My Story

I was fidgeting in my seat in the airplane.   It was night time, but I could not sleep.   Beside me, my papa was sound asleep.   I stared outside the window.   The night sky was full of stars.   I felt like I was riding on a magic carpet ride to my new home.   Then, the memories began play right before my very eyes.I cannot forget that day when mama and papa told me that we were moving to the United States.   I had just got home from school.   They were so happy and excited about it.   I thought that I would be as well.   But instead, I was dumbfounded.   I didn’t know how to react.   Should I be happy like them?   Or should I feel sad.   I didn’t quite understand.   But then again, I have always been told that I have been that way.   After all, I was a teenager.   Aren’t all teenagers prone to conflicting and overwhelming emotions happening all at one time?I went to my room and stared blankly at the walls.   It was only then t hat it began to sink in.   I was going to America!   I felt a smile forming on my lips. America! The land of opportunity!   The country that, up to this moment, I have only seen in television and in the movies!   Finally, I would be a part of it.   I would be the envy of many of my friends.   After all, who doesn’t want to go to America and be a part of it?Then it hit me.   My friends!   Yes, they would be envious.   I would be in going to the place of awesome beaches, actors and actresses, models, fashion, everything.   But, it would also mean that I would have to bid goodbye to them.   Sure, there will be the Internet for me to e-mail them, chat with them and perhaps for a moment even see them and hear their voices.   But, it wouldn’t be the same.The laughter, the parties, the sorrows, the moments when we would just hang out and bond with each other and dream about the future and what we wanted to become, that will be all gone.   Ã‚  I felt a pang in my heart.   Already I miss them.   I wonder what they were doing now.   Already I am miles away from them.   They are probably asleep in their beds, looking forward to another day in school.   I had let out a sigh as I felt my eyelids become heavy and then slowly drifting away into slumber.The Harsh RealityFor the next few weeks, my parents and I did what every family who comes to America would do.   We visited almost every single tourist destination that we knew and go to.   We went to Disneyland, Universal Studios, Hollywood, Rodeo Drive, anywhere.   At the end of each day, my digital camera’s memory was filled up and I would send the pictures to my friends in Taiwan.   They would e-mail me telling me how lucky I was to be here in America.   How they wish they could enjoy the things that I am enjoying now.   I never mentioned it in my e-mails to them, but deep down whenever they would tell me about the parties they went to and the things that we used to do.Mama and Papa enrolled me at the University High School in Irvine.   Once again, the mixed feelings came to me.   I was excited to go to school.   I have seen in television that American teenagers are always welcoming and nice.   They would always make you feel at home.   They will accept me for me.   But I was also scared.   I only knew very little English.   I was afraid that I might be left out because I could barely talk to them.But mama and papa assured me that it was going to be okay.   I have always been able to make friends easily in Taiwan.   So, it won’t be that difficult for me to be able to make new friends and things would be like back in Taiwan.   It would just take some getting used to.   I would be able to adapt to school in no time.   After all, there are a lot of Asians here in California.   As I neared my school, I felt butterflies in my stomach fluttering all over the place.   Here goes nothing, I said to myself .As I walked through the school grounds, everyone seemed to have known each other for a very long time.   On every side of the walkway, there were groups of girls and boys chattering and laughing.   As I passed them, some of the boys began to stare at me and point at me.   Their gaze made me feel so awkward.   Why were they looking at me that way? I wondered.   I concentrated my eyes to the concrete ground I was walking on.   Yet, their gaze seemed to be bearing down on me.   Then I heard the bell ring.Everyone began to make their way towards the long corridors and through the classrooms.   I felt a couple of people bump me as they ran passed.   It made me feel more awkward.   Did they bump me on purpose or because they were just hurrying to class?   I didn’t know.   I tried myself to believe that they were just in a rush that was why they bumped into me.   Americans are very much into equality and they have always been nice.   But something inside me was telling me otherwise.Then the reality came in when in my first class.   I was asked to introduce myself.   I stood in front of class and introduced myself.   As I did, I noticed some of the boys were snickering from the back of the room.   Others were looking at each other smiling at each other.   I was trembling.   I could not go back to my seat any faster than I wanted to.   Again, the feeling of eyes bearing down my neck came back.   I felt that I just wanted to disappear.   Every class it was the same.   When I got home, mama asked me how did my day went.   She looked so happy.   I didn’t want to tell her.   All I just said was it went okay, and I headed to my room.Over the next few weeks, things just went from bad to worse.   Some of them would mimic how I talk and those who would watch will burst out into laughter.   In times that some would try to talk to me, I thought that things would get better.   But when they did, they spoke to me mimicking my accent and would walk away, laughing.   It became harder and harder for me to go to school and having to face all of these.   I felt angry and ashamed of myself because I was different.   I knew that they were mocking me because I was different and that I could not speak English that well.I began to regret coming to America.   Why did we have to leave Taiwan?   If we just stayed, I would not have to go through this.   I began to long for my friends who were halfway around the world.   How I wish they were here with me.   They would have comforted me and would be there for me as I go through each and every single day of torment.In dinner, my papa asked me how did my day go.   It was then that I exploded.   I told them I did not like it here.   I wanted to go back home to Taiwan and stormed out of my room.The Turning PointShortly, after my outburst, my mama came into my room.   She sat beside me.   She placed her hand on my shoulder.  Ã¢ €Å"Son,† she said, softly in our native language, â€Å"I know you are having a hard time fitting in, even if you had never spoken about it.   But, you have to be strong.   Many people in Taiwan would do anything to be where we are now.   You can overcome this, my son.   We are here to support you.   Believe in yourself that you can do it.   If you give up, then the battle is completely lost without you trying.†Ã‚   With that, she left the room and me with my thoughts.Looking back, what she told me had been the turning point of my life.   I began to learn English on my own.   I tried my best to excel in class and I did.   Slowly, the boys and girls who used to taunt me began to talk to me and began to invite me to seat with them during lunch.   I even developed friendships with a few of them.People have always said that it is in college when you will have a taste of the real world.   In my case, I had my taste when I was in college.   I learned that the world can be a tough, cruel world to live in.   People will mock you and taunt you and criticize you because of the color of your skin, or because you talk differently.   The experiences I had gone through in high school had made me stronger, and it had taught me a valuable lesson.   For as long as I believe in myself, I can accomplish anything.   As I continue my road towards my desired career, I would never forget the lessons I had learned about myself in high school.   It is not what only makes me unique.   It has also made me more prepared for whatever the future has in store.

Leadership Management with Organizational Diversity Essay

In today’s global market and corporate economy, the importance of understanding the power of cultural diversification within the workplace is very important. The ability to interchange and collaborate on set goals and objectives facilitates the process of attaining such goals at high performance level. With the influx of several cultures into the corporate world, it is important for managers to analyze, learn, adapt, and exemplify how a diverse work system must function. In post modern time, the organizational behavior behind getting a task done was generally focused on the individual critical thinking working method, but with increasing competency in the market, the need to accept the team process of completing a task has become evident. Transitioning from the standard individual workplace and into a diverse one is difficult especially on societies with a hardship in adaptability and those with a strong traditional belief. The acceptance of diversity is something that must me learned and understood taking into consideration ones surroundings and behavior influences. As a child, a person’s understanding on what culture similarities and differences are solely depends on his/hers family, friends, peers, literature, media, and etc. Learning to embrace diversity is hard but not impossible; in every society there are always difficulties in accepting other groups of people that don’t comply with the existent group’s way of life, and this is when the ability to accept and embrace play a role. Having the knowledge on how to perceive situations and surroundings is ones defensive mechanism that allows a person to know what to do in a certain situation. When faced with the unexpected, this knowledge based perception becomes what is known as bias. According to a research article, â€Å"Our biases serve as filtering lenses that allow us to make sense of new information and experiences based on what we already know (Nadler, 1997). This bias can sometimes be of positive nature giving an individual the ability to adapt and tell right from wrong, but sometimes bias can also form a negative perception of people based on sole belief crating ignorance, prejudice, and/or stereotype. Development of accepting diversity in a workplace is sometimes difficult and takes time to adapt since everyone comes from different backgrounds. This is something that cannot be acquired or pressured on people in short notices or time constraints, such as development classes or short group sessions. Management in a work environment must use techniques of group encouragement and cooperative training to allow everyone to understand and exemplify each other’s strengths and abilities. Examples of such techniques can be: * Developing an atmosphere that is safe for all employees to ask for help. People should not be viewed as weak if they ask for help. This is what helps to build great teams — joining weakness with strengths to get the goal accomplished. * Actively seeking information from people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. Also, including everyone on the problem solving and decision making process. * Including people who different than you in informal gatherings such as lunch, coffee breaks, and spur of the moment meetings. * Creating a team spirit where every member feels a part of (Nadler, 1997). Human Resource Development (HRD) is the process in which the department of human resource is recognizing certain qualities and attributes individuals possess when handling new entrants in hiring or promoting. Having the ability to recognize what abilities individuals have, better allocates certain individuals with others to form a high performance team. By working jointly to train and collaborate with supervisors and management will assist in better teaching individuals the correct way of completing a task or job process. The development of what is known as â€Å"soft skills† such as diversity, communications, and social networking skills will promote a better work system and decrease employee turnover. The key is to promote job likeness and positive attitude with employees for a positive organizational result. Along with a focused human resource development initiative, organizations must understand the importance of the internal and external factors that