Sunday's THOUGHTFUL Post : Turning Orange Peels Into Bioplastic

Sunday's THOUGHTFUL Post

Turning Orange Peels Into Bioplastic — A Simple, Powerful Circular Innovation

Every year, the global citrus industry produces millions of tons of orange peel waste. Most of it is discarded, even though it contains valuable natural compounds like cellulose and limonene.

But new research shows that orange peels can be transformed into biodegradable bioplastic materials — offering a sustainable, low-cost alternative to fossil-based plastics.

Here’s how it works:

1️⃣ Orange peels are rich in cellulose

This gives them the structural properties needed to form biopolymer films.

2️⃣ The peels are processed into a natural bioplastic mixture

Using simple and economical techniques, researchers convert the peel into a film-forming material.

3️⃣ Glycerol acts as a natural plasticizer

It improves flexibility and mechanical strength — without using petrochemical additives.

4️⃣ The resulting bioplastic is fully biodegradable

Tests show strong flexibility, good thermal stability, and complete disintegration in soil conditions.

Why this matters:

Diverts food waste from landfills

Reduces dependency on virgin fossil-based plastics

Enables low-cost, accessible bioplastic production

Supports circular economy models in agriculture and packaging

Sometimes the most powerful innovations come from the simplest waste streams.

Question for my network:

Which agricultural waste do you think has the most potential for new materials?

Reference

Yaradoddi, J.S., Banapurmath, N.R., Ganachari, S.V., et al. (2021). Bio-based material from fruit waste of orange peel for industrial applications. Journal of Materials Research and Technology.

https://lnkd.in/gf8ZMheF

source : Wei Ling Wang

The secret to a successful career

The secret to a successful career?

Cheer for others even when it’s not your turn.

You don’t lose anything by cheering for others.

But you gain a lot.

Because the people who are most fulfilled...

They're usually the ones lifting others up.

❌ Not the ones who compete in silence.

❌ Not the ones who discredit others’ wins.

❌ Not the ones who tear others down.

The ones who:

👏 Hype up their teammates

👏 Share wins that aren’t their own

👏 Recommend others without expecting a return

Because they know success isn’t a queue.

It’s not “if they win, I lose.”

Here’s how to shift your mindset:

1. Celebrate without comparison

↳ Their win doesn't take away from yours.

2. Share the spotlight

↳ Back others and build real trust.

3. Focus on your own journey.

↳ Everyone is on their own path.

Personally, I'll always celebrate friends' and co-workers' wins like my own. And in doing so, I get to experience a lot more happiness and success.

It's the ultimate win-win.

Repost to encourage lifting each other up ♻️

source : Joseph Rudd

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share : 3D Printing in Orthopedics

Today's KNOWLEDGE Share

3D Printing in Orthopedics: Why Are We Still Pretending the Future Isn’t Here?

A week ago, I visited Swiss M4M, a true center of excellence for 3D printing in MedTech. And let me say it bluntly:

I walked out inspired — and shocked.

Inspired by what is possible.

Shocked by how far behind our industry still is, by choice!

I remember the 2012 hype:

“Hospitals will have 3D printers.”

“Implants will be printed on demand.”

“This will transform everything.”

Thirteen years later, do you know what has transformed?

Almost nothing.

Other industries—Aerospace. Automotive. Formula 1.—are pushing boundaries with additive manufacturing.

And orthopedics?

We are still polishing stainless steel like it’s 1995, an mill implants from large seize material blocks!

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

The technology works. The capabilities exist.

What’s missing is courage.

Courage to redesign implants instead of recycling old geometries.

Courage to rethink instruments instead of machining blocks of metal.

Courage to challenge teams who say, “We’ve always done it this way.”

During my visit, I saw patient-specific solutions, titanium structures, integrated functionalities—and all at a level of maturity we should have embraced years ago. And guess who is pushing the limits?

Not the big players.

Not the ones with the multi-billion-dollar budgets.

It’s the small companies.

The hungry ones.

The ones who can’t afford inefficiency.

The paradox is almost embarrassing:

Big MedTech talks innovation, publishes innovation, markets innovation…

but often refuses to implement innovation, because the risks to timelines are to high.

And before anyone claims surgeons won’t accept 3D-printed implants—

I actually asked them.

They don’t care.

If it works, they use it. End of story.

Meanwhile, our old manufacturing model forces us to maintain SKUs where:

20% drive revenue, and 80% fill warehouses.

This is absurd in 2025.

