life cycle of a product made from a polymer or from a polymer-based composite is composed of a series of distinct steps. By monitoring the value of the polymer throughout its life cycle, from the “cradle” to the “grave”, it is possible to guide improvement, the aim being to maintain the performance value of the constituent materials at as high a level as possible throughout the life cycle.

Publisher Summary This chapter presents two studies of pharmaceutical packaging and networking within the automotive industry and it illustrates how environmental requirements affect industrial activities. The directives on producer responsibility are forcing OEMs to organize the recovery and disposal of their products with the lowest possible environmental intervention. This pressure is translated down through the supplier's chain to sub-suppliers, material producers and end-of-life industries. The requirements for recycling and efforts to improve environmental performance demand organizational and technology change to retain performance and profit. The automotive and chemical industries are two of the industry sectors exposed to the hardest environmental criticism. They can turn this to their advantage by putting themselves at the forefront of environmental change. The first case study shows how an environmental strategy is disseminated from corporate level into a business sector of a medical company and how this has affected the sectors' packaging strategy. The activities presented in the second case study show the possibilities and difficulties encountered by the plastics-related industries of the automotive sub-supplier chain, as well as by the automotive producers themselves. There is still much to be done, and the discussion on priorities for environmental improvements within transport continues.