plastic waste

Fighting the plastics plague, one canoe-full at a time

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via the Bay Journal

John Naylor eased his 16-foot fiberglass canoe into the Susquehanna River near a small archipelago of forested and ever-changing mudflat islands known as the Conejohela Flats, once the domain of Native Americans and still a vital stop for migrating shorebirds.

It’s a placid and beautiful spot on the lower Susquehanna between Lancaster and York counties, PA. But the York city resident was there this day to nibble at a growing sheen of ugliness — namely, single-use plastic containers, especially discarded water bottles.

Read the full story here: https://www.bayjournal.com/news/people/fighting-the-plastics-plague-one-canoe-full-at-a-time/article_de8ac85a-6a49-11eb-9dbc-cf4d24cc71ee.html

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste Calls for Submissions for Recycling Technologies

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via Alliance to End Plastic Waste

Call for project proposals with innovative solutions in chemical recycling technologies to unlock value for hard-to-recycle plastics

SINGAPORE, 10 FEBRUARY 2021, The Alliance to End Plastic Waste (the Alliance), an international non-profit organisation, has launched a request for proposals (RFP) calling for projects related to Chemical Recycling Technologies and Business Models.

Learn more at: https://endplasticwaste.org/en/news/the-alliance-to-end-plastic-waste-calls-for-submissions-for-recycling-technologies

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    How Paving with Plastic Could Make a Dent in the Global Waste Problem

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    via Yale Environment 360

    Roads in which waste plastic is melted down and mixed with paving materials are becoming more common around the world. Although for now they remain a niche technology, experts say the roads could become one of a diverse array of uses for discarded plastic.

    Aroad running through Accra, Ghana’s capital, looks like any other blacktop. Yet what most drivers don’t realize is that the asphalt under them contains a slurry of used plastics — shredded and melted bags, bottles, and snack wraps — that otherwise were destined for a landfill.

    Read the full story here:https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-paving-with-plastic-could-make-a-dent-in-the-global-waste-problem

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    Contact us with material offers for a price quote.

      Catalyst turns mixed plastic waste into natural gas

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      via Chemistry World

      Plastic waste can now be efficiently converted into methane using a ruthenium-based catalyst. The patented technology could help mitigate the planet’s growing plastic waste problem while producing methane for use as a fuel or chemical feedstock in a more environmentally friendly way than fracking.

      Recovering chemicals and fuel from plastic waste streams is nothing new. Processes including pyrolysis and gasification, which break down plastics using high temperatures and catalytic processes, can recover useful materials. However, these approaches create several products, including waste, and require additional processing and purification.

      Read the full story here: https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/catalyst-turns-mixed-plastic-waste-into-natural-gas/4013218.article

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      Recycle Post-Industrial Plastic Scrap

      Speedy Nationwide Pickup for Scrap Plastics. Sell HDPE, LDPE, PP, PVC, PET, SAN, and more.

      Contact us with material offers for a price quote.

        Seagrass ‘Neptune balls’ bundle plastic waste

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        via Phys.Org

        Underwater seagrass in coastal areas appear to trap bits of plastic in natural bundles of fibre known as “Neptune balls,” researchers said Thursday.

        With no help from humans, the swaying plants—anchored to shallow seabeds—may collect nearly 900 million plastic items in the Mediterranean alone every year, they reported in the journal Scientific Reports.

        read the full story here: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-seagrass-meadows-marine-plastic-sea.html

        New process upcycles plastic waste into a more valuable adhesive

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        via News Atlas

        A team at UC Berkeley has developed a process that turns plastic waste into something more valuable – an adhesive. Based on an engineered catalyst, the inspiration was to find ways to “upcycle” plastics by putting them to new uses while preserving the properties that made them attractive in the first place.

        Plastic waste is one of the modern world’s biggest environmental concerns, but plastics are notoriously unattractive to recycling companies. Unlike corrugated cardboard, glass, or scrap metal, plastics are very difficult to reuse and doing so makes the end product less valuable than the original plastic – which isn’t very valuable to begin with.

        Read the full story here: https://newatlas.com/science/waste-plastic-polyethylene-adhesive/

        Welsh government backs project to turn waste plastic into carbon nanotubes

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        via Circular

        The Welsh government is backing a cutting-edge science project at Swansea University that changes waste plastics into highly valuable compounds for the energy industries.

        The government is to invest in a plastics upscaling project which has the potential to create highly-skilled jobs in Wales, the university says.

        Scientists are extracting carbon atoms found in waste plastics and turning them into a nanotube format that can be used for the transmission of electricity.

        Read the full story here: https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/welsh-government-backs-project-to-turn-waste-plastic-into-carbon-nanotubes/

        Brewers are addressing the beer industry’s plastic dilemma

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        via Marin Independent Journal

        Early this year, a brewery in East Aurora, New York, began offering customers a free pint of beer for each plastic four-pack or six-pack can carrier that they returned, a reuse program aimed at reducing the volume of plastic that flows into our economy’s waste stream, the terrestrial environment and the ocean.

        It was a good move for the beer industry. 42 North Brewing’s effort is focused specifically on the almost ubiquitous beverage carriers made by the company PakTech, and it will hopefully inspire other breweries to follow suit. After all, the United States and the European Union are huge contributors to the world’s plastic crisis, which poses an existential threat to marine wildlife.

        Read the full story here: https://www.marinij.com/2020/11/24/brewers-are-addressing-the-beer-industrys-plastic-dilemma/

        This Norwegian start-up wants to build houses out of 100% recycled plastic

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        via WeForum.org

        Using one of the world’s problems to solve another is the philosophy behind a Norwegian start-up’s mission to develop affordable housing from 100% recycled plastic.

        Since 1950, more than nine billion tonnes of plastic have been produced globally, of which only 9% is recycled, according to building tech company Othalo, while almost a billion people live in slums.

        Read the full story here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/un-africa-recycled-plastic-housing/

        Research Turns Plastic Waste into Biodegradable Silk

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        via Plastics Today

        Solutions to big problems can spring from little things. In research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, a microorganism that digests common petroleum-based plastic waste and yields a biodegradable plastic alternative represents a new solution to an on-going problem.

        With the support of a substantial new National Science Foundation grant of $500,000 for the project, a team of engineers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will explore this potentially transformative idea entitled Microbial Upcycling of Petrochemical Polymer Waste into High Value Protein-Based Polymers for a Circular Economy.

        Read the full story here: https://www.plasticstoday.com/materials-research/research-turns-plastic-waste-biodegradable-silk