sustainability

What to know about the plastic pollution treaty talks in South Korea

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What to know about the plastic pollution treaty talks in South Korea

via APNews

A last round of negotiations on a legally binding treaty to address the global scourge of plastic pollution has opened in Busan, South Korea. Here’s what to know about it:

Nations are deciding what actions they’ll take

National delegations still have a lot to hammer out before there is a treaty. Most contentious is whether there will be a limit on the amount of plastic that companies are allowed to produce.

Read the full story here: https://apnews.com/article/plastic-pollution-treaty-negotiations-united-nations-south-korea-870c2dce64527f9de2ff91e423b48aba

plastic scrap

There can be 240,000 plastic particles in a litre bottle of water

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There can be 240,000 plastic particles in a litre bottle of water

via New Scientist

recycle plasticA single 1-litre bottle of water could contain 240,000 microscopic plastic particles. The health implications of ingesting plastic are unclear, but early research suggests such particles could travel into various organs within the body.

Millions of tonnes of plastic are produced every year as a result of human activity, such as the fishing industry and domestic waste. Most of this is made up of microplastics, which measure between 1 micrometre and 5 millimetres across.

Read the full story here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2411329-there-can-be-240000-plastic-particles-in-a-litre-bottle-of-water/

A Strange Plastic Rock Has Ominously Invaded 5 Continents

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A Strange Plastic Rock Has Ominously Invaded 5 Continents

via Popular Mechanics

plastic rockPlastics are now  infecting the Earth’s geology—so much that experts are now calling to formally recognize a new kind of sedimentary rock: plastistone. Deyi Hou, an associate professor at Tsinghua University in China, and his colleague Liuwei Wang recently wrote a paper about the emergence of this new plastic-rock fusion.

Read the full story here: https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a46181945/plastistone-sedimentary-rock/

Amazon might finally be cutting down on plastic waste

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Amazon might finally be cutting down on plastic waste

via Popular Science

After years of criticism for its outsize use of plastic, the world’s largest retailer appears to be making progress to reduce its plastic footprint.

plastic waste

Amazon announced in its latest sustainability report on Tuesday that orders shipped from its fulfillment centers used 85,916 metric tons of single-use plastic in 2022—an 11.6 percent decrease from the amount used in 2021.

Read the full story here: https://www.popsci.com/environment/amazon-cut-down-plastic-waste/

How This Determined Female Founder Is Taking on Big Plastic

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How This Determined Female Founder Is Taking on Big Plastic

via Inc.com

plastic scrapWhile companies have touted the recyclability of their plastic products for years, plastic remains an environmental hazard. Less than 5 percent of flexible plastic packaging recycled by consumers ends up recycled in the world’s most advanced recycling markets, while only 2 percent is recycled globally, according to the Flexible Packaging Association. And of the 7 billion tons of plastic waste globally, less than 10 percent has ever been recycled, according to the U.N. Environmental Program. 

After learning the truth about plastics–most of which end up in landfills, waterways, or the ocean and do not break down for hundreds of years–Nissenbaum began researching compostable alternatives and found that some compostable bio-materials had been on the market for decades, particularly polylactic acid, or PLA. Usually made from corn, PLA is often used for utensils, straws, and various forms of rigid packaging. It’s compostable, but only under industrial-compost conditions.

Read the full story here: https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/how-this-determined-female-founder-is-taking-on-big-plastic.html

Plastic-eating superworms with ‘recycling plant’ in their guts might get a job gobbling up waste

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Plastic-eating superworms with ‘recycling plant’ in their guts might get a job gobbling up waste

via SCMP Scientists from Australia’s University of Queensland have discovered that a type of beetle larvae called Zophobas morio can consume and break down polystyrene. Research published in the scientific journal Microbial Genomics on June 9, 2022, says the superworms possess special gut enzymes that can break down plastic. The researchers say they now hope to study the enzymes to engineer ways the substance could be used to break down and dispose of plastic waste in the future.

Lab turns hard-to-process plastic waste into carbon-capture master

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Lab turns hard-to-process plastic waste into carbon-capture master

via Phys.org

What seems like a win-win for a pair of pressing environmental problems describes a Rice University lab’s newly discovered chemical technique to turn waste plastic into an effective carbon dioxide (CO2) sorbent for industry.

plastic scrap

Rice chemist James Tour and co-lead authors Rice alumnus Wala Algozeeb, graduate student Paul Savas and postdoctoral researcher Zhe Yuan reported in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano that heating plastic waste in the presence of potassium acetate produced particles with nanometer-scale pores that trap carbon dioxide molecules.

Read the full story here: https://phys.org/news/2022-04-lab-hard-to-process-plastic-carbon-capture-master.html

 

DOE Invests $13.4 Million to Combat Plastic Waste, Reduce Plastic Industry Emissions

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via Energy.gov

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced $13.4 million in funding for next generation plastics technologies that reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of single-use plastics. The seven selected research and development (R&D) projects — led by industry and universities — will convert plastic films into more valuable materials and design new plastics that are more recyclable and biodegradable. This investment advances  DOE’s work to address the challenges of plastic waste recycling and supports the Biden Administration’s efforts to build a clean energy economy and ensure the U.S. reaches net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

Read the full story here: https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-invests-134-million-combat-plastic-waste-reduce-plastic-industry-emissions

TRASH AND BURN

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BIG BRANDS STOKE CEMENT KILNS WITH PLASTIC WASTE AS RECYCLING FALTERS

Consumer goods giants are funding projects to send plastic trash to cement plants, where it is burned as cheap energy. They’re touting it as a way to keep plastic out of dumps and use less fossil fuel. Critics say it undercuts recycling efforts and worsens air quality. One said it was “like moving the landfill from the ground to the sky.”

The global consumer goods industry’s plans for dealing with the vast plastic waste it generates can be seen here in a landfill on the outskirts of Indonesia’s capital, where a swarm of excavators tears into stinking mountains of garbage.

Read the full story here: https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/environment-plastic-cement/

Plastics to outpace coal’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 -report

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WASHINGTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) – The carbon-intensive production of plastics is on pace to emit more greenhouse gases than coal-fired power plants within this decade, undercutting global efforts to tackle climate change, a report released on Thursday said.

The report by Bennington College and Beyond Plastics projected that the plastic industry releases at least 232 million tons of greenhouse gases each year throughout its lifecycle from the drilling for oil and gas to fuel its facilities to incineration of plastic waste. That is the equivalent of 116 coal-fired power plants.

Read the full story here: https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/plastics-outpace-coals-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-2030-report-2021-10-21/

plastic scrap recycling
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