With a pending ban on polystyrene containers in California and a shareholder resolution to try an alternative material, McDonald’s Corp. is testing out paper coffee cups on the West Coast, reports Emily Bryson York in the Chicago Tribune. Bob Langert, vice president of sustainability at McDonald’s, told York that the company started testing double-walled paper [...]
Marketing Opportunities and Challenges for Green Packaging
March 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
While there are lots of opportunities for plastics manufacturers to develop sustainable and green packaging, consumer perception can be the biggest challenge in marketing the packaging, according to a pair of stories written by Heather Caliendo for PlasticsToday. Caliendo wrote about some of the findings of a 2011 survey of 1,000 respondents: • A recent [...]
Compostable Plastic Bags Help Divert Organic Waste From Landfills
March 23, 2012 By 1 Comment
Just about every large U.S. city — and many smaller ones — has some sort of goal for reducing how much waste is trucked to landfills. Because organic waste such as food and grass clippings are such a huge percentage of what goes into landfills, municipalities usually aim to divert the organic waste into composting [...]
Scientists Recommend Changes to Testing of Low Doses of Hormone-Like Chemicals
March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Most people are exposed to tiny doses of chemicals that mimic or block estrogen, testosterone, and other hormones. That is because these compounds, found in the food supply and consumer products such as plastics, pesticides, and cosmetics, are also now in the environment. The big scientific controversy has been whether or not exposure at low [...]
Altering the Texture of Polymers on Demand
March 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
How to permanently etch patterns into polymer surfaces has been known for a while, but now engineers at Duke University have figured out for the first time how to add and remove patterns from large and curved areas of soft plastics and polymers, according to a press release from the university. Reported in a journal [...]
Nestle, Pepsi Buy Recycled Content From New Facility
March 20, 2012 By Leave a Comment
A new facility in California will supply recycled PET for bottles for two drink manufacturers, and hopes to begin a new era of recycling in the U.S. Mike Verespej reports for Plastics News: Nestle Waters North America Inc. has committed to incorporating 50 percent recycled content in previously virgin-material bottles for its Arrowhead brand of [...]
Plastic to Replace Wood on Iconic Boardwalk
March 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Since 1923, people have visited a 2.7-mile wooden boardwalk in Brooklyn, New York. Despite protests, New York City commission approved a plan last week to replace part of the iconic structure in fabled Coney Island with plastic and concrete, according to the Associated Press. AP writes that city officials said they picked plastic because it [...]
Squeezing a Polymer Powers Reactions
March 16, 2012 By 1 Comment
Researchers at Northwestern University have demonstrated that compressing polymers in water can power chemical reactions. However, the discovery may have some adverse implications for medical devices. Rachel Ehrenberg reports for Science News: In the quest to wring energy from every source imaginable, scientists are putting the squeeze on a common plastic ingredient. Applying force to [...]
Colleges Ban Disposable Plastic Water Bottles
March 15, 2012 By 3 Comments
As more organizations, from the national parks to college campuses, start to ban disposable PET drinking water bottles, will alternative “pouch” packaging fill the niche? Andrew Theen reports for Bloomberg News that more than 90 U.S. college campuses, including Brown and Harvard, have restricted or banned the sale of water sold in disposable plastic bottles. [...]
Flat Polymer Gel “Contorts on Demand” Into 3-D Structures
March 14, 2012 By 1 Comment
Think of a flower growing. Biological tissues have always been able to change shape because cells swell and stretch. Now, polymer scientists and engineers have developed a polymer gel and lithography technique that can follow those kinds of transformations. Rebecca Boyle reports for Popular Science: For the first time, engineers have figured out how to [...]