make up the entire success. Internally, organizations must take into consideration the behavioral influence its people incorporate into every day operations in regards to its long term gains. What influences the behavior of these individuals is the type of culture the organization has. Culture is defined as, â€Å"the aggregate of beliefs, norms, attitude, values, assumptions, and ways of doing things that is shared by members of an organization and taught to new members† (2010, p. 370). This definition of culture best describes how an organization is built and how it functions on everyday operations led by individuals with a strategy of positive leading. According to authors Lussier and Achua, â€Å"all organizations have a culture, whether they acknowledge it or not. Every organization has a culture, distinguished by its own beliefs and approaches to problem solving and decision making. An organization’s culture is manifested in the values, norms, and expectations that leaders preach and practice, in its employee’s attitudes and behavior, in ethical standards and policies†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2010, p. 370). The importance of leaders to understand the type of culture that his/her organization has is important to continue a process of strong work ethics, team effort, and skill development. In leadership studies, there is a power of culture that defines how well an organization can create and internal unity of its people, and also how well it adapts to its external environment in areas of sustainability and consumer/competitive preferences. The cultural power of internal unity generally describes how management supports the organization’s vision, mission, goals, and strategy. Having a strong internal normative order can change the workforce into a creative one where individuals come together to share and develop new innovative ideas that will benefit the entire organization. It is important that management encourages its employees in a positive way by using motivational and identification tools, to increase individual desire and interest in his/her job to increase performance while also taking into consideration each and every single employee. While it is important to motivate employees to like their job, having rules and certain guidelines also promotes social control by setting certain requirement to maintain a safe and secure working environment. The external adaptation of cultural power describes the impact of outside influences such as consumer preferences towards the organizations product, or environmental awareness that must be taken into thought to reduce its negative impact on sustainability. Example of an organization who takes into consideration an external analysis is Southwest Airlines who ranks the highest in competitiveness within its market, taking into account the importance of customer preferences in keeping affordable price levels, consumer loyalty through programs of frequent flyer, and employee needs in both financial and health needs. Table 1.1 displays the total rating amount Southwest Airlines received against its competitors American and United Airlines. Along with a strong power of culture within an organization or group, the ability to acquire certain characteristics of performance to increase production or service is important. There are two types of performance ratings in organizational culture; one is a high performance mark that identifies an optimum group of individuals working together towards a similar goal or objective and one with a low performance mark indicating a lack of agreement with individuals with a strong concern for self-interest different from the general census. Low-performing organizations have four major characteristics of poor quality; these include insular thinking, resistance to change, politicized internal environment, and unhealthy promotions. Examples of organizations with an insular method of thinking are those with upper level management who believe and dictate what decisions to make based on their own knowledge and concern. This type of business strategy is ineffective since cooperative group decision making is not used, causing a decline in operational performance. Managers who always think their right, demotes interest and desire for individuals to work. This thinking method is evident in businesses where upper level management does not receive or disregards information channeled through operational levels of production. The organizations that are resistant to any changes in strategies or techniques are generally those that have continuously followed set guidelines and norms for long periods of time. This type of continuous and repetitive process categorizes this performance culture as low. Having the same type of methods of completing a work process makes the job more concerned with keeping one’s position rather than expanding and seeking innovations. Businesses that follow this type of performance rank low since adaptability with external changes becomes difficult causing a negative impact to organizational success. Similarly, a highly internal politicized organization suffers from the lack of culture and team sharing when it comes to decision and critical thinking. Powerful leaders or executives tend to make the decisions and instruct followers on what to do next; followers simply agree to avoid reprimand or disapproval. Last, the use of negligent promotions from management places unskilled personnel in top level positions where strategic thinking is required. Having someone in the decision making spot without having the sufficient amount of knowledge or training, jeopardizes the entire operation and success of the overall organizational purpose. The opposite of a low-performing culture in an organization is one who is highly recognized for team development and value sharing within all levels of operations and management. An organization with a highly valued purpose and mission is usually accepted by its followers who share its similar views and thoughts. High performance organizations tend to also encourage communication between management and employees to sustain a strong culture to assure everyone is on the same path following the same values. A direct description of a standard high performing cultural organization is described as, â€Å"a culture of discipline-where everyone is responsible to the values of the company, to its standards, and to the purposes it serves† (2010, p. 375). The characteristics that identify a strong performing culture is one with reinforcement tools, intensely oriented people, oriented results, and a major emphasis on achievement and excellence. Examples of such reinforcement tools include the use of slogans and ceremonies, in which the organization shares its values with its employees. Having such a tool makes much feasible the entry of new employees by directly displaying the core values and meaning. By being people oriented the organization exemplifies the importance of being a democratic business rather than an autocratic one where a single management official makes all the decisions. Individuals, who work in organizations where they are treated with respect and acknowledged for their contribution, tend to become more committed and hold their positions for longer periods of time. Setting goal markers and rewarding individuals based on total outcome versus the set marker improves individual desire to continue working at their best attainable performance or better. It is determined that what influences an organization’s culture is the impact that the external environment has on the overall behavior of employees or followers. There are four distinct types of cultures that have been developed taking into account the organizational strategic focus along with the external turbulence. A competitive culture is one that represents a leader that encourages and values a highly competitive work network (2010, p. 385), in this kind of organizational environment the need to always be on top of the market is intense. Being competitive is a must to avoid falling back in face of competitors that may produce similar products and drive one’s profitability down. Leaders in upper level management tend to create certain goal marks to promote his or her employees to work harder in return for profit gains and revenue increases; this type of working environment allows everyone to challenge themselves against the skills of others. Companies that exemplify competitiveness in the market include Pepsi Co. and Coca-Cola, Wing-House and Hooter’s, Dominoes’ and Papa John’s, etc. These companies are constantly monitoring each other in order to sustain greater performance than the other. Cooperative culture is when an organization represents a leadership belief in strong, mutually reinforcing exchanges and linkages between employees and departments (2010, p. 384). This type of organization tends to allows for employees to take on the task of decision making and developing ideas that can be advantageous to the overall performance. Management encourages relationship building between co-workers in order to increase skill and knowledge sharing in hopes of creating innovations. In today’s market with the constant change of diverse work groups, this type of cultural development is highly regarded and implemented. The adaptive culture is one that represents a belief in active monitoring of the external environment for emerging opportunities and threats (2010, p. 384). Organizations that lean on becoming adaptive are the ones that bare risks in changing and implementing their procedures based on what the external environment is doing. Acknowledging the changes in consumer preferences and taking the time to research and engage in changing the overall method of operation is an example of an adaptive culture. Last, the bureaucratic culture is formed when a leader values order, stability, status and efficiency (2010, p. 385). In contrast to the adaptive culture, the bureaucratic culture is structured to follow a set form of guidelines and policies. This kind of culture will strive to maintain stability within its operations without any consideration to changes or innovations. What keeps these organizations operational is stability and repetitiveness; however, with constant changing external factors such as economic welfare and global sustainability, many organizations have to divert from this path and become one who encourages flexibility and change. Having a diverse culture in an organization is difficult especially when differences in making decisions and completing task vary from person to person. According to a global research program intended to describe the dimensions and framework of cultural differences, it describes sets of values different individuals appreciate varying from one region of the world to another. One behavioral factor is individualism within oneself, this is defined as a psychological state in which people see themselves first as individuals and believe their own interest and values are primary. This kind of individual does not promote collaborative thinking or relationship building at the workplace, while it still may be present, the percentage is low. Nations that hold high individualistic organizations are those that promote individual achievement; everyone has the ability to strive towards something for themselves. Countries such as The Unites States, Great Britain, and Canada represent a majority of individualism in organizations. The opposite is collectivism; this kind of organizational behavior describes a collective and team effort workplace, where everyone is responsible for a groups success. Organizations that are considered collective form group work sessions and team goals that encourage everyone to help each other out. In the case of failure, the loss is distributed among everyone; nobody is left to themselves. Nations that revolve around a collective environment include Greece, Japan, and Mexico. Another dimension in global culture is the level of masculinity and femininity within the organization. This type of influence does not necessarily have to do with gender or percentage of upper level management of different gender. Having a high level of masculinity generally describes the behavioral tendencies of being assertive and competitive. The exact definition of masculinity is a culture that emphasizes on assertiveness and a competitive drive form money and material objects (2010, p. 392). What this states is that organizations that have a masculine tendency are those that strive to be the