The decomposition of the tree term. Terms of decomposition of municipal solid waste. How long does paper decompose

Many of us throw garbage anywhere, in any place, in nature and wherever we want! Have you ever wondered how long it will take to decompose? I don't think so. So let's read this publication to know how long this garbage that we throw on the streets will lie for years. The publication is informative, I hope many will draw the right conclusions!

Animal droppings are a problem in big cities. The decomposition period is small, only 10-15 days, but it causes a lot of trouble.


Food waste. They decompose in about a month.


Newsprint. Decomposition period from 1 month to 1 season


Leaves, seeds, twigs. Even they can cause serious pollution in urban environments. Decomposition period 3 - 4 months


Cardboard boxes decompose within 3 months


Paper. The most common, office paper decomposes 2 years


Boards from the construction site. If they are not properly cared for, they can decompose up to 10 years.


Decomposition period 11 - 13 years


Iron banks. term 10 years


Old shoes - 10 years


Fragments of brick and concrete 100 years


Car batteries for about 100 years


Foil over 100 years old


Electric batteries 110 years old


Rubber tires 120-140 years


Plastic bottles. about 180-200 years old


Aluminum cans are almost the most hazardous waste. Decomposition period 500 years


And finally glass. No one knows how much it is already stuffed in our places of rest. The period of glass decomposition is more than 1000 years, at least another 12-15 generations will enjoy our fragments.

The decomposition of plastic has become one of the most pressing problems of our time, as a very real danger looms over the planet to completely “drown” in the mountains of plastic bottles and plastic bags.

AT pacific ocean not far from Indonesia, a whole continent of plastic bottles and other waste has already formed, exceeding in size the largest island - Greenland. And the production of plastic products and plastic containers is growing and growing - only over the past 10 years in Russia, the volume of its production has increased 10 times.

Classification of additives that accelerate the decomposition of plastic

• Oxo-additives speed up the crushing of bags into small pieces, which no longer harm animals so much. All toxic properties are preserved, and the complete decomposition of these small pieces is not accelerated.
• Additives that accelerate the breakdown of polymer molecular chains under the influence of sunlight, certain air temperature, moisture and other activating factors. The term of decomposition of polyethylene with such additives is accelerated up to 5 years.
• Additives that cause the release of carbon and hydrogen molecules from plastic, which are already freely absorbed by bacteria and fungi.
• Finally, a biopolymer is a plastic made from vegetable waste such as corn stalks. It is the most harmless and rapidly degradable polymer option available today.

How long do different types of plastic decompose without additives?

The decomposition of plastic proceeds at different rates depending on its composition. Plastic bags decompose the fastest - about 100 years in the soil. Products made of polypropylene and other types of food and non-food plastics decompose much longer. The period of their complete decomposition in the soil is at least 500 years. For comparison - the period of decomposition of aluminum canisters is 500 years, cans - 100 years, bones - from 10 years. The decomposition time of plastic in water increases many times over and is not even known exactly. Plastic bags floating in water cause mass death fish and birds. But that's not all. During the decomposition of plastic, toxic substances are released into the environment that poison the soil and water (styrene, formaldehyde, phenol, chlorprene, urethane, etc.).

What other options are offered to solve the problem?

• Cessation of the production of food plastic containers and plastic bags following the example of China and India.
• Further development of so-called biopolymers, i.e., plastics that rapidly decompose into vivo without release of toxic substances.
• Changing the composition of household polymers to reversible ones (those that can be remelted many times).
• Breeding a special type of bacteria that will process and neutralize plastic residues in special storage facilities. It is supposed to remove such bacteria by the method of genetic modification.

Scientists have already proven that plastic bottles and packages can lie for hundreds, thousands and even millions of years and not decompose.
Here is a list of the things we throw away and how long it takes for that garbage to decompose.

2 weeks
Apple cores and other fruit leftovers.
Even though it's pretty little time to decompose, leftover food on the ground can attract unwanted "friends" such as rats.

