Low Environmental Impact Polymers

For most of the life of plastic, the goal has been to make it impervious to environmental effects so it will last forever. Making it cheap as well, and therefore disposable, has created a vast body of nearly eternal trash that people are starting to notice. Recent research has turned to creating limited-life polymers by tailoring their properties so that they can enter the existing natural cycle of carbon circulation. Ideally the material should be made from a recently biological source. Here scientists and engineers from industry and academia offer information to help experienced polymer practitioners take up new materials, and to introduce possible applications to designers, specifiers, end users, and waste managers. The perspectives range from the basic science through manufacturing to economic and market concerns. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR