Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recycling. Show all posts

2011-10-10

MBA Polymers: We can recycle plastic

MBA Polymers - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpq_Mum-kO0

  • MBA Polymers is a recognized global leader in the production of sustainable high-value plastics recovered from complex resource streams and end-of-life durable goods such as appliances, business machines and automobiles. The company is not only the technological leader in this developing area, but also the first global company to provide such services and materials.
MBA Polymers, Plastic Recycling
http://www.informalwastesector.net/video/view/169654/?topic=70659
  • Company based in Richmond, California, United States has started a revolution in recycling the millions of tons of waste plastic you incinerate or put into landfill.
    MBA Polymers takes complex shredder residue, low value material, and produces a high-value commodity by sorting out the non-plastic byproducts, such as wood, rubber, metals, fabrics, and separating the plastic by type and grade. This complicated separation of shredded plastics has very low cost, less environmental impact, and is cheaper to purchase than virgin. The proprietary process and technology includes upgrading, compounding, and extruding to a pellet form, at a fraction of the energy and resources to create virgin plastic. Final product that is high quality with stable volumes, resold directly back into the durable goods industry for electronic and auto components, information technology and home media equipment, and domestic appliance applications. 
Mike Biddle: We can recycle plastic | Video on TED.com
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/mike_biddle.html
Plastic recycling - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling
Welcome to MBA Polymers—Smarter Plastics
http://www.mbapolymers.com/home
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2011-07-19

ZenRobotics Waste Recycling

Coming Soon: Intelligent Recycling Robots - Jennifer Hicks - Dante's Soma - Forbes

ZenRobotics believes they have the answer to solving the CND waste problem with their intelligent industrial robots. A robotic recycling system powered by AI that can not only sort the waste, but it can tell the difference between what can be recycled/reused and what can’t be recycled.

 First, they don’t actually make the robots. They make the AI that goes in the robots. Second, their AI brain is so smart it identifies, sorts and separates raw material from waste from the shape of that waste. This is their special sauce.

 This 1.44 minute video shows you how serious Zen Robotics is about waste and their intelligent robots.



ZenRobotics :: Company

ZenRobotics Ltd., founded in 2007, is a Finnish high-tech company specializing in robotic recycling technology. The company's main product is ZenRobotics Recycler, a waste sorting system which separates raw materials from waste.

ZenRobotics Recycler will revolutionize the way recycling works – and help solve the global waste crisis that is getting out of hand.
ZenRobotics Ltd. is an expert in:
  • advanced AI robotics and sensor fusion
  • recycling technology

Collected from: ZenRobotics :: Company

ZenRobotics :: Product


ZenRobotics Recycler is a robotic waste sorting system. Built with off the shelf industrial robotics components, the system utilizes machine learning to separate raw materials from waste. ZenRobotics Recycler is designed for commercial and industrial (C&I) waste, municipal solid waste (MSW), and construction (CND) waste.


ZenRobotics Recycler uses multiple sensor inputs to identify items and raw materials. Possible sensors include Visible spectrum cameras, NIR, 3D laser scanners, haptic sensors, transillumination etc. Thanks to the sensors, a diverse and accurate analysis of waste is possible for the first time.

Unlike any other sorting method, ZenRobotics Recycler can perform multiple simultaneous sorting tasks; reclaim various raw materials and remove contaminants from the main stream. For example, contaminant removal may include the separation of unwanted materials like electronics, PVC, and minerals from the resulting burnable fraction.



Collected from: ZenRobotics :: Product

 
ZenRonotics develops biologically-inspired, machine learning software which can be used to operate standard industrial robots and train them to separate multiple raw materials from waste. A plethora of sensors like visible spectrum cameras, near infrared cameras, 3D laser scanners, X-rays, metal detectors and weight detectors can be used to recognise materials of different types. ZenRobotics also uses sensors like 3D scanners and touch sensors to improve the robot’s gripper.

Software which learns is rarely 100 percent accurate at performing the task it is trained to do. The false positive and false positive rates are therefore important measures of the effectiveness of a machine learning algorithm. In this case, those measures translate into the rate at which materials are mis-identified or not reycled when they should be. ZenRobotic’s CEO Jaakko Sarela declined to give exact figures but said that the “accuracy is very high. In the end of the day, the purity rate of the recycled material depends mostly on the customer needs.”

ZenRobotics states that by using its robots, users could get more cash for recyclables, reduce landfill tipping fees, lower their operating costs, and reduce the risk to human employees who would otherwise be doing the sorting themselves. They also foresee a day when a smaller version could be used for sorting household waste.

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2009-10-07

EcoATM Cell Phones Recycling

clipped from www.treehugger.com

EcoATM Arrives in Stores - Accepts Used Cell Phones, Spits Out Store Credit

ecoatm cash machine image

Could gadget recycling get easier than this? In a similar vein as ATM-like change machines, where you bring your bucket-o-coins, dump them in and out pops a far more convenient currency, EcoATM wants to buy back your old cell phones with this cool kiosk. Insert cell phone, withdraw currency.

clipped from www.fastcompany.com

EcoATM Pays Cash for Your Old Cell Phones

The ATM, which is the first station to be installed by San Diego startup EcoATM, identifies cell phones, gives them an estimated secondary market value, and provides payment in the form of cash or an in-store credit. In the event that the phone no longer holds value--if it's old or there are too many signs of wear--it heads to a recycling bin and a tree is planted in your name.