best; the organization must compete against others and win. Having a drive for money and material objects describes the need to accomplish a goal or purpose to receive valuable results. Studies indicate that nations that display such masculinity in business and organizations are Japan and Italy. On the other side of the spectrum, femininity is described as a culture that emphasizes developing and nurturing personal relationships and a high quality of life (2010, p. 392). This kind of influence in organizations tends to focus majorly on the best interest of others, rather than being competitive. These organizations have more concern on providing quality to the market, offering emotional along with physical well being. Nations that are considered to preserve feministic views are Sweden and Denmark. Organizational diversity is mainly considered as a type of culture that must be embraced in order to utilize the most of human resource which provide new insights to developing and promoting a consumer product that may be demanded. Embracing diversity is advantageous to organizations by opening new doors to marketing strategies that retain longer relationships with consumers. Having different view on product development allows for flexibility and the sharing of ideas. It also has a tendency to retain talent within the organization; this is true since many individuals view diversity in a workplace as a plus and comfort zone where they can express themselves. Members who feel comfortable in their workplace working alongside others who may have similar thoughts or cultural preferences will most likely stay longer. Absenteeism on site would decrease tremendously and the amount of resignation would also decrease with long-term members due to diversity encouragement. This is cost beneficial since high turnover of employees imposes costs to the organization, and having long term members increase job satisfaction which results in better quality and overall gains. The support of diversity also allows for members to interact with one another to form innovative methods of working forming cost saving and even better output products. However, with the positive outcomes of embracing diversity there are several negative downsides if not assessed or managed correctly. Having a very diverse culture may pose a chance or competitiveness or unwillingness to work from employees. Some may view the presence of another person from a completely different background as offensive or threat. It is important to acknowledge what members do and how to assess everybody’s differences and values. Communication can sometimes be blocked due to lack of communication skills, and differences of perception. The sender of a message may want to say something, but due to differences in culture, the receiver may decode the entire message incorrectly. It is important for leader to train employees on how to communicate messages and understand the appropriate language and expressions that can be used in the professional organizational environment. While achieving organizational diversity, leaders are constantly challenged with obstacles that make it difficult for them to organize a group of people with different backgrounds. It may not be impossible but may sometimes pose risks of having conflict within the workplace. One of these obstacles are individuals who are prejudice against others; prejudice is the tendency to form an adverse opinion without just cause about people who are different from the mainstream in terms of their gender, race, ethnicity, or any other definable characteristics (2010, p. 398). Examples of prejudice occurrences in an organization can be the standard image or perception that management or production work is strictly a male’s job. Traditionally many women are pushed away from receiving equal rights as men in the workplace, but are now evolving into the new images of corporate management. There has been a drastic change in the amount of women in the workplace due to the external environment cha nging the way society lives. Another example of prejudice is discriminating against another person based on their ethnicity or cultural background. Many organizations are fighting against having levels of privileges and opportunities solely for a single group of people. The development of social-cultural group awareness and support associations from organizations has made available several opportunities for all types of peoples. A great example of an organization striving towards equality is Southwest Airlines personal websites created to promote and support several group of people of different race, sex, religion, and culture. This demonstrates that their corporate image stands behind their mission of providing everyone the same privileges and rights as everyone else. Having an understanding of organizational behavior and cultural makeup will enable managers to become better leaders. By analyzing the several characteristic each person within the organization holds will allow for managers to know how to confront that person’s needs and work with them to increase job satisfaction and performance. References Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership Behavior and Motivation. In R. N. Lussier, & C. F. Achua, Leadership (pp. 70-101). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Nadler, L. (1997, August 13). Leadership and Developing Diversity. Retrieved February 13, 2012, from Big Dog & Little Dog ‘s Performance Juxtaposition: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/diverse.html

The Variety Of Plastic Wastes Plastics Environmental Sciences Essay

1. IntroductionRecycling of plastic discards is one method of cut downing municipal solid waste. They are get downing to fall in glass, steel, aluminium and paper as waste watercourse constituents that have been accepted into recycling plans across the state. It is hard, nevertheless, to spread out post-consumer plastics recycling beyond the easy recognized milk jugs and sodium carbonate bottles for proficient, economic and societal grounds: The assortment of plastic wastes Plastics in municipal solid waste are a really heterogenous aggregation of stuffs that encompass non merely a wide scope of types made from a individual rosin, but besides an increasing figure of points that include a blend of rosins, either automatically or chemically bonded together. The assortments are made to boot diverse through the usage of plastic additives to give specific merchandise qualities. The trouble of screening plastic rosins It is technically hard to obtain comparatively pure rosins from assorted plastics collected for recycling. Commercially demonstrated separation engineerings are about entirely limited to procedures that separate polyethylene terephthalate ( PET ) and high denseness polythene ( HDPE ) . Low denseness of post-consumer plastics wastes Plastics occupy a high volume/weight ratio compared to other reclaimable components in MSW, and this adversely affects the practicality and economic sciences of plastics aggregation in a recycling plan. Landfill recreation rates are measured on a weight footing and the weight urban sprawl of plastics to MSW is comparatively little ( even though the landfill volume occupied by plastics is big ) . The big volume occupied by plastics in a recycling truck can displace the ability to roll up other â€Å" heavier † recyclables. Limited history of plastics recycling for many plastics recycling options. Merely limited informations exist from which to generalize costs, engagement rates, technological or institutional barriers, and other factors which affect long-run viability. However, in order to spread out the recovery and recycling of plastics and diminish the sum of waste disposed in landfills, it will be necessary to get the better of these troubles. Because of its heterogenous nature and the sum of contaminations present separation of post-consumer assorted plastic waste is the most hard. Waste plastics from industrial operations are cleaner and more homogenous in rosin type and bit signifier than postconsumer plastics. The term â€Å" assorted plastics † has been used to depict wide graduated table processing of post-consumer plastic waste, although no formal definition yet exists. In its broadest sense, assorted plastics means a aggregation of a mixture of plastic rosins or a mixture of package/product types which may or may non be the same plastic type or colour class, and may non hold been fabricated utilizing the same fabrication techniques. While it is possible to market recycled assorted plastic waste with limited separation, greater value and broader applications are achieved with homogenous rosins. Although it is possible to blend different types of polymers together, the ensuing physical belongingss are less desirable than those of the original constituents. General schemes for the separation of assorted plastics ( and hence schemes for increased recycling of plastics ) , with their several advantages and disadvantages are shown in Table below. Technological research sing big scale separation of assorted fictile waste watercourses is being conducted, but some of it is far from commercial application. Governmental ordinances sing standardisation for merchandise applications and sortation would most probably non hold widespread credence. The staying two attacks, â€Å" Manual separation by consumer or aggregation bureau † and â€Å" Collection focused on specific rosin or container type, † are presently in usage. They are limited due to the cost of manual labour and a more narrowly defined plastic type, but have the potency for application to wider scopes of plastics than is presently collected by most recycling plans. The intent of this study is to place methods used for plastics aggregation, fictile aggregation composings and coevals rates, plan costs, processing and terminal market usage of assorted plastics in recycling.Advantages and Disadvantages of Alternative Strategies to Allow Separation ofResin Types from Mixed Recyclable PlasticsScheme Advantages Disadvantages Separation after compression or tear uping Convenience to consumers ; does non necessitate consumers to divide wastes Minimizes sorting, storage and transit demands for roll uping bureaus Allows aggregation schemes capturing big volume and Presently non possible to divide into homogenous rosins after tear uping Shreding outputs assorted plastics non conformable to treating into merchandises displacing virgin rosins Container labeling and automated separation Convenience to consumers ; does non necessitate consumers separate wastes Promises to let separation into homogenous watercourses Minimizes work force demands required for screening Technology non presently in topographic point May necessitate a centralised storage and separation installation with associated costs Manual separation by consumer or aggregation bureau Simple engineering Convenience to consumers if roll uping bureau performs separation Allows aggregation schemes capturing big volumes of MSW plastics Potentially prohibitory work force demands May necessitate big storage and transit installations Inconvenience to consumers if they are required to execute separationPlastics in Municipal Solid WasteRecycling of the plastics has the potency for cut downing the waste watercourse and widening the life of landfills. Currently plastics make up an estimated 9 % by weight and 20 % by volume of landfill discards [ U.S. EPA, 1990b ] , and most of it ( 83 % ) is the six thermoplastics. The wide designation of disposal paths and types of plastic disposed in MSW landfills on a national footing has been performed by Franklin Associates in a survey for the Council for Solid Waste Solutions ( CSWS ) , a plan of SPI, which is supported by major petrochemical and, polymer production companies. The survey examined the disposal paths of the 15 largest rosins produced harmonizing to 1988 gross revenues and identified which were disposed in MSW and which were. non disposed in MSW. Non MSW disposed wastes included industrial waste, building and destruction dust, sludge and incinerator residues. There is a deficiency of documented information sing disposal paths of specific plastics and therefore a significant part of the research was based on communicating with industry makers and rosin manufacturers. The information show that for the most portion disposal of specific rosins is via either MSW or non-MSW methods of disposal ( instead than both ) and that PVC is the lone rosin o f the taking six that is non disposed preponderantly