PET Archives – The Green Optimistic

From plastic bottles to life-saving materials

Effie P — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 20:04:46 +0000

With plastic waste piling up, efforts are concentrated to reduce use of plastics and ban single use items. At the same time, new developments appear in the front of recycling existing waste. Researchers from the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Institute of Manufacturing Technology have developed a procedure to convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) […]

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Ekocycle: Coca Cola’s 3D Printer that Recycles Bottles, at Home

Mila Luleva — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 14:43:30 +0000

The attention that has been paid on plastic pollution over the course of the past few years has grown incredibly. Nevertheless, for every article talking about means and ways to recycle and reuse the least bio-degradable material of all, there are about three times as many pieces screaming about the devastating impact of plastic pollution. […]

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San Francisco Bans Use of Small Plastic Water Bottles

Mila Luleva — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 18:51:46 +0000

As of 1st of October this year, citizens of San Francisco will no longer be allowed to buy water in small plastic bottles. In an attempt to minimize plastic pollution, and reach one of the most ambitious targets- zero net waste by 2020, the Board of Supervisors introduced the ban, prohibiting the sale of plastic water […]

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2011 Plastic Water Bottle Recycling Rate Jumps 20%

Leigh Hutchens — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 06:18:08 +0000

According to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), the Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottle recycling rate increased over the past year. The National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR) reported that 38.6% of plastic water bottles were recycled in the US in 2011, making a 20% leap from the 2010 rate of 32.25%. The 2011 […]

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Giant Plastic Patches to Float on the Oceans For Hundreds of Years

Mila Luleva — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:39:21 +0000

Regardless of where in the world plastic garbage is thrown in the ocean, new research shows that it can get carried to any of the ocean basins. Scientists from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, based at UNSW, have established that even if we stop throwing plastics now, the places […]

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Pestalotiopsis Microspora: Fungus That Eats Plastic Bottles Lives in The Rain Forest

Ovidiu Sandru — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 13:52:18 +0000

Just when you thought that the miracles of the Amazonian forest are all known to man, a team of Yale researchers has just found out that a certain fungus living in the rain forest can actually cure one of the biggest illness and inventions of the 20th century: PET plastics, or polyurethane. Pestalotiopsis microspora is […]

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