polymerguru

  New technology developed at VTT enables the use of pectin-containing agricultural waste, such as citrus peel and sugar beet pulp, as raw material for bio-based PEF-plastics for replacing fossil-based PET. The carbon footprint of plastic bottles can be lowered by 50% when replacing their raw material of PET with PEF polymers, which also provides a better shelf life for food. Significant Advantage Over Traditional Means VTT’s technology has significant advantages for making bio-based PEF plastics. The technology uses a stable intermediate to produce FDCA (2,5-furandicarboxylic acid), one of the monomers of PEF, which enables a highly efficient process. In addition, utilizing pectin-containing waste streams opens new possibilities for the circular economy of plastics. VTT’s unique scale-up infrastructure from laboratory to pilot scale ensures that this new technology will be brought to a technology readiness level that will allow polymer manufacturers’ easy transition to full scale....

  A few years ago, forward-thinking employees at Bacardi Ltd. realized they had a problem. Consumers were increasingly fed up with petroleum-based plastics, which contribute to ocean pollution and climate change. Yet that’s exactly what the company was using in the 80 million bottles of spirits it sold each year. Would it be possible, they wondered, to produce bottles with something less harmful to the environment — and to their own brand? Now they have an answer. In 2023, Bacardi will start using bottles made with a remarkable new bioplastic called Nodax PHA. Unlike traditional bottles, the new ones will biodegrade in compost piles, special landfills and even the ocean. It’s an impressive feat of innovation. Unfortunately, it isn’t quite the “silver bullet” the company claims. In fact, the new project shows just how hard it’s going to be to solve the world’s plastic crisis. Bacardi started thinking seriously about the issue in the mid-2010s, as global public opinion began to fixat...

  Researchers at Swansea University are working on a project that changes waste plastics into highly valuable compounds for the energy industries. Scientists are extracting carbon atoms found in waste plastics and turning them into a nanotube format that can be used for the transmission of electricity. They are producing plastic electric cables without the copper wire inside them, which can be used in residential and industrial construction. Senior Lecturer, Dr. Alvin Orbaek White is leading the research group at the Energy Safety Research  Institute  in Swansea University. Dr. White has already developed an electrical wire made from  carbon nanotubes from waste  plastics that are suitable for electricity and data transmission. The vision is to advance global energy sustainability by producing long range electricity  transmission materials  from waste plastics. Dr Orbaek White said, “ Converting plastics into useful materials such as carbon nanotubes c...