A major retailer is offering reusable plastic as a way to reduce paper waste. Starbucks, the large coffee chain, now has reusable plastic cups that customers can purchase along with their grande half-caf, double pump soy latte. Made out of 100% virgin polypropylene (PP), the plastic cups — in 12- and 16-oz sizes (tall and [...]
BPA Substitutes Could Cause Health Effects, Too
May 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Updated regulatory screening for endocrine disruptors is needed on a particular alternative to BPA (bisphenol A) because the substitute may have similar health effects as the latter chemical, and people can have significant exposure to it, some scientists are saying. Manufacturers put BPA into plastics, and paper companies use it in the ink of heat-sensitive [...]
Blood Type Identified Quickly on Paper
May 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment
For those who need to learn a person’s blood type quickly, there’s a new device that will literally spell it out for them on paper. The blood types are common knowledge: A+, AB-, O+, etc. As Bethany Halford writes in Chemical & Engineering News, Australian researchers have invented a method that makes these letters and [...]
Binding Polymers Create New Properties for Paper
April 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Italian scientists have invented a process by which nanoparticles form a polymer that binds with paper fibers to create new forms of paper that can either be waterproof, magnetic, or antibacterial. The new paper, reports Jennifer Hicks in Forbes, is still paper — one can write on it, fold it, and print with it — [...]
