How long does it take for waste of natural and industrial origin to decompose. Decomposition of plastic How long does it take for a plastic bag to decompose
Every day in the process of life of one person, about a kilogram of garbage is generated. Tons accumulate in cities every day household waste. How much garbage decomposes depends on what it was originally, more precisely, objects were made or produced from natural or industrial material.
Garbage is of organic and inorganic origin, and the period of its decomposition can vary from a couple of weeks to decades.
How long does it take for organic waste to completely decompose?
- organic products natural origin decompose quite quickly: animal droppings turn into valuable fertilizer in 10 days.
- Small plant residues - fallen leaves, fruits, seeds, dried grass - gradually rot, and completely turn into humus within a month, in extreme cases for next year. Therefore, it is better to use all this organic “wealth” in the fall, and use it for the benefit of your garden or even flower beds. For the decomposition of large branches, much more time is required - up to 10 years.
- Before throwing the peel from the eaten banana on the ground, you should think carefully: after all, its decomposition period can reach six months.
- Leftover food will be processed by rotting bacteria in a couple of weeks (and even faster).
- It will take about three years for clothing made from cotton, viscose, and linen to completely decompose.
- Products made of natural wool are destroyed by microorganisms in a shorter period - about a year.
- Paper waste decomposes into different dates: a regular bus ticket disappears in a month, newspapers and books in 2 years, and waxed paper in at least 5 years.
Do not burn together paper and food waste: as a result of such combustion, harmful substances are formed - dioxides.
How long do different types of garbage decompose?
Wood products, like large wood residues, decompose in up to 10 years, but much depends on what kind of treatment the wood has been subjected to. While conventional planed boards take about 4 years to decompose, lacquered or oil-painted boards take longer, over 13 years.
A convenient and widespread packaging for many food products is a jar. It takes about 10 years for an iron can to decompose completely, a tin container takes longer to decompose - up to 90 years, and an aluminum container to completely disappear from the face of the earth will take up to 500 years.
Polyethylene bags, in which most of the goods are packaged, decompose in a period of 100 to 200 years.
A cigarette butt thrown on the ground, or rather, a cigarette filter, will decay up to 3 years.
Every housewife uses sponges for washing dishes, the decomposition period of which is about two centuries.
The invention of disposable diapers has made life easier for many new mothers: there is no need for tedious washing of diapers and baby clothes. But few people know that the period of decomposition of a used diaper is about 500 years. The same, incidentally, applies to women's sanitary pads. It would be more logical to use for kids and.
Plain chewing gum in warm climatic conditions disappears in 30 years, and in the cold it can persist for hundreds of years.
As you can see waste decomposition time has a wide range, and you need to know about it, and in some cases you can give things used for their intended purpose a “second life”, for example, to make or for flowers.
And in conclusion, we can recall the statement of the American comedian George Carlin. At one of his speeches, talking about the harm caused to nature by people, he said: “The planet is not going anywhere. We'll be gone."
Thinking about environmental issues, it should be understood that we are not saving the earth, but, first of all, ourselves.
If you at least sometimes pay attention to environmental problems, then you probably know what damage plastic does to our planet. This collection contains 20 facts about plastic that will make you think even more about whether it is worth massing it.
1. It takes about 450 years for plastic to start decomposing. Thereafter, will pass 50-80 years until it completely decomposes. At the current rate of production of this material, our planet will be completely covered in plastic before it begins to decompose. 
2. Taking into account the period of decomposition, it can be said that not a single piece of plastic produced in the next 4 centuries will even begin to decompose 
3. The average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. Already in 2006 this figure rose 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 the water itself costs about 10% 
6. One resident of any of the highly developed countries buys an average of 150 bottles of water per year, while not paying attention to the alternative 
7. 24 million gallons of oil are needed to make a billion plastic bottles
8. Only 25 recycled bottles are enough to make a jacket for an adult. 
9. Europeans are also not interested in plastic recycling. Currently, only 2.5 percent of the total mass is recycled in Europe. 
10. One of the main polluters of the ocean is the fishing industry. throwing out a huge amount of plastic waste. Approximately 150 tons enter the water every year, including packaging, fishing nets, and other debris. 
11. This garbage causes the death of many marine life who mistake garbage for food. The number of animals dying is in the millions. The ejection of debris also leads to the formation of the Great Pacific Garbage Island, where currents bring all of the ejected plastic.
12. Over 13 billion plastic bottles are produced in the world every year. 
13. good sign is that over the past few years, plastic recycling in the United States has at least tripled, with more than 1,600 enterprises 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 enough energy to power a 60V light bulb 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. Studies show that about 90% of consumers reuse plastic bags, as trash bags or for some other purpose. 
