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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

• Cellulose - is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About 33% of all plant matter is cellulose. For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used to produce cardboard and paper; to a smaller extent it is converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under investigation as an alternative fuel source. Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand linked D-glucose units.

• Landfill - also known as a dump, is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common methods of organized waste disposal and remain so in many places around the world. Landfills may include internal waste disposal sites as well as sites used by many producers. Many landfills are also used for other waste management purposes, such as the temporary storage, consolidation and transfer, or processing of waste material (sorting, treatment, or recycling).

• Polyethylene or polythene (PE) is a thermoplastic commodity heavily used in consumer products (notably the plastic shopping bag). Over 60 million tons of the material are produced worldwide every year. Polyethylene contains the chemical elements carbon and hydrogen. It is created through polymerization of ethene. Polyethylene is classified into several different categories based mostly on its density and branching. The mechanical properties of PE depend significantly on variables such as the extent and type of branching, the crystal structure and the molecular weight.

• Polylactic Acid or polylactide (PLA) is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch or sugarcane. Although PLA has been known for more than a century, it has only been of commercial interest in recent years, in light of its biodegradability.