Global learning assignmens.
This assignment provides a brief background on materials use and waste management. There are three topics provided. Please select one topic only.
Topic 1: Environmental challenges
Topic 2: Persistent waste materials (plastics) in the environment
Topic 3: Endangered elements
The GL assignment should be submitted via Canvas before the last class of the semester.
Select only one of the topics and discuss the issue and develop an overview of the problem as described in the Topic below. Your report should address the points as indicated, estimated of quantities, materials and other relevant information.
Please limit your report to about 4-6 pages (appendices are OK) including figures, tables, calculations, references.
Additional details for each topic are provided below:
Topic 1: Environmental challenges
Select only one of the following challenges:
Fresh water shortages
Aging infrastructure
Energy demands
Global warming
New diseases
Security
Waste management
Food production and distribution
Livable communities
- Sustainability
- Climate change and adaptation
- Resource depletion
- Discuss why you consider the selected challenge a global challenge. Provide detailed discussion of facts, and sort and long term concerns for the selected topic.
- Topic 2: Persistent waste materials (plastics) in the environment
- Decomposition characteristics of plastics in the environment depends on both the conditions in the environment and the characteristics of the polymeric material. Degradation rates of the plastics (even those with added starch) depends strongly on the type and amount of additives used. The half-life of most plastics is over 100 years in landfills or the environment.
- Select one type of plastic (PP: polypropylene, PS: polystyrene, PET: polyethylene terephthalate, LDPE: low density polyethylene, HDPE: high density polyethylene PVC: polyvinyl chloride) and discuss:
- where it is used
- how much is used and discarded
- provide preliminary calculations for use and discarding rates of the specific type of plastic
- Topic 3: Endangered elements
- With rapid growth in innovation and technology development over the past several decades, an increasing number of elements in the periodic table are now used in advanced consumer products to perform specialized functions. At the same time, with the decreasing cost and increasing availability of the consumer products and their short use cycles; there has been increasing concerns regarding the availability of some of the elements in the future. You can find the list of endangered elements here.Links to an external site.
The concerns for supply of materials and necessary elements include:
projected production quantities
available markets and projected market potential for products
changes in production or in available ore deposits in different countries
geopolitically concentrated production of materials
minimal or lack of end-of-life recycling efforts
The following periodic table has been developed by the American Chemical Society to bring awareness for the rate of utilization of some elements which are likely to be available in limited quantities.
- Select one of the endangered elements and discuss:
- where it is produced
- where it is used
production rate and consumption rate
provide preliminary calculations for people using and discarding a specific type of products where these materials are used.
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