Using Recycled Plastic For Bridge Repair

County administrators in New York state have made the decision to use materials made of one hundred percent recycled plastic when repairing the Dean Road Bridge in the village of Clare.

The St. Lawrence County Highway Department is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the bridge and will be replacing the decking using a product called Struxure, manufactured by the green-friendly building materials company, Axion International.

The recycled plastic materials that were used to create the boards resulted in over thirty thousand pounds plastic being diverted from landfills across the country.

The county used Struxure boards on another project the prior year that originally called for the use of concrete forms. The boards were much easier to install and have proven durable in the tough weather conditions of upstate New York. The boards easily withstand water and the salt substance used to treat snow and ice and so the county has determined their use an effective cost saving and environmentally friendly measure.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Whether it’s your own business or the activities of your local government, it pays in more ways than one to be on the look out for cost effective green alternatives. Technology is advancing rapidly in green options for the construction and municipal repairs sector, and you might be surprised by the options, alternatives, and savings!

Smaller Cities Explore Landfill Gas Opportunities

More and more smaller cities and towns are successfully turning landfill gas into vehicle fuel despite the fact that they are a small city with less landfill space and resources. Thanks to new scientific enhancements, smaller landfills can now efficiently generate fuel at economical costs.

When the practice of turning landfill gas to vehicle fuel was first introduced, it was only cost efficient for the largest of landfills as the minimum requirement was one thousand cubic feet of landfill gas per minute. However, the technology is now available so that disposal sites producing even a few hundred cubic feet per minute can take advantage and harness the gas into usable energy.

The development and use of landfill gas has been very successful over the past few years in the United States and due to its growth, municipalities are now looking for ways to use it to generate electricity as well as to pipe the vehicle fuel directly to users and buyers. For municipalities that have fleets of cars and trucks to maintain, landfill gas is a great way to control for skyrocketing gasoline prices imported from other countries.

For example, in Washington Parish, Louisiana, fifteen parish-owned vehicles are now completely fueled by landfill gas. In St. Landry Parish, the landfill gas program generates ten gallons of gasoline each hour and is used to fuel vehicles for both garbage and recycling collection and the sheriff’s department.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What are your elected officials doing to embrace new technologies like turning landfill gas into vehicle fuel? Whether you’re a business owner, a home-owner, or just an interested citizen, encouraging your community to go green will help to save everyone money!

New Business Ideas for Recycled eWaste

If you’re thinking the uses for recycled electronics waste are pretty small, think again! Two Texas businesses are taking unwanted and unusable e-Waste and turning it into something you see every single day – street signs! MicroStrate Inc. and Image Microsystems Inc. have joined forces and are are using recycled plastics and electronics waste to produce street signs. Even with their new operations, they already have sold their new products to four different cities in the United States and one city in Russia.

Currently employing close to fifty, the facility is expecting to run twenty four hour shifts within the year as interest in their product builds momentum. There has been great interest expressed in the product from state departments of transportation to test and purchase these “zero waste” signs.

The company handles both the recycling of the plastics and electronics waste and the manufacturing of the signs at their facility. Keeping all work in-house has reduced costs from purchasing through a recycled goods re-seller. The company also has a materials research project involving students from Texas Technical.

For now, regional electronics retail stores and computer companies provide much of the materials needed, but as business expands that footprint is expected to grow as well.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Thinking outside the box is what makes for success in the recycled material business. If you’re not an entrepreneur, but looking to sell your waste materials instead of paying to dispose of them in the trash, there are new businesses that may be interested in working with you!

From Waste To Fuel

Imagine if your community’s organic food and yard waste was turned into a fuel for use in vehicles? The reality may not be that far off based on a research report recently released by the New York based company, Energy Vision in collaboration with CALSTART, a consortium of business and research interests focusing on the development of clean and innovative transportation technologies. The group states that using biogas originating from common organic waste has the potential to be used as a transportation fuel.

Organic waste biogas has the potential to generate electric power and provide heating to homes and buildings; and this is currently done in certain areas of the United States but converting organic waste into a clean fuel solution for vehicles is new and innovative. However, the creation process is similar to natural gas where as the organic waste decomposes, the resulting gases are collected and refined so they can be used effectively.

Energy Vision and CALSTART are hopeful that communities having forty thousand or more residents would be able to generate sufficient organic waste to produce the clean fuel to power their municipal vehicles such as police cars, school buses, and snowplows throughout the year. Smaller sized communities could form neighboring co-operatives to combine organic waste and share the resulting fuel.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: What are your community leaders doing to reduce costs and protect the environment? Organic waste is something that all of us generate, so why not have it be an asset instead of a liability!

Transforming Plastic Bags Into Roads

In India, the Center for Plastics in the Environment has begun advocating for the use of plastic materials waste to be utilized in the construction of asphalt roads. A pilot study has been successfully completed on a few roads which were paved using a combination of waste plastic with bitumen. The true test of the quality and durability of the new hybrid material was how it upheld during the country’s monsoon season which brings substantial rains and flooding. All test roads performed above expectations and the decision was reached that all municipal roads would be built and repaired using the new formulation.

It is expected that this new, waste plastic paving material will be added in the States Public Works Department approved materials list, so that all businesses looking to be considered for paving and repair work will be aware of it.

It is anticipated that the new paving material will save money as well as approximately fifteen percent of the bitumen normally needed for the asphalt will be replaced by the waste materials collected from thin polyethylene and polypropylene food carryout bags that are infrequently recycled and have low reuse abilities.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Are you in the business of paving roads, driveways, or office parking lots? When was the last time you took at look at the materials used in your asphalt? You might be able to save some green by using waste recycled plastics!

