Month: September 2020

SeaChange uses plasma arc technology to save the oceans from plastic waste

by

via Inhabitat.com

SeaChange will outfit its ships with something called the Plasma Enhanced Melter (PEM). The PEM uses plasma arc technology to zap plastic and other trash before it enters the ocean. Plastic is shredded before it enters the Plasma Arc Zone.

Instead of leaving harmful residues like conventional waste treatment methods, plasma arc technology uses high temperature and high electrical energy to heat waste, mostly by radiation. Organic material can be burned down into a combustible gas called syngas, which can be used as clean fuel for SeaChange’s ships. Inorganic components wind up as glassy slag. This reusable black glass is said to be nontoxic and safe for marine life.

Read the full story here: https://inhabitat.com/seachange-uses-plasma-arc-technology-to-save-the-oceans-from-plastic-waste/

Google’s new phone case is beautiful—and it’s made out of water bottles

by

via Fast Company

While we’re busy toting our reusable bags to the grocery and desperately recycling takeout containers, plastic is hiding in plain sight in everything from our computer cords to remote controls. Every year, 10 million tonnes of plastic goes into electronic products, very little of which is recycled.

Industrial designers at Google are trying to reverse this trend. They’ve been incorporating recycled plastic into their suite of products, including Nest mini speakers and Pixel phones, and this week, they launched a new Pixel phone case with a knitted texture, made from 70% recycled plastic.

Read the full story here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90537055/googles-new-phone-case-is-beautiful-and-its-made-out-of-water-bottles

How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

by

via NPR

Laura Leebrick, a manager at Rogue Disposal & Recycling in southern Oregon, is standing on the end of its landfill watching an avalanche of plastic trash pour out of a semitrailer: containers, bags, packaging, strawberry containers, yogurt cups.

None of this plastic will be turned into new plastic things. All of it is buried.

“To me that felt like it was a betrayal of the public trust,” she said. “I had been lying to people … unwittingly.”

Read the full story here: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled

An audio version of this story aired on NPR’s Planet Money

Kickstart: NPE? Already?

by

via Plastics News

[M]aking major plans for the first half of 2021 may be just a little difficult to imagine right now.

But the difficulties of 2020 may be exactly the reason to invest in NPE2021, according to organizers the Plastics Industry Association.

“Given the challenges of the past six months, it is vitally important for the plastics community to come together and support each other with a positive outlook to the future,” Tony Radoszewski, president and CEO of the association, said in a news release. “NPE2021 will be the place not only to highlight key contributions in the world’s response to the coronavirus but also to see what’s coming from businesses across an industry that will transform tomorrow.”

Read the full story here: https://www.plasticsnews.com/blog/kickstart-npe-already

Domino Plastics Company will be exhibiting in the South Hall at booth S24119.
NPE 2021 – The Plastics Show

Perspective: Plastics Industry Association CEO: Plastic saves lives

by

via Plastics News

In Pennsylvania, employees at a Braskem plant lived there for 28 days to make raw materials for PPE. In Tennessee, Eastman employees donated material to colleges and universities across the state, where engineers are using 3D printing technology to manufacture face shields for medical personnel.

Placon worked with engineers at the University of Wisconsin to adapt assembly lines and manufacture up to 5,000 face shields per hour for hospitals. Berry Global supplied free face shields to its Evansville, Ind., community. Across the country, Amcor has donated thousands of bottles to distillers producing hand sanitizer.

Read the full story here: https://www.plasticsnews.com/perspective/perspective-plastics-industry-association-ceo-plastic-saves-lives