The Society of Plastics Engineers, Inc. (SPE):

A technical society for the plastics industry that is a preferred supplier of engineering, scientific and business knowledge required by the SPE membership. Its goal is to promote this knowledge and increase education of plastics and polymers worldwide. (Leadership 2000: Strategies for the Next Century, SPE, 1996).

The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI):

A trade organization of more than 2,000 members representing all segments of the plastics industry in the United States. SPI's operating units and committees are composed of resin manufacturers, distributors, machinery manufacturers, plastics processors, moldmakers and other industry-related groups and individuals. (SPI Boilerplate, 1996).

Solid Waste:

Garbage, refuse, sludges, and other discarded solid materials resulting from industrial and commercial operations and from community activities. It does not include solids or dissolved material in domestic sewage or other significant pollutants in water resources, such as silt, dissolved or suspended solids in industrial wastewater effluents, dissolved materials in irrigation return flows or other common water pollutants. (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, §240.101).

Source Reduction:

The design, manufacture, use or reuse of materials or products (including packages) to reduce their amount or toxicity throughout their useful life and when they are reused, recycled, landfilled or incinerated. Because it is intended to reduce pollution and conserve resources, source reduction should not increase the net amount or toxicity of wastes generated throughout the life of a product. Source reduction is sometimes referred to as waste prevention. (National Recycling Coalition: Definitions Approved by NRC Board of Directors, September 10, 1995).

Source Separation:

The sorting of individual secondary materials at the point of collection or generation for recycling. Many curbside recycling programs require the hauler to separate paper, glass, metal cans and plastic containers into their appropriate bins on the truck when collected. (The Recycler's Lexicon: A Glossary of Contemporary Terms and Acronyms, Resource Recycling Inc., 1995).

Stabilizers:

Stabilizers increase both virgin resin's and post-consumer plastic plastic's strength and resistance to degradation. Heat stabilizers provide resistance to thermal degradation during periods of exposure to elevated temperatures. Thermal degradation is reduced not only during processing but also during the useful life of the finished products. Light stabilizers are used in a variety of resins to limit the effects of sunlight or other sources of ultra violet radiation. Antioxidants can be used as sacrificial Additives to protect plastics from oxidizing environments. Stabilizers are important for post-consumer plastic plastics because reprocessing exposes the material to additional heat histories through compounding and molding. It is also important to replenish sacrificial Additives that might have been expended during the material's previous application and/or during the added heat histories. (Adapted from Modern Plastics Encyclopedia 1995).

STYROFOAM:

STYROFOAM is a trademarked name for a specific form of insulation manufactured by The Dow Chemical Company. "STYROFOAM" is not synonymous with "polystyrene."

Sustainable Development:

To meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (The World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future, Oxford University Press, 1987).