 

New Innovations for Material Waste Recycling of Plastics

Faerch Plast, a specialized packaging company, is in the process of developing a new cPET plastic that can be identified and separated in a waste stream of mixed plastics by the use of infrared technology. Currently, infrared cameras can identify the types of plastics but only when the container is not black. Dark, opaque plastic doesn’t allow light to shine through and thus cannot be detected.

This new formulation of cPET contains a different pigment composition which allows some infrared light to be detected by the camera regardless of the color of the container. The company is currently testing the material in the United Kingdom in the manufacturing of meal trays used in cafeterias and for supermarket prepared foods. Stakeholders in the food service and restaurant industries utilizing the trays are excited about the possibility of reducing garbage disposal costs due to the re-use of the cPET material for up to three to four times before the quality degrades.

Faerch Plast believes it can manufacture the materials and still maintain pricing that is neutral to other meal tray options that require waste disposal instead of being eligible for waste recycling.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Research and development is always happening in the world of plastics. When was the last time your business priced options for switching to a green-friendly, recyclable version of a routinely ordered supply? If you found it too expensive before, you may want to check back regularly!

Advances Made In Sustainable Tires

Could the days of disposal fees to dispose of used and waste automotive tires soon be a thing of the past? Bridgestone Corporation recently announced that it has developed a tire created with one hundred percent sustainable materials. This advancement is part of the manufacturer’s commitment to fully adopting sustainable materials usage by 2050. The new tire was shown to the public and industry representatives at the Paris Motor Show held earlier this fall.

The tire is manufactured from natural rubber originating in the hevea trees and plant fibers. in addition to synthetic rubber and chemical agents that are derived from vegetable fats and oils as well as biomass.

The next step for Bridgestone is to develop the production technology needed for mass production. The company is hoping for a consumer launch in 2020. Bridgestone acknowledges that moving to sustainable materials will allow the company to continue production far further into the future than otherwise.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Science and technology is progressing every day and objects like tires that were once thought impossible to make “green” are now rolling in that direction. Are you staying up-to-date in waste recycling and sustainability in your business sector? You could be losing “green” every year if you don’t!

Consumers Rewarded for Waste Recycling

Who wouldn’t want an instant reward for waste recycling? Recycling kiosks are becoming more frequent sights in shopping malls and airports and providing consumers and travelers with an easy way to recycle items that are no longer wanted – and in return, possibly receiving cash or store credit.

Remag is the company behind the latest brand of recycling kiosks to become available to the public. Unlike other kiosk vendors that accept cell phones and other e-waste such as computer games, mobile devices, and computers, Remag is focusing on a new recycling sector: magazines and catalogs.

When consumers deposit their recyclables, the kiosk scans the item’s barcode. After accepting the paper, four coupons per item are dispensed to use for products at local grocery stores. Recyclers also have the choice to donate their rewards to charities.

The company is currently test piloting the kiosks through a popular grocery store chain in California. If all goes well, expansion to other chains throughout the country is expected.

Research has established that only one in four magazines are being waste recycled – but with the incentive of receiving store coupons for recycling, Remag hopes to boost that level.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: If your business is looking to expand its waste recycling footprint, thinking outside the box is essential! What services are missing in your community or business sector? Is there a way your organization can fill that gap?

 

Seattle Team Hits Homerun with Compostable Snack Bags

Baseball fans in Seattle, Washington will be the first to try ballpark peanuts served in a one hundred percent compostable bag. This is a new sustainability initiative launched by the Seattle Mariners at their Safeco Field home park.

The plan began earlier in the season when it was announced that the first ten thousand fans attending a game would receive a free bag of the popular ballgame snack delivered in a 100% compostable bag designed by the BASF Corporation.

The Mariners and and Safeco Field aren’t newcomers to the sustainability and waste recycling game, though. This season, the team has established goals to divert eight-five percent of its material waste from being disposed of in landfills. This goal is a twelve percent increase from what had been established five years ago.

The Mariners also belong to the Green Sports Alliance, a nonprofit group committed to assisting sports teams, leagues, and game venues reduce their environmental impacts and amount of waste disposal.

WasteCare Want You to Remember: The world of environmentally friendly products is always changing. Something that wasn’t quite up to consumer expectations one year might be vastly improved the next. If you keep your eyes and ears open to new developments, chances are you’ll find something that will save money and the environment!

Waste Recycling Algae Into Plastic

A start-up company named Algix is turning to algae to manufacture plastics.

The company is working on cultivating aquatic biomasses (algae) for use as industrial, retail and commercial plastics.

Algae sources from wastewater treatment locations develop in nitrogen-rich environments, creating a high-protein organism. When blended with a base resin, a form of plastic is developed. Algae results in a thermoplastic while duckweed plants, which are also abundant at wastewater facilities, result in a strong, stiff plastic.

The created plastic material is ideal for injection and compression molding and thermoforming.

The plastic can also be used as mulching film sheets as it biodegrades and become plant food. Farmers or gardeners could unroll a sheet and let it dissolve naturally.

Additionally, there are uses for flooring and carpeting as well as the creation of biodegradable packaging materials, lawn and garden appliances, and paint cans.

There are some limitations to this algae plastic. One is that it cannot be made into a clear substance instead appearing dark green to murky brown. Users cite that this new form of plastic has an earthy feel different from conventional plastics. That difference, combined with it’s earth friendly composition could appeal to those looking for the convenience and durability of plastics but wanting something more environmentally friendly.

WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Waste Recycling and the green economy offers lots of room for innovation and entrepreneurship. What can you do with the waste generated by your business or community that can earn you “green”?