Simon Malls Develop ‘Plastic Room’ to Bale Plastic for Sale, Recycling

Read the full story at Environmental Leader.

Properties owned by Indianapolis-based real estate company Simon Property Group Inc. have begun collecting and baling clear plastic packaging materials — such as individual plastic bags that contain the clothing that is delivered to the malls — for recycling.

Concord Mills in Concord, NC, is using a so-called “plastic room,” complete with hydraulic baler that compresses plastic such as garment bags and shrink wrap, to collect plastic for recycling, writes Plastics News. Two other Simon malls also have a plastic baling program.

 

EPA OKs Recycling Plastics from Shredder Residue

Read the full story in Environmental Leader.

Facilities are now allowed to recycle plastics separated from automobile shredder residue, according to the EPA’s new interpretation of existing regulations.

The interpretation permits recycling plastic scrap containing levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) less than 50 parts per million. The EPA banned the manufacturing, sale and distribution of PCB products in US in 1979 because of the health and environmental hazards that these chemicals can cause. The EPA still permits PCBs in what it calls “totally enclosed” uses, such as transformers and capacitors.

 

Better batteries from waste sulfur

Read the full story in R&D Magazine.

A new chemical process can transform waste sulfur into a lightweight plastic that may improve batteries for electric cars, reports a University of Arizona-led team. The new plastic has other potential uses, including optical uses.

 

Polluting Plastic Particles Invade the Great Lakes

Read the full story from the American Chemical Society.

Floating plastic debris — which helps populate the infamous “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in the Pacific Ocean — has become a problem in the Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in the world. Scientists reported on the latest findings from the Great Lakes here today at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society.

 

Toxic chemicals turn up in Great Lakes plastic pollution

Read the full story in Great Lakes Echo.

Toxic chemicals clinging to plastics could cause health problems for fish and other organisms in the Great Lakes.

They were discovered in samples from the first-ever Great Lakes plastic survey in Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Superior last summer, Lorena Rios Mendoza, an assistant chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin – Superior, announced Monday.

And instead of just sitting in sediments as some scientists previously thought, those pollutants might be traveling with plastics to other parts of the Great Lakes.

 

Can Fungi Replace Plastics? Maybe, Say Researchers

Read the full story from Union College.

Fungi, with the exception of shitake and certain other mushrooms, tend to be something we associate with moldy bread or dank-smelling mildew. But they really deserve more respect. Fungi have fantastic capabilities and can be grown, under certain circumstances, in almost any shape and be totally biodegradable. And, if this weren’t enough, they might have the potential to replace plastics one day. The secret is in the mycelia.

 

Biocompatible plastics and their importance in the medical device industry

Read the full story at MultiBriefs.

Plastics have paved their way into every aspect of human life due to their unique properties of malleability, easily changeable shapes and forms and low cost of production. Significant developments in plastics technology have coincided with the advent of innovative medical devices — pacemakers, stents and hip-replacement devices — which have enabled medical solutions for all kinds of ailments and impairments. Despite their ease of use, plastics can bring the risk of health and environmental hazards that can undermine all medical efforts unless treated minutely at first. Hence, the need for biocompatibility which can reduce these risks and enable us to fully derive the benefits.

 

Plastic pollution not just a problem in oceans, but in Great Lakes

Listen to the interview at Great Lakes Echo. For more information on the issue, see http://storify.com/lbarnes/plastics-pollution-and-marine-debris-an-ongoing-pr.

Scientists have conducted extensive research on the plastic-filled gyres of the ocean. This past summer, however, researchers decided to look inland for the first time and measure plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Some of the groups’ water samples had concentrations of plastic greater than those found anywhere else. The study has resulted in several other projects. Chemistry professor Dr. Sherri Mason discusses the plastic pollution in the basin.

 

How milk jugs can make 3D printing cheaper

Read the full story at SmartPlanet.

With 3D printing, anyone with a 3D printer can make just about anything using a digital design and plastic filament. And while you can get simple open-source printers for surprisingly cheap (anywhere from $250-$500), one kilogram of the plastic filament can set you back between $30-$50. But there’s one solution that might be sitting in your refrigerator right now: milk jugs.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are looking to milk jugs as a way for 3D printing to gain more widespread use. To make this practical, the research group created the RecycleBot, a device that melts the plastic (after it has been washed and the labels have been removed) and turns it into a long, thin string of plastic filament. This way you cut out the recycling middleman or the landfill and turn your milk jugs into useful objects. The design for the RecycleBot is open-source and available here.

 

Where Are the Pacific Garbage Patches Located?

Reblogged from NOAA's Response and Restoration Blog:

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The Pacific Ocean is massive. It’s the world’s largest and deepest ocean, and if you gathered up all of the Earth’s continents, these land masses would fit into the Pacific basin with a space the size of Africa to spare.

While the Pacific Ocean holds more than half of the planet’s free water, it also unfortunately holds a lot of the planet’s garbage (much of it plastic).

Read more… 933 more words