About 1 month
Paper napkins, paper bags, newspapers, paper towels.
The time it takes these things to decompose can vary greatly, as it depends on how you got rid of that type of trash.

6 weeks
Cereal boxes, paper bags, banana peels.
Banana peel may take longer to decompose if the weather is cooler. Since the peel is designed to keep the fruit fresh, it is high in cellulose, the same material that plastic bags are made from.
Some conservationists warn that the skins of some fruits, including banana peels, can take months to decompose. Even if the product is natural, this does not mean that it decomposes quickly.

2 to 3 months
Cardboard packaging for milk and juices and other types of cardboard.
The decomposition time of the cardboard primarily depends on its thickness. It is worth noting that some cartons may contain chemicals that significantly slow down the decomposition process.

6 months
Cotton clothes and paper books.
Of all types of fabrics, cotton decomposes the fastest because it is natural. If the cotton fabric thrown into the landfill is rather thin, then in warm weather it can decompose in just a week.

1 year
Woolen clothes (sweaters, socks).
Wool - natural product and can decompose relatively quickly. What's more, as wool decomposes, it releases soil-friendly elements such as keratins. This product cannot be called completely garbage, as it does not cause long-term harm. environment.

2 years
Orange peel, plywood.

Up to 5 years
Heavy clothing made of wool, such as a coat or overcoat.

Up to 20 years old
Plastic bags. But studies show that in some cases plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
Many new plastic bags are designed to degrade quickly when exposed to direct sunlight.
However, most plastic bags are made from high-density polyethylene. Microorganisms in the ground do not perceive the chemicals that make up the bag as food, and therefore they do not participate in its decomposition.

30-40 years old
Products containing nylon: bodysuits, windbreakers, carpets, diapers. Some scientists believe that such goods can take up to 500 years to decompose, depending on environmental conditions.
While diapers are quite comfortable, they are also quite toxic, even if you haven't used them yet. They are processed with a variety of chemicals such as toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and dipentene, as well as a chemical called dioxin, which is a highly toxic carcinogen.

50 years
Cans, car tires, foam cups, leather.
Leather can be chemically treated (as in the case of fashion items) and take much longer to decompose.
The thick leather used to make shoes can take up to 80 years to decompose.

70 to 80 years old
Rustling plastic bags (from chips and packaging, for example).
Despite the fact that a person eats the contents of a bag of chips very quickly, the bags themselves decompose for a long time. For example, one US resident found an empty bag of crisps on a Devon beach, dated 1967, but the bag itself looked like it had been thrown away last week.

About 100 years
Polyethylene products.
Of course, the decomposition time depends on the density and structure of the goods. For example, ordinary plastic shopping bags can take up to 100 years to decompose.
Also in the category of things that can decompose for more than a century includes plastic bottles and various plastic containers and bowls.
It is worth noting that small parts made of polyethylene can be dangerous for animals that can choke on them.

About 200 years
Aluminum cans (from beer or soda, for example).
In this case, everything also depends on the density of the material and its structure. In the best case, such objects decompose for 200 years, but this process can drag on for half a millennium.
It is worth noting that, like plastic products, such items are dangerous for small animals that can climb into an empty jar and get stuck in it.
Such cans can be recycled many times and this process requires much less energy than creating a new can. Using the same amount of energy, you can make 20 recycled cans or 1 new aluminum can.

500 years
Plastic bottles.
In general, petrochemical products such as plastic bottles never completely decompose, and chemical elements just stay in the ground.

1 to 2 million years
Glass jars and bottles
Goods made of glass can even be stored forever, because glass, created in lava flows millions of years ago, is still there.
Basically, glass consists of quartz, or rather quartz sand (SiO2) - one of the most stable and durable minerals on our planet.
The only problem with glass is that it shatters and the pieces become dangerous to animals, who might mistake them for food.

Over 2 million years
Batteries
Although the thin metal shell of batteries decomposes relatively quickly, toxic chemical substances inside (zinc chloride, lead, mercury, cadmium) are absorbed into the ground.
Therefore, batteries should not just be thrown away, but recycled.