19. Storing and shipping water in plastic bottles is the least energy efficient method, but still the most popular. 
20. Some countries completely ban the use of plastic bottles. Among them are Australia, China, Austria, Bangladesh, Ireland and several other countries. 
Do you know how many years plastic, paper, food waste or diapers decompose, without which it is difficult for a young mother to imagine life today? Look at these waste decomposition times and you will understand why we need to not only learn, but also reduce the consumption of products that produce waste.
Let's see how long it takes for different types of garbage to decompose. Of course, it should also be taken into account that the time of waste decomposition may depend on the conditions at the landfills.
We also recall the shocking photo project by American photographer Greg Segal, which can be viewed here to see how much waste one family produces per week.
How long does plastic decompose
Plastic products are very common in our modern life. It is estimated that every year we use about 1.6 million barrels of oil just to produce plastic water bottles. plastic waste are one of the many types of waste that take too long to decompose.
As a rule, the terms of decomposition of plastic products can reach 1 thousand years. At the same time, plastic bags, which we often use in our daily life, can decompose from 100 to 1 thousand years, and plastic bottles - from 450 years or more.
How long does a diaper decompose
How long does it take for an aluminum can to decompose?
Every minute, every day in America alone, more than 120,000 aluminum cans.
But, at the same time, so many aluminum cans are thrown out there in three months that would be enough to restore the entire American air fleet.
It will take 80-200 years for aluminum cans to decompose.
How long does glass decompose
As a rule, glass is very easy to recycle, mainly because it is made from a natural material - sand. By melting glass products, we can produce new glass.
But the shocking fact is that if glass is thrown into landfills, it will take a million years to decompose. And according to other data, glass does not decompose at all in nature.
How long does paper decompose
As a rule, the time for which paper decomposes is estimated at 2-6 weeks. But if we recycle waste paper, then we not only save a lot of space in landfills, but also save trees from being cut down.
How long does food waste decompose?
By weight, food waste is the largest waste item in American landfills. The time it takes for food waste to decompose depends on the type of food.
For example, orange peel decomposes in 6 months, and apple peels or banana peels will decompose in about one month. This is why sorting waste is so important.
How long does it take to decompose other types of garbage
Different sources give different information about how long they take. different types garbage. But the numbers don't differ much. We present them below:
- Cigarette butts - 10-12 years;
- Plastic cup - 50 years;
- Leather shoes - 25-40 years;
- Milk carton - 5 years;
- Plywood - 1-3 years;
- Painted boards - 13 years;
- Cotton gloves - 3 months;
- Cardboard - 2 months;
- Styrofoam - does not decompose;
- Nylon fabric - 30-40 years;
- Tin can - 50 years;
- Rope - 3-14 months;
- Batteries - 100 years;
- Sanitary pads - 500-800 years (they can be replaced);
- Wool clothes 1-5 years.
The increase in waste is a serious problem for mankind. The best way to cope with this problem is to avoid using products that produce waste and take more than a year to decompose.
Sourced from thebalance.com
Mother Earth and lamenting about this, it is worth mentioning one of the main reasons for the lurking danger - a long-term, in most cases accompanied by a release toxic substances. Let's jump ahead a bit and see what awaits our descendants who have decided to explore the soil profiles of urban horizons.
We remember that in nature, therefore, we will not find garbage remains of natural origin (vegetable or animal), because they decompose the fastest.
So, animal droppings(by the way, valuable) decomposes in a maximum of 10 days.
But fallen leaves, small twigs, will gradually rot, turning into a humus mass in a month or a whole season.
large branches take longer to decompose, but after a maximum of 10 years, there will be no trace left of them.
banana peel- neither less nor more, and the decomposition period is up to 6 months, so throw it under the nearest bush, with the thought: “It will rot soon!” not worth it.
The ubiquitous microorganisms are processed on average in a few weeks.
But remains of bones can lie for 5 or 6 years, but, in general, no more than 8.
Cloth from decomposes in 2-3 years without causing damage environment what can not be said about synthetic materials the period of decomposition of which is up to 40 years.
But woolen products much more because it takes only a year to “digest” them.
Decomposition timeline paper differ. So, a discarded trolleybus ticket will completely disappear from the face of the Earth in just a month. decomposes in 2-3 years, and wax paper - as much as 5 years. By the way, it is strictly forbidden to burn paper together with food, as this can result in the formation of dioxides.
Wooden crafts decompose for up to 10 years. However, the degree of wood processing plays a significant role in this process. So if ordinary boards decompose in 4 years, then covered with a layer of paint- already for 13.
The bank is one of the most popular. Do you know how long it takes for these containers, often disposable, to decay? Iron banks up to 10 years required tin- about 90, but aluminum- about 500. Only 5 centuries, nothing compared to eternity :).