through MSW. Overall, the analysis shows that 61 % of plastics are disposed in the MSW watercourse and 39 % in the non-MSW watercourse. Residences were identified as the primary beginning of plastics in the MSW watercourse, consisting 60 % of the plastics disposed, followed by the commercial sector lending 25 % and the institutional sector lending 15 % . The finding as to what plastic merchandises could be apportioned to the three classs of residential, commercial and institutional waste was based on market gross revenues information, grouping of merchandise types, and premises on the pan of the undertaking squad as to where terminal usage of the fictile merchandise would probably happen.Plastics Recycling TechnologyWhile there is overlap among the above classs, the list progressively includes more plastic/product types from top to bottom. Near the underside of the list, the demand to place specific plastic by merchandise type bec omes less necessary. Some recycling proms which are in the center of the above list ( e.g. detergent and bleach bottle class, all fictile bottle classs ) have lengthy designation /instruction sheets for the householder in order to prevent aggregation of specific containers which are non blow molded or which contain hard to clean merchandises such as oil containers. The drawn-out direction demands can take to non-participation because of householder attempt and confusion. Confusion tins besides Load to participants lodging all plastics ‘gust to play it safe. † A less confusing attack would be to roll up all It1 and # 2 bottles, all plastic bottles, or all RIG, since it has been shown that even a narrowly drained fictile watercourse ( such as fictile drink bottles ) consequences in a important part ( & gt ; O % ) of the plastic deposited non being what was asked for.Word picture, Generation and Collection of PlasticsWhen sing plastics for inclusion in a recycling plan, the inquiries of â€Å" How much plastic is in MSW? † and â€Å" How much plastic has been captured in bing recycling plans? † semen to mind. These inquiries are even more prevailing when assorted plastics aggregation is being contemplated. As may be expected, there are few recycling plans which presently collect more than HDPE bottles and PET bottles, and there are even fewer that collect movie plastic in add-on to rigid fictile containers. While coevals rates have been developed for milk jugs and sodium carbonate bottles based on aggregation informations, there is small aggregation informations for extra plastics. This subdivision of the research attempts to supply word picture and coevals informations from surveies and plans affecting multiple plastics. Many of the municipalities discussed in this chapter were either participants in pilot assorted plastics recycling surveies or received public support to carry on research on an facet of curbside recycling aggregation. The informations shown can be used in initial planning for gauging measures involved in plastics recycling aggregation and for gauging non-specified plastic and non-plastic contaminations. They can besides be compared to the experiences of other municipalities which have conducted signifiers of assorted plastics recycling. It should be noted that while fictile coevals and composing informations are presented from national and local surveies, it does non replace the demand for such an attempt in a community ‘s solid waste appraisal.Assorted Plastics in Recycling ProgramsWhile per centum of plastics in the waste watercourse has been studied in a figure of locations, less information is available on the type of plastics collected in recycling plans bespeaking assort ed plastics. Each recycling plan is alone in its word picture. Most fictile curbside aggregation is commingled with other recyclables and sorted at a MRF. Curbside aggregation across the state has merely late started to include fictile containers, and even so most aggregations are PET and HDPE drink bottles.Plastics Recycling ProgramsCurbside recycling is turning at a enormous rate. In 1989, it was estimated that 9 million U.S. families were portion of curbside recycling plans and that 20 % collected some type of plastic. In 1990, approximately 40 million people ( approximately 14 million families ) were participants in curbside recycling [ Glenn, 19901. By 1992, 20 % of all U.S. families ( 16 million families ) are expected to hold curbside recycling and 180-330 million lbs of plastic will be recycled yearly [ COPPE ] .Curbside Collection of Plastics in IllinoisAs of August 1990, about 110 municipalities conducted curbside aggregation of recyclables in Illinois. It is estimated tha t 600,000 families will be served by curbside recycling by the terminal of 1990 [ Feamcombe, 19901. A reappraisal of these municipalities indicates 43 collect some type of post-consumer plastic impacting a sum of 221,000 abodes. This represents a dramatic addition since 1987, when merely a few communities collected plastics. Curbside plastic recycling engagement in Illinois can be one of three types: plans which collect a signifier of assorted plastic, those which collect merely PET and natural HDPE drink bottles, and those which collect merely natural HDPE bottles. Approximately 22 municipalities ( 87,500 abodes ) collect a signifier of assorted plastics, 5 municipalities ( 27,600 abodes ) collect PET and natural HDPE drink bottles and 16 municipalities ( 106,100 abodes ) collect natural HDPE bottles. The assorted plastics curbside aggregators, for the most portion, collect blow molded colored and natural HDPE and PET bottles. The â€Å" Plastics Collected † efforts to describe every bit accurately as possible the plastics requested of occupants. The Naperville Area Recycling Center ( NARC ) is the widest ranging assorted plastic recycling plan ; to boot roll uping PS and LDPE 6- battalion rings as portion of trial plans for Amoco and Illinois Tool Works, severally.Film /Rigid Plastics RecyclingA figure of countries, particularly on the E seashore, am now roll uping RPCs. Some are pilot plans in trial countries and others are to the full implemented. Large fictile processors such as Wellman ( Allentown, PA ) , Waste Management ( Oak Brook, IL ) , Day Products ( Bridgeport, NJ ) and Union Carbide ( Pistacaway, NJ ) are be aftering big graduated table RPC curbside aggregation and processing in the following few old ages. The most locally noteworthy plans are the Chicago Park District Plastics-on-Parks slump plan which accepts RPCs, and the curbside aggregation of stiff plastics in Akron, Ohio. A few r ecycling plans are roll uping any rigid/film plastic. Most of these are located in close propinquity to a fictile timber maker which accepts assorted plastic movie or commingled bales. This includes communities around Toronto, Ontario, on Long Island, New York, in cardinal Michigan and in northwesterly Iowa. Milwaukee, Wisconsin started roll uping any type of plastic with an SPI l-7 label in August, 1990 from a 5,147 abode pilot country and has expanded since. The metropolis besides collects HDPE milk bottles and other recyclables from 40,000 extra families as portion of its established curbside recycling plan. Waste fictile part from the pilot country has been swung The metropolis uses semi-automated side lading trucks with partial commingled aggregation. Newspaper, composition board and magazines are emptied into a bin offprint from other recyclables. Material is sorted out on a conveyer belt at a MRF with manual picking Stationss. HDPE, PET and PVC are picked out and baled and the staying plastics are baled commingled. Per capita coevals and the cost of adding assorted plastic aggregation have non been estimated. There have been pilot RPCXilm aggregation plans with hapless consequences due to extended ( wasteful ) screening necessary at a stuffs recovery installation ( MRF ) to fix stuff for market and due to nutrient taint. One such plan, conducted in the Portland metropolitan country in 1990, had high sums of nutrient and residue taint which resulted in the landfilling of big sums of movie and containers. There was besides a big cull rate ( 30 % ) due to unacceptable stuffs, e.g. gum elastic hosieries, family medical waste. Consumers reported trouble in holding to believe it was necessary to screen out all plastics at a MRF to obtain any market monetary value. Resident instruction as a cardinal component, including cleansing and proper readying of reclaimable plastic, was stressed multiple times as a solution to deciding the job. Although occupants were asked to alter forms in update mailings, participants from the beginning of the plan did small to alter their forms. The sortation company take parting in the pilot indicated that the types of plastic to be collected should hold been more limited. A six month pilot aggregation of assorted plastics was conducted on 4,500 families between November, 1989 and April, 1989, in Seattle, Washington. The plan, which included aggregation of movie and plastic negligees in add-on to more normally, collected plastics, allowed the following plastics to be disposed in curbside aggregation as described by the Mailer to participant householders:ContainersPop and H2O bottles Milk and juice jugs Dishwashing soap bottlesPlastic bagsGrocery store bags ( produce & amp ; check-out procedure sort ) Food bags ( staff of life, Zea mays everta, cereal, etc. ) Rubbish can linersRecycling CostssIt is hard to turn to the cost of fictile aggregation and processing without including other recyclables as good. How efficaciously plastics can be added to a recycling plan depends on the current aggregation system and the flexibleness of it. It is necessary to measure these issues in order to place the best method for run intoing recycling ends and for supplying an indicant of capital and operating budget outgos. Because there are big fluctuations between degrees of recycling, it is about ever necessary to analyze recycling plan costs on a individual footing. Presented in this chapter is a cost estimation of curbside recycling options for the City of Madison, Wisconsin and an estimation of the cost of & A ; & A ; g differing degrees of plastics aggregation to bing curbside aggregation plans in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota country. Each is of import because they examine a figure of options, thereby supplying a scope of values based on the options, and because their estimations include the use of bing equipment, the demand for capital purchases is minimized. Besides presented are costs which may be expected for treating plastics ( baling, screening, crunching ) at a material recovery installation, and computing machine methods for gauging and optimising recycling costs.Recycling Program VariablesBecause curbside pickup achieves the highest recovery rates, cost effectivity of recycling was evaluated utilizing curbside aggregation. The undermentioned variables affect curbside or slump aggregation costs: Recyclables collected Method of screening ( curbside versus MRP ) Families in the service country Household engagement rate Collection period set out rate Collection frequence Part of recyclables separated by the householder for recycling ( termed gaining control rate ) Generation per individual or family Travel clip between families Time required per halt Travel clip to dump Time at the processing centre Cost of forces and equipment Forces per truck Market monetary values of recyclables Cost to process/Level of marketability Transporting cost Cost turning away of landfill recreation4.2 Recycling CostssAlthough there is a societal desire to recycle, the current monetary value of landfill infinite in some countries has non yet offset the cost of curbside aggregation of recyclables. Recycling in Illinois is by and large paid for on a per family footing. The cost of recycling may be expected to add lO-25 % to the cost of bing garbage disposal. This translates into an extra cost of $ l- $ 2.50 per month per family, either paid by a municipality through, general/taxpayer financess or straight included on householder measures.4.3 Collection TimessThe clip it takes to roll up recyclables has a direct impact on the economic sciences of curbside aggregation. Discussed below are some field measurings of aggregation times utilizing changing aggregation methods. Assuming aggregation methods are similar, the aggregation times shown can be used for measuring curbside aggregation of plastics and curbside recycling in general. The Madison, Wisconsin pilot, which collected recyclables commingled in clear plastic bags, recorded the aggregation melodies. The mean aggregation clip for all four aggregation trucks utilized is about 1 minute per halt. This does non include dumping clip, break clip, and other clip spent non related to aggregation, but does include clip driving to and from the aggregation paths. No separation of stuffs was performed at curbside. 