recycle plastic

Scientists develop a truly recyclable plastic. Is the world ready for it?

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via Fast Company

If we can’t ditch plastic, we can at least make it more recyclable—at least that’s what researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Department of Energy are proposing with a new material called PDK.

The average American generates 220 pounds of plastic waste each year. A vast majority of it is not recycled, even if you send it to a recycling facility. Most plastic ends up in a dump.

There are all sorts of reasons for this. Some recycling facilities don’t have the technology to sort plastic correctly. And for companies, it’s actually cheaper to make “virgin” plastic than to produce recycled plastic. Recycled plastic is far from perfect anyway. Generally produced by melting down old plastic, recycled plastic actually needs virgin plastic mixed in to keep its structure. An estimated 91% of all plastic isn’t recycled at all.

Read the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90628475/scientists-develop-a-truly-recyclable-plastic-is-the-world-ready-for-it

The Future Looks Bright for Infinitely Recyclable Plastic

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via Berkeley Lab

Plastics are a part of nearly every product we use on a daily basis. The average person in the U.S. generates about 100 kg of plastic waste per year, most of which goes straight to a landfill. A team led by Corinne Scown, Brett Helms, Jay Keasling, and Kristin Persson at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) set out to change that.

Less than two years ago, Helms announced the invention of a new plastic that could tackle the waste crisis head on. Called poly(diketoenamine), or PDK, the material has all the convenient properties of traditional plastics while avoiding the environmental pitfalls, because unlike traditional plastics, PDKs can be recycled indefinitely with no loss in quality.

Read the full story here: https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2021/04/22/infinitely-recyclable-plastic/

Sea turtle: Sentinels and victims of plastic pollution in the Adriatic Sea

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via EurakAlert

Sea turtles are witnesses and victims of the high level of plastic pollution of the Adriatic Sea. A group of researchers at the University of Bologna analysed 45 turtles hospitalised at Fondazione Cetacea in Riccione and found plastic debris in their faeces. Besides confirming the role of turtles as ideal sentinels to monitor plastic pollution in the sea, the results of their analysis – published in the journal Frontiers of Marine Medicine – crucially show how the plastic debris in their intestines can dangerously alter their microbiota, eventually compromising their health.

Read the full story here: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-02/udb-sts022521.php

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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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.

    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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    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 enzyme cocktail digests plastic waste ‘six times faster’

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      via Circular

      The scientists who re-engineered the plastic-eating enzyme PETase have now created an enzyme ‘cocktail’ which can digest plastic up to six times faster.

      A second enzyme, found in the same waste dwelling bacterium that lives on a diet of plastic bottles, has been combined with PETase to speed up the breakdown of plastic.

      Read the full story here: https://www.circularonline.co.uk/news/new-enzyme-cocktail-digests-plastic-waste-six-times-faster/

      TURNING PLASTIC WASTE INTO PROSTHETICS

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      via CNNMoney

      Two ZHdK graduates are designing lower-limb prosthetic systems from plastic waste that they are planning to produce in developing countries, made there for people there. Their start-up, Project Circleg, launched in 2018 with CHF 500,000 from foundations and is continuing to expand and look for new funding.

      Read the full story here: https://www.cnnmoney.ch/shows/tech-talk/videos/turning-plastic-waste-prosthetics-start-ups

      Michigan Fashion Company Reduces Plastic Waste to Protect Great Lakes

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      via Fox47news.com

      LANSING, Mich. — A University of Michigan student is doing what he can to protect the coastlines and Great Lakes of Michigan.

      Jackson Riegler, 19, started his company Oshki when he was just 17-years-old. Riegler had a mission to reduce plastic by re-purposing it to make clothes.

      He uses plastic waste found on the shores of the Great Lakes to create these unique sustainable clothing items. Riegler has collected 120 pounds of plastic so far.

      Read the full story here: https://www.fox47news.com/news/local-news/mi-fashion-company-reduces-plastic-waste-to-protect-great-lakes

      A floating device created to clean up plastic from the ocean is finally doing its job, organizers say

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      via (CNN) A huge trash-collecting system designed to clean up plastic floating in the Pacific Ocean is finally picking up plastic, its inventor announced Wednesday.The Netherlands-based nonprofit the Ocean Cleanup says its latest prototype was able to capture and hold debris ranging in size from huge, abandoned fishing gear, known as “ghost nets,” to tiny microplastics as small as 1 millimeter. Read the full story here: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/tech/ocean-cleanup-catching-plastic-scn-trnd/index.html