Russia is a country of contrasts.

In an effort to carry the high status of a developed state, the center of world culture, we still have many garbage dumps, randomly scattered along highways, near major cities and small villages. Moreover, residents of remote settlements are completely put in hopeless situation- they completely lack even the minimum infrastructure that allows you to quickly, easily and environmentally get rid of daily household waste . Hence - numerous illegal trash cans in the fields, forests and on the banks of rivers.

One of the bloggers, who regularly rests in the countryside, decided to do a little research and find out which packaging decomposes the fastest. As you know, plastic bags, which appeared in our everyday life about 90 years ago, are recycled for at least 200-250 years.

Today, the industry offers several types of such products, the level of biodegradability of which may be different.

For the experiment were taken:

• Rough wrapping paper bag
• Polyethylene food bag
• Black plastic trash bag
• Garbage bag marked "biodegradable".

Each bag contained a piece of bread, a watermelon rind, a piece of cheese, a used tea bag, and a paper napkin. Having tied the bags, they buried them in the ground and left them for 2 months.

The result of the experiment showed that the paper bag decomposed first (there was no trace left of it), the second place was taken by the black garbage bag (its surface was completely dotted with holes), the third place was taken by a simple plastic bag (its walls became thin), and in fourth place was , which showed no signs of decomposition.

It is not clear how these results are treated. After all, according to the manufacturers, the biodegradable bag is completely disposed of in the ground within a few months. Perhaps not all manufacturers are conscientious about their business, passing off as biodegradable packaging made from conventional polymers.

On the Internet you can find a lot of information about the timing of decomposition different types waste, however, is generally not specified official source information and some figures are questionable. The Epoch Times analyzed several specialized sources on English language to clarify the time during which the garbage decomposes. The publication presents infographics for a more visual perception.

According to environmental policy expert Tatyana Tevkun, official landfills alone occupy about 7% of Ukraine's territory. At the same time, the accumulation of waste increases by 5-7% annually.

Although individual residents of the city may take waste to specialized collection points marked on “ Epoch Times”, however, the issue has not been resolved at the state level, and most of population continues to throw all the waste in one box.

Let's see how many years the waste that ends up in the landfill will decompose.

The website of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services has published a list that gives an idea of ​​the approximate time for the decomposition of some things that fall into the trash.

At the same time, the period of decomposition of plastic bags given in this table is questionable. In many Ukrainian sources, the period of their decomposition is 100-200 years. Some sources give a figure of 500 or even 1000 years. However, it is impossible to establish an exact figure for the reason that plastic bags have been used for a little over 50 years, and scientists determine the decomposition period only experimentally.

At the same time, environmentalists say that even biodegradable bags may never fully decompose. This is due to the fact that when they decompose to the smallest particles, microorganisms do not want to process them. Thus, microparticles of plastic will continue to exist in an unprocessed form, although they are not visible to the naked eye. The influence of these particles on nature has yet to be studied by scientists.

We also invite you to get acquainted with the data from another Western source dedicated to recycling waste - .

The site publishes the average value of the decomposition time various waste on the garbage dumps taken from Western sources of information.

It takes more than a million years for glass and ceramics to turn into smaller things under the influence of water, but in the earth they can last indefinitely.

The decomposition period of paper is not very long, but lead dyes with effluents enter water bodies, making water unsuitable for drinking, poisoning the soil and everything that grows on it.

Of course, not everything that we throw away is harmful to the environment, organic waste is even useful, as it fertilizes the earth. The terms of decomposition of organic waste are minimal, but, accumulating in urban landfills, they emit bad smell and attract insects and rodents that spread various infectious diseases. At the same time, it is believed that the methane gas emitted organic waste landfill contributes to global warming.

One of the most hazardous waste are batteries and energy-saving lamps containing mercury. One battery is considered to pollute 20 square meters or 400 liters of water.

Much of what we throw in the landfill can get a second life. Sorting garbage that has already ended up in a landfill is a rather complicated and costly task, the only way out is to separate human waste at the level of each family.