plastics Archives | CleanTechnica

Plastic Crisis? No Problem, FLAM Is Coming With Bonus 3-D Printing

March 15th, 2020 | by Tina Casey

A killer combo of food waste recycling, 3-D printing, and the biobased plastic alternative FLAM spells more trouble for oil and gas stakeholders

Surprise! Ocean Could Help Solve Own Ocean Plastic Problem

March 13th, 2020 | by Tina Casey

The waters of the Earth are beseiged by a torrent of plastic waste, but seawater could help stem the tide with a new biodegradable solution

Michigan Teen Turns Plastic Trash Into T-Shirts

February 7th, 2020 | by Steve Hanley

Jackson Reigler is building a business based on making clothing using polyester yarn from recycled plastic bottles. He is proof that a circular economy model works.

Despite Industry Lies & Bribes, Single-Use Plastics Are On The Wane

January 27th, 2020 | by Steve Hanley

More companies are turning away from single-use plastics as public consciousness about plastic pollution increases.

30% Of Microplastic Pollution Comes From Washing Clothes, But This Company Has A Solution

December 2nd, 2019 | by Chanan Bos

The company has come up with a great way to significantly reduce the problem at the source, directly at the washing machine. Its solution is a new kind of smart filter that can either be integrated or added onto existing washing machines

Agriculture

Could Banana Leaf Technology Squelch Our Use Of Single-Use Plastics?

October 13th, 2019 | by Carolyn Fortuna

Banana leaves that can replace plastic wrap and other plastic wraps -- one more attempt to save the planet from ourselves

Agriculture

From Bio Waste To SCOBY Packaging

August 27th, 2019 | by Erika Clugston

The MakeGrowLab is in the process of patenting the SCOBY material

Research

Plastics In Rainwater, Plastics In Snow, Plastics In Our Food, Plastics Everywhere

August 15th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley

New research finds micro-plastic particles in everything from Arctic sea ice to snow in the Alps to rain in the Rockies. There is almost no research about the health effects of micro-plastics on humans.

Water

How Are We Dealing With The Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

August 15th, 2019 | by The Beam

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is a major environmental problem, yet, in the context of the many warnings we’ve had over the last decade as to the damage we are doing to our planet, it seems perfectly in keeping with the times. Except, of course, that it’s not even new. Scientists have been officially monitoring its growth since the 1970s.

Agriculture

Fascism & #Fake Republicans

July 29th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley

America is becoming a dictatorship where nationalism and defense of corporations are the primary objective of the government. Fake Republicans are happily promoting the end of the American Experiment.

Policy & Politics

Taking A Cue From EU, Canada Plans To Ban Some Single Use Plastics

June 11th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley

Plastic trash used to be a simple problem. Bundle it up, put it on a freighter, and ship it off to China. That worked really well until China stopped allowing plastic waste into the country. All of sudden, the countries producing all that trash had no idea what to do with it

Climate Change

Environmental Impact Of Plastics Could Be Equal To 615 Coal-Fired Generating Plants By 2050

June 3rd, 2019 | by Steve Hanley

Demand for plastics is expected to skyrocket over the next several decades, adding many gigatons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. Can anything be done? Yes, keep oil and gas in the ground.

Consumer Technology

Microbe-Grown Electronics: An Alternative To Plastic

May 31st, 2019 | by Erika Clugston

Aivan, a Finnish design company, used fungus, yeast, and other naturally-derived materials to create a pair of concept headphones

Clean Power

LEGO: Solar Power, Plastic, & Sustainability

May 31st, 2019 | by Erika Clugston

The company now runs on 100% renewables, but continues to face the problem of its dependence on petroleum-based plastics

Climate Change

New Report On Plastics & Climate — The Hidden Costs Of A Plastic Planet

May 18th, 2019 | by Cynthia Shahan

Amanda Kistler, Director of Communications and Development at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), has shared a new report with CleanTechnica. The full report, Plastic & Climate The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, was released on May 15, 2019. Below is a summary of the report and several highlights from it

Science

Fully Recyclable Plastics Breakthrough! This Could Change Everything

May 9th, 2019 | by Steve Hanley

Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory say they have a found a way to make plastics that are fully recyclable. That could be a significant breakthrough for a world drowning in plastic detritus.

Got Solutions? National Geographic & Sky Ocean Ventures Launch Competition For Alternatives To Single-Use Plastics

February 20th, 2019 | by Erika Clugston

Teams and individuals will compete for one year to propose their innovative solutions to the world’s plastic crisis

Fossil Fuels

Corporate Insistence On Single-Use Plastics & Protecting The Environment

January 31st, 2019 | by Carolyn Fortuna

Why are so many corporations pledging to reduce single-use plastics instead of eliminating them altogether now

Clean Transport

EVs Or Not, We’ll Always Have Petrochemicals — Or Not!

December 31st, 2018 | by Tina Casey

Global oil and gas giants are hedging agains EVs and renewable energy by growing their petrochemicals business, but other corporate giants can thwart them

Should All Plastic Be Banned? Join The Discussion On Kialo!

November 7th, 2018 | by Kyle Field

Engaging in an honest, factual and logical debate isn't always possible, but the folks over at Kialo are on a mission to maximize the likelihood of a positive outcome, whatever the topic may be. Their platform was built to allow just about anyone to have a structured online debate about just about anything

Green Economy

Fashion & Cosmetics: The Beauty Of A Plastic-Free Lifestyle

October 16th, 2018 | by The Beam

An interview with social entrepreneur and plastic pollution activist Shilpi Chhotray

Clean Power

Ocean Plastic Cleanup Project Is Better News Than You Might Think

September 18th, 2018 | by Michael Barnard

Boyan's vision could have fallen apart at multiple points over the past five years. Reisser's study or someone else's could have shown a much more even distribution of plastics through dozens of meters of water column. Plastics could have degraded more quickly in ocean water and sunlight. He could have failed to capture many people's imaginations

Scientists Develop Recycling Process That Could Lead To “Zero Waste” Cell Phones

May 22nd, 2018 | by Nexus Media

Researchers have developed a process to separate fiberglass from resin. This was a task that had proved nearly impossible earlier — and the primary reason the two substances are nearly impossible to recycle. They must be separated to make them reusable. Scientists hope their research will be used to develop a “zero-waste” cell phone.