Materials and Waste

COVID-19 trashed the recycling dream

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The Plastic Pandemic: COVID-19 trashed the recycling dream

he coronavirus pandemic has sparked a rush for plastic.

From Wuhan to New York, demand for face shields, gloves, takeaway food containers and bubble wrap for online shopping has surged. Since most of that cannot be recycled, so has the waste.

But there is another consequence. The pandemic has intensified a price war between recycled and new plastic, made by the oil industry. It’s a war recyclers worldwide are losing, price data and interviews with more than two dozen businesses across five continents show.

Melting Cans With The Mini Metal Foundry

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For as long as I can remember, I've been intrigued by the idea of melting metal and making things with it. The problem has always been that it was out of reach or required really expensive equipment.

In this project I experimented with 10 different prototypes, to develop a reusable backyard foundry that melts aluminum soda cans easily and safely. I tested different refractory recipes, different containers, different setting for blowing air, and different types of makeshift crucibles.

I tried various ratios of portland cement, sand, perlite, plaster of paris, water, and even kitty litter. For containers, I experimented with clay pots, plastic buckets, no container, cinderblocks, and a galvanized steel pail.

Hidden cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up | CBC News

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Hidden cameras and secret trackers reveal where Amazon returns end up | CBC News

It's safe to say that online shoppers like the promise of easy — and even better, free — returns. But it may surprise consumers to learn what can actually happen to all those unwanted items.

A Marketplace investigation into Amazon Canada has found that perfectly good items are being liquidated by the truckload — and even destroyed or sent to landfill. Experts say hundreds of thousands of returns don't end up back on the e-commerce giant's website for resale, as customers might think.

Marketplace journalists posing as potential new clients went undercover for a tour at a Toronto e-waste recycling and product destruction facility with hidden cameras. During that meeting, a representative revealed they get "tons and tons of Amazon returns," and that every week their facility breaks apart and shreds at least one tractor-trailer load of Amazon returns, sometimes even up to three to five truckloads.

big brands and plastic recycling targets | Article [AMP] | Reuters

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Set, miss, repeat: big brands and plastic recycling targets | Article [AMP] | Reuters

In 2008, Nestle, the company behind Nescafe coffee and Pure Life water, set a U.S.-wide goal to make water bottles out of 60% recycled plastic within a decade.

That's a goal the company says was never met. Nestle told Reuters it was an ambitious target that didn't get the groundswell of industry and policy-maker support it needed.

 

SABIC violated environmental law before Selkirk leak, state says

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SABIC violated environmental law before Selkirk leak, state says

According to DEC, the SABIC plant in Selkirk, which uses the styrene to make plastic, failed to follow procedures when it stored on its property since May a loaded rail tanker car that had a frozen valve.

Officials said that is what led to the release of approximately 15,825 pounds of styrene vapor, a release could be smelled by people miles away. The gas is considered to be toxic, but it also poses a fire and explosion danger if allowed to heat up while under pressure. Although stabilizers are added to tanker cars full of styrene, those additives can wear out over time.

Once the leak was detected, state officials and local firefighters began cooling the tanker car with a steady stream of water to keep it from rupturing. Officials also closed roads near the plant.

Waste-to-Energy Plants Keep Trash From Mounting. So Why Are Environmentalists Against Them? – VICE

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Waste-to-Energy Plants Keep Trash From Mounting. So Why Are Environmentalists Against Them? – VICE

This is exactly what environmentalists are afraid of.

"The government has to encourage people to produce more waste,” Ymata said, adding that the government may allow the importation of waste from other countries just to provide continuous waste feedstock for these WTE facilities.

“[I]t's like a can of worm[s],” he said. “When you start allowing it, there will be...other problem[s] that will surface along the way."

California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law

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California passes first-in-nation plastics recycling law

In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the ocean and on land,οΏ½California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.

Under it, companies that produce everything from sports drinks to soda to bottled water must use 15% recycled plastic in their bottles by 2022, 25% recycled plastic by 2025, and 50% recycled plastic by 2030.

Supporters of the new law say it will help increase demand for recycled plastic, curb litter in waterways and along roads,οΏ½and reduce consumption of oil and gas, which are used to manufacture new plastics.