3D printing was practically created to solve this low/ no volume problem.

So, let’s stop pretending.

Let’s stop hiding behind excuses like “risk,” “timeline,” or “validation workload.”

If aerospace engineers can trust 3D-printed structural parts at 30,000 feet,

we can trust a printed plate or instrument in an operating room.

My message to senior leaders:

Either you push your organization to adopt this technology — or someone smaller, faster, and braver will eat your lunch.

Additive manufacturing is no longer “the future.”

It is the present.

And our industry is running out of reasons not to use it.

source : Urs Wigger

#Orthopedics #3DPrinting #AdditiveManufacturing #healthcare

Westlake to Rationalize Certain North American Chlorovinyl and Styrene Assets

#WestlakeCorporation announced today that the Company has approved a plan to cease operation of certain of the Company’s North American chlorovinyl production facilities, including:

its polyvinyl chloride (“PVC”) plant at the Aberdeen, Mississippi site, which has an annual capacity of approximately 1 billion pounds of suspension PVC resin;

its vinyl chloride monomer (“VCM”) plant at the Lake Charles, Louisiana North site, which has an annual capacity of approximately 910 million pounds of VCM; and

one of its diaphragm chlor-alkali units at the Lake Charles, Louisiana South site, which has an annual capacity of approximately 825 million pounds of chlorine and 910 million pounds of caustic soda.

The Company plans to continue supplying customers with #PVC, #VCM and #chlor-alkali products from its seven other North American chlorovinyl facilities.

Following the closures, the Company expects to have aggregate annual production capacity of approximately

(i) 5,520 million pounds of suspension PVC globally, including 4,900 million pounds in North America,

(ii) 7,630 million pounds of VCM globally, including 6,050 million pounds in North America, and

(iii) 6,680 million pounds of chlorine and 7,510 million pounds of caustic soda globally, including 5,410 million pounds of chlorine and 6,100 million pounds of caustic soda in North America.

The Company also approved a plan to cease operation of its styrene production plant located at the Lake Charles, Louisiana site, which has an annual production capacity of approximately 570 million pounds of styrene.

Cessation of operations at the affected facilities is expected to take place in December 2025. The closures of the facilities are expected to result in a workforce reduction of approximately 295 employees. The Company expects it will incur total pre-tax costs of approximately $415 million related to the closures of the facilities consisting of noncash accelerated depreciation, amortization, and asset write-off charges of approximately $357 million, employee severance and separation costs of approximately $25 million, and other plant shut down costs of approximately $33 million.

“Given the persistent, challenging market conditions facing the global commodities chemicals industry, as part of our evaluation of business operations, we have made the difficult decision to cease operation of three units within our North American Chlorovinyls business and cease operations of our Styrene manufacturing unit, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We will continue to supply our chlorovinyl customers with products produced at our other North American Chlorovinyls manufacturing facilities,” said Westlake President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Gilson.

source: Westlake Corporation

Turning diaper waste into new value: BASF, Essity and TU Wien pioneer circular solutions

BASF, one of the world’s leading chemical companies and manufacturer of #superabsorbentpolymers (SAP), and Essity, a global leading hygiene and health company, joined forces together with the Technical University of Wien to revolutionize #recycling of #absorbenthygieneproducts (AHP).

The groundbreaking gasification pilot project proves that used diapers and other absorbent hygiene products can be transformed into valuable raw materials for new chemical products – no complex pre-treatment required. The resulting gas mixture contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can be used as feedstock in chemical production, keeping carbon in the loop.

BASF and #TUWien’s innovative gasification technology enabled this result. Gasification is a process that converts solids like waste into gas at high temperatures above 600 °C. Thanks to this process, diaper waste is sanitized and converted into high-quality feedstock, matching the standards of virgin resources.

This breakthrough not only tackles a major waste stream but also unlocks possibilities for circularity in the chemical and #hygiene sectors. This scalable solution has the potential to reshape municipal waste management, helps our customers achieve ambitious sustainability goals and offers a solution to #diaperwaste.

BASF’s unique production network enables the use of recycled feedstocks, offering customers products that are both sustainable and high-performing.

“Our customers can rely on #BASF as their trusted partner for innovative recycling solutions. We demonstrated the potential of recycling post-consumer absorbent hygiene products. BASF is committed to turning challenges into opportunities and leading the way towards a more sustainable future—together with our customers,” says Oliver Cullmann, Vice President Global Marketing & Strategy C3 Value Chain.

source : BASF