Published on September 3rd, 2009
New advances in lithium-ion batteries are making energy storage more effcient, less expensive, and more ready for a deep plunge into the mass market. With application far beyond electric cars – think cell phones, laptops, grid storage, power tools, and even lawn mowers – it is only a matter of time before the world is awash in billions of used lithium-ion batteries.
The emerging lithium-ion battery recycling industry has a lot of catching up to do, but at least two companies are rising to meet the challenge of making the technology more sustainable, Toxco Inc in the U.S. and Nippon Mining & Metals Co Ltd in Japan, both of which are developing new recycling processes.
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Published on September 3rd, 2009
It’s not surprising that Outside Lands, a three-day music festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, wants to bill itself as being “green”. After all, the fest takes place in one of the country’s most beautiful parks. But does the festival, now in it’s second year, succeed in its aspirations of sustainability? Read below to find out.
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Published on September 1st, 2009
Magnum D’Or Resources Inc., a rubber recycling company, now owns one of the world’s largest tire landfills in Hudson, Colorado. But they’re not going to just leave it there. Old tires are bad because they breed mosquitoes, and a tire fire will burn for months. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 28th, 2009
2k Manufacturing based in Luton, England has come up with a process that can take any type of plastic – clean, dirty, or defected – and remake it into what they’re calling ‘EcoSheets’. These EcoSheets are a composite material made to have the same mechanical properties as plywood. They are the end result of a process called powder impression molding, which takes all forms of plastic and makes it into a fine powder. The powder is then sandwiched in between two polymer films and is heat treated to form a viable substitute for plywood, a ubiquitous building material.
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Published on August 22nd, 2009
Magnum D’Or Resources, Inc. has just announced that it is on the verge of buying one of the biggest tire dumps in the world located in Hudson, Colorado. More than 30 million tires are estimated to reside in the 120-acre parcel, and Magnum believes that nearby rail and and other transportation facilities make it ripe for the picking. The company plans to use its next-generation tire recycling facility in Canada to convert the “black gold” into high grade rubber nuggets that could be used in the manufacture of new tires. With an estimated 290 million scrap tires generated annually in the U.S. alone, it looks like Magnum D’Or has tapped into a virtually endless supply of sustainable feedstock for its operations.
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Published on August 7th, 2009
It’s an odd week for fuel sources. On the heels of a Mountain Dew powered engine, UK supermarket Tesco is getting flack for turning meat into energy–yah, you read that right.
The food chain is burning 5,000 tons of inedible meat for fuel. The biomass processing is being handled by the Cheshire-based PDM Group. The meat-energy is then used to power UK homes via the National Grid.
In fact, Tesco says they dispose of enough old meat to power 600 homes a year! Read the rest of this entry »
Published on August 4th, 2009
Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc., which has already made a name for itself by partnering in a Hawaii program that recycles old fishing nets for energy, is at it again. The company has joined in the Fishing for Energy partnership with Covanta Energy, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the NOAA Marine Debris Program. Together, they will collect old or abandoned fishing nets and other gear at the Oregon coastal ports of Garibaldi and Newport, and send it to Covanta’s waste-to-energy plant. The goal: to help prevent oceanborne derelict fishing gear from harming marine life, and to start making a dent in the notorious Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
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Published on July 19th, 2009
Rubber sidewalks are all grown up. Once perceived mainly as a safe surface for playgrounds, rubber sidewalks have developed into a means of preserving urban trees, reducing stormwater runoff, recycling tires, and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. A company called Rubbersidewalks (what else?) began installing the modular units in 2002, and its rubber sidewalk products now appear in almost 100 cities across the country. Even the U.S. military is getting into the act. Plans are in the works to install rubber sidewalks at Coast Guard Island in Alameda, California, and they’re being promoted by the Pollution Prevention Program at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
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Published on July 17th, 2009
Last month, we launched our first iPhone app based on a city feed to help San Franciscans recycle 75 percent of the materials that would otherwise go to the landfill by 2010. Today, we are kicking off a new online effort (www.RecyclingMoments.org) to get us over this green goal line and help our city save resources, energy, and reduce pollution.
In San Francisco, we have led the country in creating ambitious yet achievable programs to help residents and businesses decrease the amount of waste going into our landfill. Our modern curbside program began back in the 80s with the crazy idea that people could recycle their newspapers.
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Published on June 23rd, 2009
Composting will prevent tons of material from going to the landfill, create healthy soil for our local farms and help us fight global warming.
Today at the Farmer’s Market in front of San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building I am signing the nation’s first mandatory composting law. It’s the most comprehensive recycling and composting legislation in the country and the first to require residents and businesses to compost food scraps. Read the rest of this entry »
