Showing posts with label plastics. 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

2010-07-06

Electrolux Vac From The Sea

Electrolux is going to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans. The company just launched its "Vac from the sea" initiative to get plastic waste out of the world's oceans and into home appliances made of recycled plastic. There are plastic islands, some several times the size of the state of Texas, floating in the world's oceans. Yet on land, stocks of recycled plastic are much too small to feed production of sustainable plastic products. Electrolux intends to gather plastic from the oceans and turn it into a number of vacuum cleaners.

Collected from: Electrolux Vac From The Sea | Appliancist

Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans

Collected from: YouTube - Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans

Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans

[...]

The aim is twofold: to bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution and to raise awareness on the scarcity of recycled plastics needed for making sustainable home appliances.

[...]

The plan is to make a limited number of vacuum cleaners from plastic debris harvested from the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic and North Seas. The techniques for harvesting the plastic will vary depending on the location – from diving after it to scooping it up from the waves. “We will work with volunteers and experts that live close or work with this problem,” says Nord.

Collected from: Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans | Electrolux Newsroom

What is the Pacific Garbage Patch? Simply put, it's a swirling mass of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is big enough to qualify as the planet's largest landfill. That's a huge amount of marine litter, and a huge problem. Learn everything about the Pacific Garbage Patch, from its impact on ocean life, to how that plastic is ending up back on our dinner plates, to what our options are for fixing the problem over on Planet Green.

Collected from: What is the Pacific Garbage Patch?

Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Collected from: YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Sources

Electrolux Vac From The Sea | Appliancist
http://www.appliancist.com/appliance_trends_2010/electrolux-vac-from-the-sea.html
YouTube - Vac from the Sea - Electrolux collects plastic from the oceans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIlWzZo0fvo&feature=player_embedded
Electrolux to create vacuum cleaners from plastic harvested from polluted oceans | Electrolux Newsroom
http://newsroom.electrolux.com/2010/06/29/electrolux-to-create-vacuum-cleaners-from-plastic-harvested-from-polluted-oceans/
What is the Pacific Garbage Patch?
http://www.electrolux.se/Innovation/Campaigns/Vac-from-the-sea/Making-the-Vacs/
YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg&feature=player_embedded#!

YouTube - World biggest garbage dump - plastic in the Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNqzAHGXvs&feature=player_embedded
YouTube - Charles Moore: Sailing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg&feature=player_embedded#!
Vac from the Sea
http://www.electrolux.se/Innovation/Campaigns/Vac-from-the-sea/
Electrolux Wants to Turn Ocean Plastic Trash Into Vacuum Cleaners | Gear Diary
http://www.geardiary.com/2010/06/25/electrolux-wants-to-turn-ocean-plastic-trash-into-vacuum-cleaners/
Electrolux Turning Plastic From the Ocean Into Vacuum Cleaners | Fast Company
http://www.fastcompany.com/1663579/electrolux-turning-plastic-from-the-ocean-into-vacuum-cleaners
UnderwaterTimes | Electrolux Launches 'Vac From The Sea' Initiative To Turn Plastic Islands Into Vacuum Cleaners
http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=35611040792

2008-10-13

Plastic-Producing Bacteria

San Diego-based Genomatica has developed a microorganism that could replace the need for petroleum in the process to make some plastics. They genetically engineered E.Coli bacteria to consumer sugar and produce plastic without the use of oil or natural gas. The process takes place under normal pressure and temperatures, which drastically cuts it energy use.

clipped from sustainablog.org

Genomatica Turns Bacteria Into Plastic

San Diego-based scientists at Genomatica have developed the ability to manipulate bacteria into being useful to feed our societal lust for plastics, by producing “butanediol (BDO), a chemical compound used to make everything from spandex to car bumpers, thereby providing a more energy-efficient way of making it without oil or natural gas,” the article says.

clipped from www.genomatica.com

clipped from www.sciam.com

scientific american

Turning Bacteria into Plastic Factories

GOOD BACTERIA: Genetically engineered E. coli may produce plastics, thereby eliminatiing the need to use fossil fuels.
©Linda Stewart/istockphoto.com

Cost will be the ultimate factor in whether this someday becomes a widely used plastic-making process; Genomatica says it's not sure how much its E. coli–produced BDO will cost, noting that results thus far have been confined to the lab.

LinkNotes

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