Recycling and Waste news and discussions

User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8734
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by wjfox »

User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

India's First E-Waste Eco Park to Come Up in Delhi's Holambi Kalan
by Tashafi Nazir
July 8, 2022

Introduction:
(The Logical Indian) India's first e-waste eco-park is set to be built in Holambi Kalan in Delhi in the next two years, the AAP government said. Regarding the initiative, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai, on July 8, held a joint review meeting with the officials of the Environment Department and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

As per the environment department of the national capital, every year, the city produces over two lakh tonnes of e-waste or nearly 9.5 per cent of the total amount produced in India.

5th Largest Producer Of E-Waste

With this, Delhi is now the fifth-largest producer of e-waste in India, after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. In addition, only 5 per cent of the generated e-waste is properly recycled.

"We are bringing the country's first e-waste eco-park to Delhi for this reason. By "e-waste eco-park," we refer to the establishment of an area where this e-waste is dismantled, refurbished, recycled, and manufactured in such a manner that is scientifically and environmentally sound," an official said, according to India Today. The park will be developed in an area of about 21 acres.

Rai said an 11-member steering committee has been formed and Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) has been made its implementing agency, The Times of India reported.
Read more here: https://thelogicalindian.com/good-gove ... i-36445
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Natural Clean-up: Bacteria Can Remove Plastic Pollution from Lakes
July 26, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) A study of 29 European lakes has found that some naturally-occurring lake bacteria grow faster and more efficiently on the remains of plastic bags than on natural matter like leaves and twigs.

The bacteria break down the carbon compounds in plastic to use as food for their growth.

The scientists say that enriching waters with particular species of bacteria could be a natural way to remove plastic pollution from the environment.

The effect is pronounced: the rate of bacterial growth more than doubled when plastic pollution raised the overall carbon level in lake water by just 4%.
Conclusion:
"Our study shows that when carrier bags enter lakes and rivers they can have dramatic and unexpected impacts on the entire ecosystem. Hopefully our results will encourage people to be even more careful about how they dispose of plastic waste," said Eleanor Sheridan in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Plant Sciences, first author of the study who undertook the work as part of a final-year undergraduate project.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/959587
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
wjfox
Site Admin
Posts: 8734
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 6:09 pm
Location: London, UK
Contact:

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by wjfox »

First 100,000 KG Removed From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

25 July 2022

Today, our operation in the Pacific Ocean reached an exciting milestone: The Ocean Cleanup has now officially removed more than 100,000 kg of plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP).

Since deployment in August 2021, System 002 (or “Jenny”) has now collected 101,353 kg of plastic over 45 extractions, sweeping an area of ocean of over 3000km2 – comparable to the size of Luxembourg or Rhode Island. Added to the 7,173 kg of plastic captured by our previous prototype systems, The Ocean Cleanup has now collected 108,526 kg of plastic from the GPGP – more than the combined weight of two and a half Boeing 737-800s, or the dry weight of a space shuttle!

According to our 2018 study in which we mapped the patch, the total amount of accumulated plastic is 79,000,000 kg, or 100,000,000 kg if we include the Outer GPGP. Thus, if we repeat this 100,000 kg haul 1,000 times – the Great Pacific Garbage Patch will be gone.

I’m proud of The Ocean Cleanup team for crossing this milestone, which is all the more remarkable considering System 002 is still an experimental system. Now our technology is validated, we are ready to move on to our new and expanded System 03, which is expected to capture plastic at a rate potentially 10 times higher than System 002 through a combination of increased size, improved efficiency, and increased uptime. Our transition to System 03 is starting soon.

https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/fir ... age-patch/


Image
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Compost to Computer: Bio-based Materials Used to Salvage Rare Earth Elements
August 19, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) What do corncobs and tomato peels have to do with electronics? They both can be used to salvage valuable rare earth elements, like neodymium, from electronic waste. Penn State researchers used micro- and nanoparticles created from the organic materials to capture rare earth elements from aqueous solutions.

Their findings, available online now, will also be published in the November issue of Chemical Engineering Journal.

“Waste products like corncobs, wood pulp, cotton and tomato peels often end up in landfills or in compost,” said corresponding author Amir Sheikhi, assistant professor of chemical engineering. “We wanted to transform these waste products into micro- or nanoscale particles capable of extracting rare earth elements from electronic waste.”

Rare earth metals are used to manufacture strong magnets used in motors for electric and hybrid cars, loudspeakers, headphones, computers, wind turbines, TV screens and more. However, mining these metals proves challenging and environmentally costly, according to Sheikhi, as large land areas are required to mine even small amounts of the metals. Instead, efforts have turned to recycling the metals from electronic waste items like old computers or circuit boards.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962376
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Plastic Upcycling: From Waste to Fuel for Less
August 22, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) RICHLAND, Wash.— A plastics recycling innovation that does more with less, presented today at the American Chemical Society fall meeting in Chicago, simultaneously increases conversion to useful products while using less of the precious metal ruthenium.

