Microplastics endanger ocean health

Air Pollution Control - Jet & High Energy Venturi Scrubbers Packed Towers-EtO/PO/NOX Removal - www.croll.com

The main concern is that microplastics are plastic pieces too small to see with the naked eye. They may be small by design, or be fragments of larger pieces of plastic waste.

Their size means they can be mistaken for food by even the smallest sea creatures, as well as large animals like seabirds and fish.

Scientists are concerned about the damage this could be causing. ...

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Medical-Grade Polyurethanes, from Wound Care to Permanent Implants

Tony Walder, manager of technology, thermedics polymer products, for The Lubrizol Corp. (Wickliffe, OH) will present “Medical-Grade Polyurethanes, from Wound Care to Permanent Implants” at the MD&M East conference program on Monday, May 21. Lubrizol specializes in additives, ingredients, and compounds optimized for the healthcare and other industries.

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Market Report: Plastics Industry to Follow Manufacturing’s Growth Trend

Taylor noted that since plastics manufacturing is interwoven with manufacturing in general, the news that economic indicators expect manufacturing to continue to grow in 2012 at a rate of 3.5 percent also is good news for plastics.

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KrausMaffei expands dual-platen machine range

KraussMaffei has extended its hydro-mechanical dual-platen injection molding machines in the medium clamping force range with the world premiere of its GX series. Launched at a customer event at its headquarter in Munich, the GX Series features a redesigned locking device and guide shoe, among other new features.

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Coca-Cola and ECO Plastics claim recycling breakthrough

United Kingdom: Having established a state-of-the-art, US$ 24 million (Euro 18.7 million) recycling facility in the UK dedicated to processing plastic bottles and polymers simultaneously, Coca-Cola and ECO Plastics state they have tackled the enduring issue of recycling mixed plastics.

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UK Plastics Recycler Invests in Plastics Granulator

Luxus Ltd., a plastics recycling company based in Lincolnshire, U.K., has invested £120,000 (US$190,000) in a new plastic granulation line that will boost the company’s granulation capacity. According to Luxus,, the new line will granulate large moldings at a rate of one metric ton per hour, increasing the company’s total granulation capacity to 13,000 metric tons per year.
The company says that its investment will allow the company to target growing markets for its closed...

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Vermont student creates recycling device

A Vermont Technical College engineering major has created a way to recycle jugs and other plastics into filament to be used with desktop printers.

Tyler McNaney, a mechanical engineering student from Milton, Vt., has raised more than $30,000 in capital via Kickstarter, a funding website for startups, and has been named to the list of “Most Successsful Entrpeneurs of the Next Ten Years,” by World Future Society.

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Green bottles: Coca-Cola and Eco Plastics joint recycling venture opens in the UK

Calling it a first for the UK recycling and beverage industries, Coca-Cola Enterprises and plastic recycler Eco Plastics have established a recycling facility in the U.K. dedicated to processing both PET plastic bottles and other polymers simultaneously.

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'Green Team' kids urge Crayola to recycle plastic markers

Wilson said his own two children are huge Crayola marker fans. "Over the past 8 years, we have gone through approximately 500," he figured. 

Crayola acknowledged the good intentions but said that, for now at least, there’s no practical way to take back and recycle entire markers.

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Recycler Pro Pel Plastech recycles the sun with new PV array

With a new 257 kilowatt photovoltaic rooftop array, Pro Pel Plastech in Massachusetts is recycling more than just plastics, it’s recycling the sun. The array is capable of producing roughly 25 percent of the South Deerfield, Mass., company’s energy needs at its processing facility. There have been a lot PV arrays installed at waste-water treatment facilities, but seemingly not as many at recycling facilities.

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The CIPA Plasticulture for a Green Planet Conference looks at agricultural plastics for farming.

Agriculturalists worldwide need to capitalize on the increasingly sustainable plastics being developed for farming, industry officials agreed at a conference in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.

This in light of the escalating food supply needs of an exploding population.

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Thermoformed plastics market projected to grow at 4% CAGR through 2017; packaging leads the way

The global market for thermoformed plastic products is expected to increase from 7.0 billion lb in 2012 to 8.5 billion lb by 2017, a 4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

In comparison, the global market for thermoformed plastic products was 6.8 billion lb in 2011, according to the study from ReportsnReports, an online market research company.

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15 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottle Caps

Bottle caps are made from #5 plastic, which many municipalities do not recycle. That means that even if you can recycle or reuse your plastic bottle, you can’t toss the cap into the recycle bin.

Even if you are able to recycle those plastic bottle caps, recycling plastic is very inefficient. When you recycle plastic what you’re actually doing is called downcycling. Each time plastic goes through the recycling process, you end up with a lower and lower grade of plastic. Eventu...

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Third Graders Help Their School Win Green Cup Recycle Challenge

Pioneer Academy (PS 307Q), a Pre-K-4th grade school in Queens is the winner of the 2012 Green Cup RECYCLE Challenge, a national student-driven recycling competition for K-12 schools sponsored by the non-profit Green Schools Alliance (GSA).

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A Rough Patch for Plastics

Plastics markets are finding some challenges moving into the summer. The economic doldrums that are plaguing Europe are having a spillover effect on markets for a host of plastic scrap grades in Europe. Exacerbating the problems with supplying European plastic scrap consumers has been the demand for various grades of plastic scrap by Chinese consumers of the material.

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Elementary school recycling program: Thinkin' and talkin' trash

By saving as many plastic yogurt cups, cereal bowls and other materials as possible from the trash bin, the students in Rick Wilson’s third-grade class at Mesquite Elementary School aim to increase recycling numbers schoolwide as well as throughout the community.

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Manatee schools set recycling world record

MANATEE COUNTY - It's official: Manatee County school students and community members have set the Guinness World Record for collecting 29,560 pounds of recyclable plastic bottles in one day last month.

The Guinness organization this week officially recognized the Manatee County School District as the title-holder for "Most Plastic Bottles Recycled" in an eight-hour period. The record was set during the Manatee schools' 2012 Recycling Round-Up on April 26.

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Grocery stores are finding ways to discourage paper, plastic

You may think you’re making the environmentally responsible choice when you request paper instead of plastic bags in the supermarket. But you would be wrong.

“Paper is not a good alternative because it has a higher carbon footprint. That means it takes more energy to manufacture the product and transport it and recycle it,” said Joan Barenfanger of the Green Business Network of Springfield, Ill. She oversees the network’s Better Bag Project, which seeks to increas...

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ALN Forum Examines Single-Stream Recycling

Local and state officials introduced the new single-stream recycling system that will be implemented in Newport this June during a forum presented by the Alliance for a Livable Newport on Tuesday night at the Newport Public Library.

The forum also explained how to reduce and recycle items that are difficult to dispose of, such as paint, mattresses, light bulbs and batteries

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