4.4 Recycling Truck Costs and Truck Collection Method for Plastics Collection vehicles are frequently the largest capital disbursal associated with curbside recycling. There are three general manners available for recycling: unfastened top trucks, closed organic structure trucks and dawdlers. Dawdlers, which contain bins that may be individual, segmented or removable, arc normally chosen for recycling, Depending on the application, there may be disadvantages with a dawdler due to manoeuvrability or capacity. Open top trucks have an unfastened top and are typically loaded through a series of doors along the side of the truck, which can skid up as a compartment fills. Closed organic structure trucks have an enclosed, partitioned aggregation container and are loaded from the side or top through an gap. Closed organic structure trucks are besides manufactured with semi-automated burden devices, such as a trough along the side of the vehicle, which can be emptied hydraulicly into the top of the vehicle container. Appendix A provides a listing of the makers of recycling vehicles and recycling dawdlers. Dawdlers are by far the lowest cost aggregation option. Their expected base cost ranges from $ 12,000 for a 15 yd3 dawdler to $ 18.000 for a 22 yd3 dawdler. The basal monetary value of an unfastened top truck will run from $ 25,000 to $ 70,000, with an mean monetary value of around $ 45,000/truck. Open top trucks have capacities of 15 to 25 yd3. The monetary value of a closed organic structure truck ranges from $ 50,000 to $ 80,000, and semi-automated closed organic structure trucks cost $ 70,000 to $ 90,000. Closed organic structure trucks are the largest and have capacities of 20 to 35 yd3. Monetary values of specific truck types are reviewed in Bio rhythm, 1989. The undermentioned comparative truck volumes have been estimated by the Center for Plastics Recycling Research for aggregation of recyclables: old newspaper, 23.2 % ; glass bottles, 13.0 % ; steel tins, 10.7 % ; aluminium tins, 16 % ; PET drink bottles, 17.6 % ; and HDPE milk, H2O bottles, 19.0 % . A recycle composing survey with per family coevals and denseness transition will assist a vicinity determine the volumes to anticipate. It is estimated that aggregation of uncrushed plastic HDPE and PET drink bottles can busy 37 % of a aggregation trucks volume while merely lending to 5 % by weight of the load_ If aggregation of plastic fills recycling truck bins and consequences in modifying a aggregation path to unclutter the burden prior to the filling of other truck bins ( such as old newspaper ) , the cost of fictile aggregation can lift significantly. Simple solutions have been suggested: Add a coop on the top or dorsum of the truck to keep plastics. Use gauze or a bag on the side of the aggregation vehicle to keep plastics. Collect plastics in transportable bags which can be removed and replaced with empty bags when full. Put plastics in an fresh part of the aggregation vehicle. Add or modify the aggregation vehicle to include compression. All but the last option requires curbside sorting of stuffs or at least the plastic from other recyclables. However, many curbside recycling plans use a commingled aggregation. Adding on-board compression is offered commercially but its effectivity is non good known. Problems with on-board compression are the extra cost of modifying an bing aggregation vehicle and the ensuing minimum net volume nest eggs after add-on of the compactor. The Council for Solid Waste Solutions is carry oning research on increasing compactor effectivity. The consequences should be available in 1991. One method of cut downing plastic volume is to educate consumers to oppress their plastic bottles prior to disposal. The National Association for Plastic Container Recovery, ( NAPCOR ) an industry trade group which promotes plastic recycling, provides extended media and get offing services to help communities in educating householders.4.5 Procedure CostManual separation of plastic bottles, the current most normally accepted method, is estimated to screen anyplace from 1 to 6 bottles per 2nd per sorter with a conveyer belt/manual choice station agreement. A 1 bottle/second choice velocity at an mean bottle weight of 0.14 – 0.15 pounds/bottle consequences in a procedure rate of 500-550 lbs per hr. At $ 10/hour labour, the kind cost is $ O.O2/lb. , non including operating expense, benefits, baling, crunching, or cargo. The general cost for plastic handling and processing has been estimated as follows [ PRC, 1990b ] : Screening 2-3eAb Baling 3-4eAb Crunching 3-4eAb. Cleaning ( flake Input/output ) 10 – 15 e/lb. Pelletizing 5 – 7 e/lb. As an illustration of the overall sorting costs, Somerset County, NJ, which has compulsory recycling of any fictile bottles and manual sortation at its MRF, processed about 8,000 lb./day of plastic bottles in 1990. When the stuff is brought into the MRP, a negative kind is performed on the stuff to take all non-bottle points and bottles that are non marketable. The terminal consequence is a mixture of PET, HDPE clear and colored, and PVC bottles which are marketed in a baled commingled province. The county receives $ O.O3/lb. for the commingled bales. The operation utilizes county employees at an mean rate of $ 7SO/hour along with a work item from the county gaol. Daily work force costs are $ 660, with overhead being another $ 200, for a entire day-to-day cost to run the plastic operation estimated at $ 86O/day. After gross, the cost is reduced to $ 62O/day [ Laze, 19901. This puts the approximative overall kind and baling cost at11 e/lb. , non including gross. The Rutgers Center for Plastics Recycling Research has likewise estimated fictile bottle sorting and baling costs 12 e/lb.Waste programThe Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources ( IDENR ) besides make available a computerized incorporate solid waste direction planning theoretical account called WASTEPLAN ( developed by Tellus Institute of Boston, MA ) . The plan addresses composting, recycling, incineration and landfilling options. Plastics can be included in the recycling part of the theoretical account. It has a bill of fare driven construction and allows for fluctuation of a assortment of input informations including waste watercourse definition, solid waste coevals, reclaimable stuff, aggregation systems, and processing and disposal installations. It besides is equipped with a default informations tile to let for acquisition and customization. IDENR correspondence should be addressed to the Office of Solid Waste and Renewable Resources, 325 W. Adams Street, Springfie ld, IL 62704, ( 800 ) 252-8955.Least-Cost SchedulingA least cost programming of recycling has been proposed by Lund [ 1990a, 1990bl. Linear scheduling can be used to minimise the present and future costs of recycling, landfilling and waste disposal. It allows the user to turn to the limited capacity of an bing landfill. The method can besides be used to measure the recycling determinations of waste aggregators which do non greatly affect the life-time of a landfill operated by another entity. The theoretical account histories for the undermentioned variables: recycling option costs, closing costs, building costs of future waste disposal installations, grosss from recyclables, hereafter landfill life, family coevals rates and market monetary values. Estimates for these variables must be made anterior to come ining the plan. The method does non include indirect costs such as environmental impacts ( e.g. , aquifer taint ) . However, direct costs related to environmental impacts, such as insurance coverage, may be included. Example Costss of Including Recyclables in a Curbside Collection Program [ Cornell, 19901 An illustration which includes the costs associated with landfill closing and replacing landfill building may be used to exemplify this method. A little metropolis ( 10,000 families ) wants to implement recycling to postpone landfill closing and future replacing costs of waste disposal installations. Three options are considered: Option 1 Recycling of family waste paper ( old newspaper and debris mail ) and old corrugated composition board ( CCC ) with hebdomadal aggregation of the separated stuff by a recycling vehicle. Estimated recovery rate is 70 % of the waste paper and 50 % of the OCC. Option 2 Recycling of glass, steel tins, ferric and aluminium in add-on to the family waste paper from option 1. The recovery rates are 75 % , 70 % . 70 % and 70 % , severally. Option 2 requires a larger truck traveling more easy than the option 1 truck. Option 3 Collection and composting of yard waste. The estimated recovery rate is 90 % of all yard waste and 30 % of soil disposed ( much of the soil comes from yard waste ) . The cost and landfill effectivity of each recycling option, since option 2 requires merely a larger truck on paths used for option 1 ; the cost of option 2 is merely the incremental cost of running trucks slower to pick up, procedure and market the extra stuff. Without recycling, the landfill would be filled and closed in 11 old ages. If all recycling options were implemented for all families, there would be a 65 % volume decrease in the rate of waste disposal in the landfill, and landfill life would be extended another 13 old ages to twelvemonth 24. The present value of cost and nest eggs calculated at each twelvemonth of projected landfill closing beyond the initial lower limit of 11 old ages. The least cost option would give a landfill life-time of 21 old ages. This is 10 old ages greater than if no recycling option were implemented, but three old ages shorter than if all recycling options were implemented on all families at all times.Markets and Packaging Changes forRecycled Plastics5.1 Recycled Resin DemandThe demand for recycled rosins is expected to raise significantly in the following three old ages, harmonizing to the survey, â€Å" The Market for Plastics Recycling and Degradable Plastics, † by Find/SVP, a New York market research house. HDPE and PET are estimated to consist 65 % of the recycled rosin market for 1990. It is expected that the sum of recycled HDPE and LDPE will about double between 1990 and 1991, from 252 to 498 million lbs, and from 87 to 163 million lbs, severally [ Charnas, 19901. It is estimated the HDPE recycle will transcend 1 billion lbs by 1994. Figure 5.1 shows the recycled rosin demand for the six primary thermoplastics by type from 1988 to 1993. The combined sum of recycled rosin for the six plastics by the terminal of 1993 is projected to be 3.5 times the 1990 degrees. U.S. Demand of Recycled Resin, by Type, from 1988 to 1993 ( Charnas, 19901 ) Recycled rosin monetary values for assorted phases of processing are shown below. The pricing information is derived from a hebdomadal plastics publication pricing chart during in-between 1990 and interviews with recyclers, rosin agents and bargainers. In the long term, the monetary value of recycled rosin floats relative to virgin rosin monetary values. A common monetary value for a baled mixture of clear and colored HDPE bottles and PET bottles which have been cleaned of foreign stuff is 2-4 cents per lb. Monetary values for off-specification, cleaned postconsumer clear HDPE m are at 60-70 % of virgin rosin monetary values. Cleaned, postconsumer clear HDPE Q & A ; J now float at 50 % of virgin rosin monetary values [ PRC, 1990bl. It is believed that the monetary value of recycled rosin will near that of virgin rosin in the close hereafter due to the demand from big users such as the Coca-Cola Company, Procter & A ; Gamble and Lever Brothers. The consequence of colored recycled rosin on monetary value can be seen in table below. While clean green regrind PET is selling at 17 $ /Ib. , clear is selling for twice every bit much. Overall, the two major recycled rosins, PET and HDPE, continue to keep or appreciate in value against the same virgin rosin, and are expected to lift in the hereafter. While the monetary value of virgin HDPE declined in 1990, the monetary values for clean HDPE regrind has remained comparatively changeless in the scope of 22-30c/lb. The monetary value for recycled PET increased during 1989 and 1990, and