“The key discovery we report is the very low metal load,” said Pacific Northwest National Laboratory chemist Janos Szanyi, who led the research team. “This makes the catalyst much cheaper.”

The new method more efficiently converts plastics to valuable commodity chemicals—a process termed “upcycling.” In addition, it produces much less methane, an undesirable greenhouse gas, as a byproduct, compared with other reported methods.

“It was very interesting to us that there had been nothing previously published showing this result,” said postdoctoral research scientist Linxiao Chen, who presented the research at ACS. “This research shows the opportunity to develop effective, selective and versatile catalysts for plastic upcycling.”
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/962286
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
weatheriscool
Posts: 12973
Joined: Sun May 16, 2021 6:16 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by weatheriscool »

New way found to turn number seven plastic into valuable products

by Tina Hilding, Washington State University
https://phys.org/news/2022-08-plastic-v ... ducts.html
A method to convert a commonly thrown-away plastic to a resin used in 3D-printing could allow for making better use of plastic waste.

A team of Washington State University researchers developed a simple and efficient way to convert polylactic acid (PLA), a bio-based plastic used in products such as filament, plastic silverware and food packaging to a high-quality resin.

"We found a way to immediately turn this into something that's stronger and better, and we hope that will provide people the incentive to upcycle this stuff instead of just toss it away," said Yu-Chung Chang, a postdoctoral researcher in the WSU School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and a co-corresponding author on the work. "We made stronger materials just straight out of trash. We believe this could be a great opportunity."

About 300,000 tons of PLA are produced annually, and its use is increasing dramatically.

Although it's bio-based, PLA, which is categorized as a number seven plastic, doesn't break down easily. It can float in fresh or salt water for a year without degrading. It is also rarely recycled because like many plastics, when it's melted down and re-formed, it doesn't perform as well as the original version and becomes less valuable.
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

Recycling Greenhouse Gases
September 1, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) Wherever the production of harmful greenhouse gases cannot be prevented, they should be converted into something useful: this approach is called "carbon capture and utilisation". Special catalysts are needed for this. Until now, however, the problem has been that a layer of carbon quickly forms on these catalysts - this is called "coking" - and the catalyst loses its effect. At TU Wien, a new approach was taken: tiny metallic nanoparticles were produced on perovskite crystals through special pre-treatment. The interaction between the crystal surface and the nanoparticles then ensures that the desired chemical reaction takes place without the dreaded coking effect.

Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/963526
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

The Power of Compost - Making Waste a Climate Champion
September 5, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert ) A new way of using compost could boost global crop production and deliver huge benefits to the planet, according to a study co-led by The University of Queensland.

Professor Susanne Schmidt from UQ’s School of Agriculture and Food Sciences said adopting a Precision Compost Strategy (PCS) in large-scale agriculture could improve crop yield, soil health and divert biowaste from landfill where it generates harmful greenhouse gases.

“Instead of relying just on mineral fertilisers, PCS involves supplementing the right type of compost with nutrients to match the needs of soils and crops,” Professor Schmidt said.
Further extract:
“In Australia alone, more than 7 million tonnes of biowaste ends up in landfill every year where it generates huge amounts of avoidable greenhouse gases and other undesirable effects,” Professor Schmidt said.

“If we repurpose it, we can restore crucial carbon in cropland topsoil.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/963618
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
User avatar
caltrek
Posts: 6509
Joined: Mon May 17, 2021 1:17 pm

Re: Recycling and Waste news and discussions

Post by caltrek »

A Breakthrough Discovery in Carbon Capture Conversion for Ethylene Production
September 9, 2022

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) A team of researchers led by Meenesh Singh at University of Illinois Chicago has discovered a way to convert 100% of carbon dioxide captured from industrial exhaust into ethylene, a key building block for plastic products.

Their findings are published in Cell Reports Physical Science.

While researchers have been exploring the possibility of converting carbon dioxide to ethylene for more than a decade, the UIC team’s approach is the first to achieve nearly 100% utilization of carbon dioxide to produce hydrocarbons. Their system uses electrolysis to transform captured carbon dioxide gas into high purity ethylene, with other carbon-based fuels and oxygen as byproducts.

The process can convert up to 6 metric tons of carbon dioxide into 1 metric ton of ethylene, recycling almost all carbon dioxide captured. Because the system runs on electricity, the use of renewable energy can make the process carbon negative.

According to Singh, his team’s approach surpasses the net-zero carbon goal of other carbon capture and conversion technologies by actually reducing the total carbon dioxide output from industry. “It’s a net negative,” he said. “For every 1 ton of ethylene produced, you’re taking 6 tons of CO2 from point sources that otherwise would be released to the atmosphere.”
Read more of the EurekAlert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/964324

For the Cell Reports Physical Science article: https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-phys ... 22)00347-2.
Don't mourn, organize.

-Joe Hill
Post Reply