What else to remember? Oh yes. Ubiquitous polyethylene. So, the decomposition time of products from this material depends on the initial density and structure. For example, ordinary thin plastic bags, in which sellers love to wrap everything so much, decompose for 100-200 years. The company they are "partners" - and containers.
A small filter carelessly thrown away cigarette butt b will slowly give up their positions, decomposing for more than 3 years.
The usual ones, which recommend housewives to change at least once a week due to the development of microorganisms, after seven days of hard work go to a well-deserved rest. True, it comes only within the next 200 years.
Every day we see abandoned bottles, leftover food, plastic bags, paper and plastic cups and other garbage on the roads, sidewalks, yards and parks that were simply left on the street.
Sometimes it seems to us that in another day it will be removed, and in the landfill it will begin to decompose. But, firstly, not everywhere the garbage is removed in a timely manner, and secondly, some garbage can decompose for thousands of years.
How long does garbage take to decompose?
Scientists have already proven that plastic bottles and bags can lie for hundreds, thousands and even millions of years and not decompose.
Here is a list of the things we throw away and how long it takes for that garbage to decompose.
Paper and food waste
2 weeks
Apple cores and other fruit leftovers.
Although this is a fairly short time to decompose, leftover food on the ground can attract unwanted "friends" such as rats.
About 1 month
Paper napkins, paper bags, newspapers, paper towels.
The time it takes these things to decompose can vary greatly, as it depends on how you got rid of that type of trash.
6 weeks
Cereal boxes, paper bags, banana peels.
Banana peel may take longer to decompose if the weather is cooler. Since the peel is designed to keep the fruit fresh, it is high in cellulose, the same material that plastic bags are made from.
Some conservationists warn that the skins of certain fruits, including banana peel may take several months to decompose. Even if the product is natural, this does not mean that it decomposes quickly.
2 to 3 months
Cardboard packaging for milk and juices and other types of cardboard.
The decomposition time of the cardboard primarily depends on its thickness. Please note that some cartons may contain chemical materials, which significantly slow down the decomposition process.
6 months
Cotton clothes and paper books.
Of all types of fabrics, cotton decomposes the fastest because it is natural. If the cotton fabric thrown into the landfill is rather thin, then in warm weather it can decompose in just a week.
1 year
Woolen clothes (sweaters, socks).
Wool is a natural product and can decompose relatively quickly. What's more, as wool decomposes, it releases soil-friendly elements such as keratins. This product cannot be called completely garbage, as it does not cause long-term harm to the environment.
2 years
Orange peel, plywood, cigarette butts (although some studies indicate that cigarette butts can take over 10 years to decompose).
Up to 5 years
Heavy clothing made of wool, such as a coat or overcoat.
Up to 20 years old
Plastic bags. But studies show that in some cases, plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
Lots of new plastic bags designed to degrade quickly when exposed to direct sunlight.
However, most plastic bags are made from high-density polyethylene. Microorganisms in the ground do not perceive the chemicals that make up the bag as food, and therefore they do not participate in its decomposition.
30-40 years old
Products containing nylon: bodysuits, windbreakers, carpets, diapers. Some scientists believe that such goods can take up to 500 years to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.
While diapers are quite comfortable, they are also quite toxic, even if you haven't used them yet. They are processed with a variety of chemicals such as toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and dipentene, as well as a chemical called dioxin, which is a highly toxic carcinogen.
Metal debris, rubber, leather
50 years
Cans, car tires, foam cups, leather.
The skin may be chemically treated (as in the case of the elements fashion clothes) and can take much longer to decompose.
The thick leather used to make shoes can take up to 80 years to decompose.
Decomposition of polyethylene
70 to 80 years old
Rustling plastic bags (from chips and packaging, for example).
Despite the fact that a person eats the contents of a bag of chips very quickly, the bags themselves decompose for a long time. For example, one US resident found an empty bag of crisps on a Devon beach, dated 1967, but the bag itself looked like it had been thrown away last week.
About 100 years
Polyethylene products.
Of course, the decomposition time depends on the density and structure of the product. For example, ordinary plastic shopping bags can take up to 100 years to decompose.
Also in the category of things that can decompose for more than a century includes plastic bottles and various plastic containers and bowls.
It is worth noting that small parts made of polyethylene can be dangerous for animals that can choke on them.
Aluminum decomposition
About 200 years
Aluminum cans (from beer or soda, for example).
In this case, everything also depends on the density of the material and its structure. In the best case, such objects decompose for 200 years, but this process can drag on for half a millennium.
It is worth noting that, like plastic products, such items are dangerous for small animals that can climb into an empty jar and get stuck in it.
Such cans can be recycled many times and this process requires much less energy than creating a new can. Using the same amount of energy, you can make 20 recycled cans or 1 new aluminum can.
Recycling aluminum cans
Plastic decomposition