monetary values for PS and PVC remained changeless. The monetary values for clean regrind are by and large about half that of virgin stuff. LDPE, LLDPE and PS are expected to increase in value Oklahoman than other plastics chiefly because major plastics providers are involved in change overing polythene and PS waste into reclaimable stuff.Packaging Changes 10 Increase Recycle RatessPlastic is frequentl y non included in recycling because the costs of aggregation and processing do non countervail the grosss gained. A push in plastic recycling today is to diminish the post-use processing necessary to accomplish detached rosins for reuse. The cost to treat rosins with acceptable degrees of foreign plastic and non-plastic contaminations may merely be marginally less than the value of the processed rosin. It is desirable for gathered plastics to be separated from each other so there is greater value in the stuff and broader application potency. As a effect, alteration of fictile packaging design methods is necessary to obtain a higher value merchandise for recycling following consumer/industry usage. Guidelines for boxing design to minimise its part to the solid waste watercourse and add more plastics to the recycle watercourse have been proposed [ Selke, 19901:Use reclaimable bundlesIf a bundle can be reused in its original application, it can be really effectual at waste decrease by extinguishing disposal demands for several rhythms. Obviously other considerations must come in into this determination. If the bundle is non returned, it can non be reused, so the cooperation of the user is important. This option is likely much easier to implement for distribution bundles than for consumer 1s. Costss and energy demands of returning and cleaning containers must besides be analyzed. In many instances, containers will hold to be stronger to allow reuse and hence will utilize more stuff. The net benefits must be carefully calculated.Use a individual stuff, wherever possibleMultilateral bundles are, in general, less suited to recycling than individual stuff bundles. All fictile containers are preferred to plastic with paper and/or aluminium. Single rosin plastic containers are preferred to multi-resin plastic containers.Use stuffs that are either easy dissociable or compatibleIf a individual stuff can non be used If a many-sided construction is needed, the end is to pla n that construction in a manner that does the least harm to recycling possible for that bundle. The HDPE base cup on a PET drink bottle is non a serious job for recycling because a comparatively simple H2O floatation procedure will divide lighter than H2O HDPE from heavier than H2O PET.Use recycled stuffs where possibleThe being of markets for recycled stuffs is a cardinal portion of any recycling operation. It does no good whatsoever to divide and procedure stuffs if they do non happen utilizations in new merchandises. The packaging industry has an duty to increase its usage of recycled stuffs. While there evidently are applications for which merely virgin stuffs are suited, they should non be specified unless valid grounds for the exclusion of recycled stuffs exist. Writing specifications based on public presentation instead than material content may help in avoiding the unneeded exclusion of recycled stuffs.Eliminate toxic componentsBoxing designs should integrate merely nonhazar dous stuffs whenever possible. In peculiar, heavy metals used in additives, colorants and inks should be eliminated. If a company can non accomplish the coveted colour without heavy metals, possibly a alteration in colour coupled with a promotion run to allow the populace know the ground for the alteration could really greatly enhance gross revenues. Alteration of plastic packaging utilizing the above methods has the potency for increasing the measures of plastics recycled and bettering the economic sciences of the recovery procedure. Plastic bottle recycling can function as one illustration for exemplifying the possible benefits. A municipality with a recycling plan may work with local plastic bottle manufacturers to better bottle design so that after aggregation, plastic bottles could be sent straight to stop users without expensive processing, and more desirable rosin stuffs such as PET and HDPE would be used. Design criteria similar to the above guidelines have been submitted to back up such an attempt in fictile bottle production [ Anderson and Brachman, 19901: Bottle merchandises in clear instead than colored rosins ( with the colour on the label if necessary ) Do non utilize adhesives on the labels ( usage psychiatrist wrap, for illustration ) or utilize easy soluble adhesives Use non-aluminum caps made from the same rosin and with the same viscousness as the bottle organic structure Provide easy recognized labeling of plastic type Use industry supported runs to educate the populace to flatten fictile containers The first three standards are ab initio capable to front end merchandise proving to guarantee safe packaging, while the staying two standards are tied into post-consumer usage. Part of the inducement in developing future consumer plastic packaging which has higher value due to uniform rosin composing is the processing which could be eliminated. This will accomplish the greatest value from the recycled plastic by leting a maker which uses recycled content rosin to straight buy waste plastics without the cost of an intermediate processor. This would besides let municipalities to short-circuit intermediate processors and travel straight to stop users. This procedure is conducted in some municipality/company agreements with the recycle of clear HDPE bottles which are frequently baled or reground by a recycling plan and sold straight to a maker which uses secondary plastics.Markets in Primary RecyclingPrimary recycling or the converting of otherwise waste plastic into merchandises similar to the original merchandise is by and large the most favorite signifier of recycling. It is desirable because it is non necessary to make a new market niche for a merchandise and because the demand for virgin rosins are reduced. The fictile fabrication industry regularly recovers waste â€Å" spare bit † generated in-house because it is convenient to make so, and because the scrap stuff is contaminant free and of a known composing. The packaging industry is traveling beyond in-house recycle of fictile bit by fabricating bottles incorporating a certain part of post-consumer plastic merchandises chiefly because of its market entreaty and recycling ends set at the federal, province, and local degrees. Plastic users have made a market for recycled plastic by modifying machinery for two and three bed bulge caputs. & A ; bulge is a method applied chiefly to HDPE and sandwiches a recycled plastic bed in between virgin rosins. It is used because it produces a unvarying visual aspect of bottle outsides and a market safe container.5.4 Markets in Secondary RecyclingSecondary recycling is the recycle of plastic rosins into new merchandises with less demanding physical and chemical features than the original application. Assorted plastics are applied most easy in the secondary recycling market because less separation of rosin types and less complicated production methods are necessary to accomplish a finished merchandise. The most readily recognized secondary plastic merchandise is â€Å" fictile timber † ( thick bulge molded slabs of rosin in which some types of rosins act as tillers ) . Fictile timber is used to do park benches, fencing stations, boat docks, resort area equipment a nd the similar. Examples of other value-added merchandises which can be made ( via secondary recycling ) include merchandises such as recycling containers, garbage containers, flower pots, nursery potting trays, traffic cones, velocity bumps, downspout splash blocks, etc. Rubbermaid is bring forthing a assortment of garbage containers incorporating 10-Z % HDPE rebind and office accoutrements and nutrient service trays incorporating M-50 % I ‘S regrind. Another company, Utility Plastics of Brooklyn, NY, is injection modeling traffic cones and barriers incorporating waste HDPE.1. IntroductionI.I Plastics in Municipal Solid WasteRecycling of plastic discards is one method of cut downing municipal solid waste. They are get downing to fall in glass, steel, aluminium and paper as waste watercourse constituents that have been accepted into recycling plans across the state. It is hard, nevertheless, to spread out plastics recycling because of the assortment of plastic wastes, the trouble of screening different types of plastics, the low denseness of post-consumer plastics wastes in comparing to other recyclables and the limited history of plastics recycling. Because of its heterogenous nature and the sum of contaminations present, separation of post-consumer assorted plastic waste is the most hard. Waste plastic from industrial operations are cleaner and more homogenous in rosin type and scrap signifier. The term â€Å" assorted plastics, † a mixture of fictile types or a mixture of package/product types which may or may non be the same plastic type or colour class, has been used to depict wide graduated table processing of post-consumer plastic waste. Assorted plastics besides include merchandises which may be the same rosin type but which have been fabricated utilizing differing fabrication techniques. While it is possible to market recycled assorted plastic waste with limited separation, greater value and broader applications are achieved with homogenous rosins. Although it is possible to blend different type polymers together, the ensuing physical belongingss are less desirable than the original constituents. Technological research sing big scale separation of assorted fictile waste watercourses is being conducted. The progresss in fictile separation engineering are discussed in this study. The 1989 domestic ingestion of all plastics totaled 53.5 billion lbs, with 11.2 billion lbs, or 83 % , being eight plastic types: low denseness polythene ( LDPE ) , polyvinyl chloride ( PVC ) , high denseness polythene ( HDPE ) , polypropene ( PP ) , and polystyrene ( PS ) , polyurethane ( PUR ) , phenolic, and polythene terephthalate ( PET ) [ Modern Plastics, 1990a ] . HDPE, LDPE, PP. PS, PVC and PET are thermoplastics, capable of being repeatedly softened by additions in temperature and hardened by lessenings in temperature. They are besides referred to as trade good rosins because they are produced in the largest volumes at the lowest cost and have common features among manufacturers. Consumption of these six thermoplastics is led by the packaging industry. Polyurethane can be formed as a thermoplastic or a thermoset. Thermosets are rosins which have undergone a chemical reaction taking to a comparatively infusible province that can non be reformed. Phenolic are another household of thermosetting rosins. Although slightly anon. with â€Å" rosin † and â€Å" polymer, † the term â€Å" plastic † refers to a rosin which includes additives for the intent of supplying a manufactured merchandise. â€Å" Resins † ( or polymers ) are the basic stuffs for plastic merchandises, and most frequently denote a polymerized stuff without consideration of specific additive. A survey of the 15 taking rosins based on 1988 production identified that 44 billion lbs were disposed of in some mode [ Franklin Associates, 19901. Of all rosin types produced, 29 billion lbs are disposed in the municipal solid waste ( MSW ) watercourse each merely 1.1 % of the waste fictile watercourse is recovered [ U.S. EPA, 1990a ] . The balance is disposed as incinerator residue, sludge, industrial, or construction/demolition waste. Plastics comprised 9.2 % by weight and 19.9 % by volume of stuff discarded in MSW [ U.S. EPA, 1990b ] . One specific plastic type, PET drink bottles, which have been targeted for recycling through curbside aggregation and container sedimentation statute law, has reached noteworthy recycle rates of 23 % in 1988 and 28 % ( 175 million lbs ) in 1989 [ Plastic News, 1990aJ. The increased cost of landfilling waste, the volume occupied by fain plastic merchandises, the value of the fictile waste stuff, every bit good as the authorization of 25 % recycling of solid waste set by the province of Illinois make the add-on of plastics to recycling plans a necessity. Increasing the recycle of fictile containers, movie, and packaging in general from the waste watercourse is a logical following measure in increasing recycle rates. Municipalities and metropoliss