Plastopedia

Environmental lobbyists are warning that the country's failure to establish legislation to encourage the purchasing of used plastic bottles, as well as the use of the environmental levy for other than its intended purpose is pushing some local firms out of the recycling business.

"Jamaica could have a recycling industry yes, but certain things that are to be in place are not. So, yes, it's not viable, because what is happening now is not long-term in my opinion," said Diana McCaulay of the Jamaica Environment Trust.

On September 17th, the Eugene City Council will meet to determine whether residents of Eugene are ready to ban the plastic bag. The public hearing is a continuation of a discussion established during July’s hearing regarding the execution of the proposed ban. Though the majority of citizens seem to support the idea, the public hearings have managed to stir up heated debates as to whether we should follow the Portland or Corvallis method.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has vetoed a plastic bag recycling bill that would have made it more difficult for most communities in the state to ban single-use plastic bags.

Quinn vetoed the bill on Aug. 26. The legislation was supported by some plastic

Do we want to bag the use of plastic grocery bags? Judging by the testimony at the Homer City Council meeting Monday night, the answer is ‘yes’ from many in the community. The council responded by passing an ordinance to ban plastic bags.

A few years ago, Anup Sud, a cardiac surgeon traveled to Iowa for a recycling project. Discovering a growing market for high density polyethylene (HDPE) drainage tiles, he started Quality Farm Drainage LLC in January 2010.

Come September, Sud’s company will be adding Corma machinery to triple its production capacity to meet growing demand for its tiles.

The tiles are used in fields in the upper Midwest, and help farmers boost crop yields. They do it by siphoning water away from the plants.

Sud said there are bigger players in the region, but there is strong demand.

Drainage tiles seem to be an odd fit for a surgeon like Sud, who emigrated from India in 1975. He did medical training in Detroit and then opened a successful practice in Flint, Michigan.

Sud still practices medicine in Flint, but his interest in manufacturing has also grown. He had a company that made drainage tiles for the residential basement market in the 1990s. When the local housing market tanked, Sud turned off the machine and turned to recycling.

He took that machine to Iowa and now is bringing in a more modern machine that will enable the company to produce as much as 120,000 feet of 4-inch tile per day.

Sud also owns CSI Plastics LLC in Flint, where HDPE products such as laundry detergent containers are ground, washed and pelletized for use in Sioux City.

University of California students at Davis, Sacramento, are competing to find the solution of one of the biggest problems of this century: creating bacteria that can decompose plastic waste.

Is it possible to

According to plastics recycling experts, the only way for plastic packaging recycling targets to be met is for more councils to collect mixed rigid plastics at the kerbside.

On 10 August, in a report published alongside the Advisory Committee on Packaging’s (ACP) annual report, the ACP’s Plastics Task Force said that it was “theoretically” possible for the UK to meet Defra’s target of recycling 57% of its plastic packaging by 2017.

Since the launch of the Flake-Purifier sorting system in 2008, the S+S Group has used the best new technology to improve performance and extend the range to cover all the needs of the plastics recycling industry. From separating a range of food and non-food grade plastics, including PET, PLA and PVC, into pure fractions using NIR (Near Infra-Red) and CCD camera technologies, the FLAKE PURIFIER can now be fitted with metal detection sensors to remove metallic contaminants whilst sorting mixed plastics flakes by both colour and type.

Residents eager to fill their recycling bins each week need to leave out the plastic bags because cities and town across the SouthCoast don't take them.

Thin plastic bags like the kind used for carrying groceries are on “not accepted” on recyclable lists in New Bedford, Fairhaven, Dartmouth, Rochester, Wareham, Westport, Marion and Mattapoisett.

UK is one of the top plastic recycling nation in Europe, according to a recent European Commission (EC) report.

The report, titled ‘Screening of waste management performance of EU member states’, named

When you go into a supermarket, you are usually given a choice: paper or plastic bags to cart your groceries home, unless you are carrying your own reusable grocery bag.

In some states, the choice could cost you a few pennies - including New Jersey, if bills pending in the Legislature become law.

Michael Scriba, an executive with the German plastics recycling company mtm plastics, has applauded the creation of the EuCertPlast standard recently implemented in Europe.

“With this, hopefully the regionalism in the certification practice will soon come to an end,” Scriba says. In welcoming EuCertPlast, Scriba says, “Until now companies like mtm, who work with various domestic and foreign suppliers, had to allow themselves to be audited several times a year according to varying inspection requirements.

The Medfield Transfer Station is now accepting rigid plastics like children's furniture, clothes baskets, etc., and has recycled more than two loads in the short time the program has been in effect.

Globe Telecom has extended to August 31 its plastic bottle recycling drive among colleges and universities in Albay to help minimize trash that has worsened flooding while raising funds for charitable projects.

The firm has led environment advocacies such as energy management, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions among other issues, according to Rob Nazal, head of Globe Corporate Social Responsibility.

What’s the latest trend in swimwear fashion? A bold, modern print … a sexy new cut … a novel interpretation of the tankini? Nope—it’s all about the fabric: swimsuits made with recycled plastics.

Plastics in swimsuits? That’s right: plastics. For decades, swimsuits have tended toward fabrics made with plastic fibers, such as nylon, polyester and spandex. Swimsuit designers have used these fabrics to create suits that fit snugly, dry quickly, and stand up over time to multiple dips in the pool and ocean.

Recycling businesscc has created a giant duck made from plastic bottles for London’s Regents Canal Festival.“We consume 600,000 tonnes of plastic bottles every year, but less than half of this is collected for recycling,” said the firm’s managing director, Jonathan Short.

A plastics recycling business believes that its capacity to match the price of virgin grade resins for less commonly reused plastics will yield considerable energy savings and create opportunities for greener manufacturing.

NextLife, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida, is using proprietary technology to process 100% post consumer recycled plastics from less commonly recycled content into a consistent resin product. The resin is also approved for food contact.