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clipped from www.ecoatm.com

The ecoATM Kiosk: How it works

The ecoATM - Easy as 1, 2, 3

Step 1) Insert portable CE device or handset
Step 2) Used device automatically valued
Step 3) Portables automatically binned inside. User receives trade-up coupon, gift card, and/or charitable contribution

clipped from www.ecoatm.com

Green - The Environmental Equation


In the Making of Phones 1 Phone >3 tons mining waste
In the Disposal of Phones 75,000 tons into landfills annually -
Arsenic, Cadmium, Mercury

The Environmental Equation
clipped from www.ecoatm.com

Green - Where Does The Stuff Go?

Where Does The Stuff Go?

Almost all consumer electronics (mobile phones, computers, monitors, printers, etc.) contain toxic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic and a broad variety of other materials that pose a threat to the environment and health. The eWaste challenge is to extend device usage to end-of-life, safely mine existing eWaste for materials, and design new devices with planned reclamation using reclaimed materials where possible.

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Sources:
  1. EcoATM Arrives in Stores - Accepts Used Cell Phones, Spits Out Store Credit : TreeHugger
  2. EcoATM Pays Cash for Your Old Cell Phones | Sustainability | Fast Company
  3. ecoATM | How It Works
  4. ecoATM | Green
  5. ecoATM | Green | Where Does The Stuff Go
Related:
  1. EcoATM pays you for used gadgets | Crave - CNET
  2. ecoATM Automates Cellphone Recycling Process, Dishes Out Cash (Or a Tree) - Cellphones - Gizmodo
  3. For Quick Cash, Drop Your Gadgets at an EcoATM - Fresh Greens (usnews.com)
  4. The EcoATM–Scrap Your Junk, Get Paid | GadgetReview
  5. ecoATM-web-final
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2009-05-26

Plastiki Expedition -- Message In A Bottle

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Plastiki

The Plastiki is the name of the sailing vessel which David de Rothschild will, with a five-man crew, sail across the Pacific Ocean starting in San Francisco, California in the summer of 2009, ending his journey in Sydney, Australia.

Rothschild, a prominent ecologist and descendant of the banking family, will sail across the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive sea of garbage sitting just below the surface of the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, in an attempt to draw attention to the amount of garbage disposed of in our oceans.

The Plastiki is a distinctive, one-of-a-kind 60-foot (20m) catamaran made out of plastic bottles, srPET plastic and recycled waste products.

clipped from www.core77.com
0plastiki.jpg

You can follow the Plastiki Expedition here, and read Reuters coverage of it here. Lastly, here's a video describing the project:


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David De Rothschild

Voyage of the Plastiki

The perils of innovation on the high seas.

Update: The Plastiki departure has been delayed until summer 2009. Until then, read updates from our Plastiki correspondent and see the workshop in a photo gallery

clipped from www.youtube.com

The Plastiki: A Peek at the Production Happenings on Pier 31

clipped from www.sfweekly.com
A prototype of the Plastiki. Read the related article by Peter Jamison.
A prototype of the Plastiki.
clipped from www.sfweekly.com
It's supposed to eventually look like this.
It's supposed to eventually look like this.
clipped from www.sfweekly.com
The catamaran's design.
The catamaran's design.
clipped from www.sfweekly.com
Another look at the prototype.
Another look at the prototype.
clipped from www.strimoo.com

Plastiki Project

clipped from www.reuters.com
Reuters

In line with cradle to cradle thinking, when the voyage is done, the team plans to upcycle the boat.

A plastic boat won’t solve all our problems, but de Rothschild is attempting to spark conversations about rethinking waste. He aims to showcase a solution, and encourage people to rethink waste as a resource.

“This is the hundredth year of plastic,” de Rothschild pointed out. “Plastic is an amazing material and it is still misunderstood. I’m trying to get people to think about plastic as part of the solution.”

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Sources:
  1. Plastiki - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  2. Message in a Bottle (or 12,500 of them): The Plastiki to set sail - Core77
  3. David de Rothschild's Plastiki Voyage - National Geographic Adventure Magazine
  4. YouTube - The Plastiki: A Peek at the Production Happenings on Pier 31
  5. San Francisco Slideshows - The Plastiki Prepares to Set Sail
  6. Streaming Video - Plastiki Project - Vimeo - Strimoo.com
  7. Greener by Design: Rethinking Waste with Plastiki, the Plastic Boat | Green Business | Reuters
Related:
  1. The Plastiki Expedition 2009
  2. Message In A Bottle | Popular Science
  3. Plastiki: Message in a bottle raft | Green Tech - CNET News
  4. Boat made of plastic bottles to make ocean voyage - CNN.com
  5. The Making of the Plastiki: The New Yorker Blog: Online Only: The New Yorker
  6. Sundance Channel: ECO TRIP - About David de Rothschild
  7. San Francisco - The Snitch - Plastiki Prepares to Set Sail from Pier 31
  8. The Plastiki, Sailing Boat Made of 12,500 2-Liter Plastic Bottles by CubeMe
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