are get downing to roll up fictile bottles, any type of stiff plastic container, and in some instances fictile movies. Film is frequently the most prevailing constituent of plastic on a weight footing. Further development of procedure and separation engineerings is necessary for assorted plastics if widespread recycling of plastic bottles, containers and movie is to be increased. This study discusses engineerings which have been developed for the separation and processing of waste plastics.Industry of Plastic Lumber Using Mixed PlasticsThe industry of flow molded additive profiles, or fictile timber as it is normally referred to, has received a great trade of attending as a solution to utilizing assorted plastics because minimum separation of the assorted plastic is necessary to bring forth this type of merchandise. It is viewed as a method to use fictile containers and movies en masse which could non otherwise be collected in important measure to warra nt separation. Plastic timber is besides viewed as a method to use â€Å" shadowings, † the assorted plastics left after a recycle watercourse back-number ‘mined † of higher value HDPE and PET bottles. Shadowings may besides typically be the plastics collected by recycling that were non asked for. Although, from a polymer scientific discipline point of position, such a diverse combination of plastics is non considered to be readily capable of â€Å" intermixing † into a compatible merchandise, the mixture can easy be processed into big cross-section points that have important strength and public-service corporation. Although the industry of fictile timber from assorted plastics without separation ( theoretically ) has barge possible as a solution to assorted plastics in general, there are associated jobs. Depending on market monetary values and propinquity to the maker, it may be necessary to pay a maker to take the waste plastic ( there are no assorted plastic timber manufacturers in Illinois ) . The cost of transporting can hold a big impact on the recycling operation economic sciences. As a consequence, there are fictile lumber start-up companies in advancement in Illinois, and Amoco Chemical Company has provided support to the Center for Neighborhood Technology in Chicago to analyze and beg proposals for a assorted plastic recycling works in the Chicago country [ CNT, 19901. It may besides be necessary to divide plastics to obtain a coveted colour or visual aspect of the finished timber merchandise, or to achieve a merchandise with sensible quality criterions. While dark browns, inkinesss an d greies are possible with assorted plastic bales ; lighter colourss such as bluish, xanthous and light greies are non possible without utilizing separated clear and white HDPE/LDPE. A big proportion of LDPE, both granulated and molded, produces articles which ‘are really elastic. Similarly, a big proportion of PP will bring forth articles which are brickle. Consequently, intermixing of granulated stuff by fictile type may be of import depending on the merchandise to be manufactured. If separated with adequate quality control, the detached plastics will convey a better monetary value through some other market. The maker may necessitate that a municipality roll uping assorted plastics buy the merchandise following recycling.2.3 General Guidelines for Plastic Lumber ManufacturingThe Advance Recycling Technology ET-l machine handles a broad assortment of thermoplastics, although there are restrictions due to the procedure and specific rosin belongingss, as with the ace wood machi ne. The undermentioned guidelines for the most popular plastics have been submitted by the U.S. provider of the ET-l [ Mackzo, 19901: LDPE or LLDPE A good stuff for usage in the procedure. However, LDPE is comparatively soft and merchandises incorporating excessively much of it may be insufficiently stiff for some applications, peculiarly in thin subdivisions. It should be assorted with stiffer stuffs such as HDPE or PP. HDPE A good stuff for usage in the procedure. HDPE is stiff and its mixtures with LDPE give a scope of stiffness that covers most merchandise demands. Much of the HDPE on the market is copolymer stuff, but this is of no effect to the recycler because for recycling intents its public presentation is really similar to that of a photopolymer. PP A good stuff for usage in the procedure. It is comparatively stiff and its mixtures with LDPE cover most of the scope of stiffness demands. However, the usage of more than 30 % by weight photopolymer PP is non advised because it is brickle at low temperatures and hard to nail. Polyvinyl chloride When finely land and good homogenized PVC can be recycled on the ET- 1. It can be mixed with other thermoplastics up to 50 % by weight. Post-consumer plastic typically contains 5 % PVC or less. PS Up to 40 % by weight of this stuff can be mixed in. Impact grades add stamina to the mix. Non-impact PS ( crystal ) tends to do surface finish jobs. Expanded PS ( EPS ) should be avoided as froth because of its low majority denseness. Testing shows considerable strength betterments at 10 to 40 % degrees of dandyish EPS. ABS A good stuff for usage in the procedure. The ABS household of rosins combines rubbery and plastic belongingss and is highly tough. ABS plastics are non loosely available Nylon A broad assortment is presently on the market. The most common, nylon 6 and 6/6 can be an linear at UD to 10 % bv weight because they impart stiffness to an otherwise soft compound. Textile nylon bit is normally nylon 6 or h/6. Nylon 6 castings are suited. Nylonss 11 and 12 are even more suited, but by and large non available. PET Although its 500A °F thaw temperature is above the normal scope of the ET- 1, up to 15 % can be mixed in if finely land and carefully blended. PET drink bottles, with HDPE base cup, labels and aluminium caps have been run at l00 % , but the merchandise is brickle due to crystallisation caused by slow chilling of thick subdivisions and debasement of the polymer caused by wet content.Merchandises from Mired Plastic LumberPlastic timber, as may be expected, has limited applications and usage. It costs more than similar outdoor class products/lumber and is hence harder to sell, but offers superior opposition to debasement and enduring out-of-doorss. There is transit, industrial, marine and agricultural applications for fictile timber merchandises. Such merchandises are by and large non yet sold at a consumer degree. A figure of markets for fictile timber merchandises are tied to the activities of province and municipal bureaus. The undermentioned market places are estimated to hold the most possible: Marine – docks, piles, breakwaters Industry – palettes sold straight to stop users Local authorization – transportation/road related markets and barriers, recreational country furniture and piles Agriculture – bets, electric fencing stations and parturiencies sold straight by concerted Fencing contractors Public utilities – H2O, sewerage and telephone markers, underground overseas telegram screens Builder providers and garden baby's rooms – ‘do-it-yourself fence and betsEnhancement of Plastic Wood PropertiesThe Center for Plastics Recycling Research at Rutgers has examined utilizations for plastics shadowings ( leftovers from recycling after the primary components of clear HDPE bottles and PET bottles have been recovered ) . A significantly greater market exists for the above mentioned separated HDPE and PET drink bottles than in assorted signifier, and hence their recovery may do economic sense. The research workers in New Jersey besides have found that 20 % of the plastic collected can be tailings stuff. It was felt that PS could heighten the belongingss of lumber merchandise made from shadowings which were characterized as mostly polythene ( HDPE or LDPE ) . The add-on of dandyish reground PS to the mixture significantly improved the mechanical belongingss of the resulting merchandise. Mechanical belongings trial consequences of assorted add-ons of PS. It shows that add-on of 10 % by weight PS increased modulus of snap 60 % , output strength by 15 % and compressive strength by 2 % . A consecutive line tantrum of the information shows that compressive and output emphasis addition about 15 % and 20 % , severally, for each 10 % addition in PS up to 50 % by weight. Above 35 % PS, the modulus of snap decreased somewhat and appeared to level off around 220,000 pounds per square inch. A possible account for the important addition in belongingss of the basal stuff is that PS, which is a calendered polymer at room temperature, reinforces the mostly polyolefin matrix in a mode similar to that of fillers used in composite stuffs even though PS and polyolefin are by and large considered to be incompatible [ Nosker et al. , 19901. It provides warp burden belongingss similar to the southern xanthous pine which is the company ‘s primary wood rival. The trials were run on a standard 2Ãâ€"4 piece of timber. Unreinforced, unformed fictile timber has warp burden belongingss that are less than that of southern xanthous pine.Buyers and Specifications for Waste Plastics4.1 Buyers of Waste PlasticRecovered plastic can be marketed for reuse in a figure of ways: By straight covering with a company which uses waste plastic in fabrication By straight covering with a plastic processor which will purchase waste plastic and market the cleaned and decontaminated merchandise By naming the cured waste plastic in a waste exchange for selling By marketing the recovered waste plastic through a bit rosin agent Waste exchanges are typically sponsored by a province and supply a waste naming free of charge. The intent of such a service is to function as an information clearinghouse, directory and selling facilitator so that waste stuffs may be reused or reprocessed in some mode. This frequently includes fabricating byproduct, excess stuff, off specification stuff, industrial waste and risky waste. Such exchanges are one path to selling waste plastic. The waste exchange listing will typically include the waste merchandise or coveted merchandise, the primary component ( s ) , sum and frequence of coevals and the operation the stuff is a byproduct from, if applicable. Samples are by and large available upon petition. Because of the extended figure of beginnings and types of plastics in waste, waste exchanges should by and large be utilized Q & A ; after other selling methods ( e.g. , scrap rosin agents, fictile recycling companies ) have been tried. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency a nd the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce sponsor an Illinois based waste exchange ( Industrial Material Exchange Service, 2200 Churchill Rd. , # 31, P.O. Box 19276, Springfield, IL, 62704-9276, phone ( 217 ) 782- 0450 ) . A rosin agent ( a company which buys/sells off-grade rosins, off-specification rosins, regrind, disused or excess virgin rosins ) or a fictile bit animal trainer ( a company which may crunch, clean, denseness, pelletize, squeeze out, manufacture or treat waste plastic in some manner ) is typically where fictile bit is marketed after being collected at station consumer, station commercial, or industrial bit degree. Cargos in truckload measures are typically preferable, but smaller tonss down to bales are normally accepted with an attach toing decrease in monetary value paid. Harmonizing to the 1990-91 Directory of U.S. & A ; Canadian Scrap Plastics Processors and Buyers, there are about 14 rosin agents or bit animal trainers in Illinois, with 11 in the Chicago metropolitan country, 2 in Joliet and 1 in Decatur. Five of the companies in metro Chicago are purely agents of fictile bit. There are 20 extra brokers/processors in provinces neighbouring Illinois: 8 in Wisconsin, 7 in Michigan , 2 in Iowa, 1 in Indiana, 1 in Kentucky and 1 in Missouri. The name, reference and contact names of each handler/broker in Illinois and adjacent provinces. The cross-listing addresses the undermentioned rosins: ABS, Acetyls, Acrylics, Engineering thermoplastics, HDPE, LDPE, Mixed thermoplastics, Nylons, PET, Polyolefin, PP ; PS and PVC. While a bulk of the brokers/handlers accept scrap plastic from makers and processors, non all accept post-consumer stuff. Extra information on markets for recycled plastics is available in the Illinois Recycled Materials Market Directory ( lLENR/RR-87/01 ) , and the attach toing update, available from the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, Office of Solid Waste and Renewable Resources, Springfield, Illinois.

Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Diversity - Essay Example People who are extroverts and like to experiment with different things are fond of diversity. They like to interact with people from different cultures, understand their unique norms and values, and make friends with them. Many even go to the extent of marrying across cultures where they not only have to put up with the diversity of cultures, but also the diversity of races in terms of their mixed race children. However, good-natured as these people are, they know how to draw a balance between the two cultures and make a happy living. On the other hand, there are people who are negatively affected by diversity of race and culture. These people are chauvinists and fanatics by nature. They like to have only people of their own race and culture around them, whether it is their neighborhood or their workplace. They tend to draw a line between themselves and people from other races and cultures, considering themselves superior to others. They do not let others cross that line with them bu t often cross it themselves only to insult others in some way e.g. racism, bullying etcetera. Such opponents of diversity tend to have dysfunctional conflicts with their peers from other races and cultures in the workplace also, thus making it difficult for the immigrants and foreign workers to settle down in their country. Such people also have a tendency of making groups and run campaigns against the foreigners informally on such grounds as culture and religion. The way diversity affects an individual is fundamentally related to the impression of diversity in the eyes of that individual. Diversity affects me in many positive ways. I am a sort of person who is very welcoming toward new ideas, things, and aspects. I feel blessed to have been born in an age when there is so much diversity around me. I like to meet with people from different cultures and races. I am fascinated by the variety of ways in which they interact with one another, their unique cultures, styles of living, cuis ines, norms, values, trends, and traditions. I like to put in this effort to understand them and make myself understood to them so that we form positive impressions of each other. Diversity, to me, is a way of understanding God. I am overwhelmed with joy to think and realize how diverse God has created this world. There are people of different shades of brown and white, and each color is so beautiful and admirable. People can be identified with their origin just from their facial features which is great. Out of my love for diversity, I have started learning Arabic language, though I have to go a long way for that. I am fascinated by Indian weddings in particular. They are so different from our weddings. While our brides dress in white traditionally, Indian brides dress in all sorts of vibrant colors and exotic designs. I like dancing to Bollywood songs with my friends occasionally. I have many friends from different countries. I enjoy interacting with them and like the way they try to speak English in their native accents. It gives me pleasure to help them find the right word to express their emotions and meanings as they speak. I particularly like Chinese cuisine a lot. I ask my Chinese friend for the favor of cooking a Chinese recipe on my birthday and present it to me as a gift. I also cook something from my cuisine and gift

Coffee Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Coffee - Essay Example Coffee has both negative and positive effects on our health and social well-being. Due to dependency of smoking and other drugs coffee was found to have a major association between its consumption and mortality rate. In addition to that, Boyle cautions that coffee causes blood pressure fluctuations and has adverse effects on lipids (119). Ethnographers recorded its usefulness in psychological healing by observing female Bosnian immigrants in Chicago. These women engaged in recollection of memories and socialized over a cup of coffee. Modern world was shaped by coffee, whose use led to the creation of public space: coffee houses, meetings and enhanced intellectual and physical vigor paved way for industrialization. Coffee production requires labor and tropical land. Coffee spread across the globe due to colonization. As a result, coffee spread to countries such as Indonesia, where the colonized served as cheap labor, and land was abundant. Today coffee is the second most traded commodity, with yearly revenue of over $15 billion. Around 26 million farmers globally produce each year mostly coffee Arabica. Rearing of coffee plants is environmental friendly, since coffee trees coexist with other plants and animals. Tropical areas harbor wildlife, whose species can at times only be found in these areas. However, there are insufficient areas covered by these plantations to offer a large enough habitat to the endangered species such as the ocelot. As a result, some organizations support these farmers through labels, i.e. produced in shade, distinguishing them from other producers who do not protect wildlife. Coffee promotes economic development to a large extent. For instance, Nicaraguan farmers for the first time in 1976 sold fair trade coffee in the United States: coffee bought directly from the farmers. For many Nicaraguan farmers coffee not only

Individual Assignment #2 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Individual Assignment #2 - Case Study Example The amount of money saved can then be used to increase speed and precision of product development. Through the company’s strong marketing, it can develop its products globally while reducing cost. A company can reduce the cost and at the same time develop products by using recyclable materials. Relocating of the company’s production plants to low-cost countries will help it reduce the cost, increase speed and precision of product development (Hunger, & Bamford, PP. 35-40). AB Electrolux focuses to relocate its proactive activities to low cost production areas such as China. The company can compete with local Chinese consumer manufacturers in the following ways. First the company is able to offer consumers with quality low cost vacuum cleaners, making it to be very competitive. In addition, the company has ability to use door-to-door sales strategy that will help AB Electrolux outdo Chinese consumer manufactures as this method will help increase sales. Consumers prefer a one to one relationship with companies and therefore AB Electrolux should implement personal contact with consumers. Due to increase in technology, the company should utilize e marketing to promote sales of their commodities and cope with competition. Apart from marketing, the internet also gives price awareness to consumers. The company can also reduce prices of products in Chinese consumer manufacturers dominated areas to increase sales thereby improving their competition (Hunger, & Bamford, PP. 36-42). The company should produce their products that are heavy and bulky near the end users to save cost of shipping and at the same time maintain their premium brand and prices. The company should invest in attractive markets where demand is high as well as income of individuals to be able to maintain premium prices. Ensuring products meet consumer needs will help maintain premium

The Day that My Father Left Home Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Day that My Father Left Home - Essay Example I remember one particular evening when my father came back from a trip. He was very late and my mother was not happy because she had been waiting so long, and the food had been ready for several hours. Soon after he arrived, I went to bed and I could hear my parents arguing in the kitchen below. My father was shouting and my mother was crying. Suddenly I heard a door slamming and I looked out of my bedroom window. He was marching down the street in the rain, carrying his bag and looking very angry. I went to speak to my mother but she sent me to bed. Later that night I could hear her crying and this made me very worried indeed. I could not sleep because I thought that this time my father really had left home for good. I thought he would never come back. I was only twelve years old and I imagined that I would have I would have to look after my mother now, because my father was no longer at home. This was a big responsibility and it was terrifying to think that everything I had known would now change. I thought I was too young for such a big responsibility. My mother worked for my father, and so if they got divorced, she would have no money and no job. Our house, and our plans for my studies at school and then later at college, would all be destroyed. That night I tried to sleep but it was not easy. I had a dream that some big, black birds had come to take away my clothes, and that I had to walk in the street in my underwear. This was a very upsetting dream and I wondered what it meant. The next morning I spoke to my mother about my worries and my troublesome dream. She told me that I should not worry because my father would come back in a few days. She looked so sad, and I wondered if she was just saying that to comfort me and make me get ready for school. I went to school as normal and for three days there was no sign of life from my dad. Eventually, on the fourth day after school I came home and saw his shoes at the door of the house. My joy was very great, and I hugged my father and told him that I had thought he was never going to come back. He just laughed and said that I would understand about such things when I was older. This experience made me think that whatever happens in my life, I will not leave someone in an angry m ood. I think it is better to settle any different opinions with kindness, and to protect children from the fear and pain that I felt on that night. The time when dad didn’t return. Lipogram version. Our house in China was rather small and I recalled how much at home I was in its small rooms. The place had clothing samples and pieces of material scattered around. Mum and Dad were in the clothing trade. Dad had to locate new products to sell, and Mother helped him with the accounts. I missed him when he was gone, and I was glad to see him when he came home. I recall one particular night when Dad came home late. He was so tired and Mother was not happy since she had waited so long, and the dinner was warm for ages. Soon after he arrived, I went upstairs and I could hear Mum and Dad arguing in the rooms below. Dad was shouting and Mum was weeping . All at once I heard a door slamming and I saw Dad out of the window. He was marching down the street in the rain, holding his suitcas e and looking quite mad. I went to Mother and then she sent me upstairs. Later that night I could hear her weeping and this made me most worried indeed. I could not sleep that night. I thought that this time Dad had deserted us. I thought he would not come back again. I was only 12 and I imagined that I would support Mother now, since Dad was no longer at home. This