A food delivery courier packs an order in Bangkok on March 25, 2020, after the government limited restaurants to takeout during the COVID-19 pandemic. MLADEN ANTONOV / AFP / Getty Images
By Tanika Godbole
Southeast Asia is one of the biggest sources of plastic waste from land to the ocean, and Thailand is among the top five contributors. In January, Thailand placed a ban on single-use plastic, and was looking to reduce its plastic waste by 30% this year.
<p>But the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown has led to a huge rise in the country's plastic waste. According to the Thailand Environment Institute (TEI), the average amount of plastic waste went from 2,120 tons per day in 2019 to approximately 3,440 tons per day between January and April 2020. The rise in the month of April alone was nearly 62%.</p>
Food Delivery
<p>One of the biggest contributors to the plastic problem is food delivery. As people have been housebound, their tendency to order food delivery has risen, resulting in increased usage of plastic containers and wrapping material.</p><p>Grab, a Singaporean food delivery app, saw a surge of 400% in orders. Other such apps like Line Man and Foodpanda Thailand, too, have seen a rise of 300% and 50% in their orders, respectively.</p><p>Waste from a single delivery could contain several plastic items such as containers, seasoning packets, beverage holders, chopsticks, spoons, forks and so on.</p><p>"Plastic containers for food are often contaminated, the waste separation and collection are not systematic, and there is no regulation on waste separation and enforcement," said Wijarn Simachaya, President of TEI.</p>Waste Management
<p>While countries across North America, Europe and Japan also contribute high levels of plastic waste, they have relatively efficient waste management systems in place.</p><p>The Thai government had released a "Plastic Waste Management Road Map," to phase out the use of plastic by 2030. One of the initiatives of this plan was the single-use plastic ban that has been enforced since January.</p><p>According to data released by the Department of Environment and Quality Promotion, an average person in Thailand uses about 8 plastic bags per day, which adds up to 200 billion per year.</p><p>According to Greenpeace, imported plastic waste is also adding to Thailand's plastic crisis. Their research has revealed that imports of plastic waste into the country jumped two years ago, mostly due to China's decision to ban imports at the start of 2018.</p><p>"This has put added pressure on a waste system which is already failing to deal with domestic demand. Making matters worse, much of it is mislabeled as 'recyclable' even though the shipments constitute hundreds of thousands of tons of contaminated plastic and other mixed wastes from developed countries that cannot be processed," said Pichmol Rugrod, team leader of Plastic Free Future, Greenpeace Thailand.</p><p>"Thailand is in the grip of a growing plastic waste crisis - both domestically, through overproduction and consumption, and via the importation of plastic waste from abroad," Rugrod told DW. "Much of this plastic simply ends up in landfill sites or dumped in our streets because of a lack of waste management options, exacerbating urban flooding, or polluting rivers, seas and oceans - killing wildlife and affecting the food chain."</p>
Widespread
<p>Some say the pandemic has merely brought to the surface an already existing problem for the country. Experts believe that greater awareness and lifestyle changes among the masses could help address this issue.</p><p>The effects of plastic waste are long term. The pollution affects the oceans, aquatic life and also humans.</p><p>"Plastic pollution may also be contaminating the air that we breathe every day. Plastics do not biodegrade, therefore once they are introduced into an animal's system, they will stay there for a long time. Therefore, consuming these plastics leads to malnutrition, digestive blockage and slow poisoning effects due to plastic's heightened toxicity," Simachaya told DW.</p><p>While the pandemic may have been a setback to Thailand's struggle to eliminate plastic waste, Simachaya believes a change in awareness and habits will lead to a gradual decrease in plastic waste.</p><p>Thailand is slowly starting to ease lockdown rules. While it is too premature to say whether the plastic waste levels are expected to go down, some delivery outlets have started offering bio-degradable containers and cutlery. Some online shopping companies are also giving the option of receiving packages without the use of plastic.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Only the paper part of a drink carton would be recycled — everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste. tavan amonratanasareegul / Getty Images
By Jeannette Cwienk
When it comes to recycling and recyclability, very little, it seems is straightforward — even something as seemingly simple as orange juice can present a conundrum. In Germany, many smaller shops sell drinks in cartons or plastic bottles, both of which will end up in the yellow recycling bin. But how do their recycling credentials stack up?
<p>"As far as recyclability is concerned, the plastic bottle is probably slightly better because it is likely only made from one plastic, and so is easier to recycle than a multilayer material like a beverage carton," says Rolf Buschmann, waste and resource expert with the German environmental organization BUND, who worked on the group's 2019 Plastic Atlas.</p><p>He explains that only the paper part of the drink carton would be recycled <em>—</em> everything else, including the plastic coating or layer or aluminum foil, would be incinerated as residual waste.</p>
More and More Multilayer Packaging
<p>How easy is it to recognize multilayer packaging? With drink cartons, it's usually obvious that they're made from a combination of different materials, but with other products, such as candy wrappers, it's a different story.</p><p>Such packaging can be made from a complex mix of up to 10 different films of plastic, which as Joachim Christiani, managing director of German recycling institute cyclos-HTP, explains, is <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germany-produces-record-amount-of-packaging-waste/a-51293541" target="_blank">invisible to consumers</a>.</p><p>"In recent years there's been a trend toward so-called multilayer packaging, which is extremely light and thin. It saves material as well as CO2 emissions during transport, but can't be recycled," Christiani says.</p><p>Because it is not possible to melt the different plastics together, or — at least for now — to separate the individual films from one another at recycling plants.</p>Lack of Recycled Plastic
<p>A 2017 cyclos-HTP study into the recyclability of conventional packaging waste concluded that a third of it was not recyclable, and only 40% of the remaining two-thirds was made into plastic recyclate. The rest was used as fuel <em>—</em> in other words it was incinerated.</p><p>"There was no economic or political pressure to recycle more than this amount," Christiani says. "The prescribed recycling quotas were met, and there were not nearly enough recycling plants."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxNjYwMy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTQ4MzI5M30.HL0sO8u-CFQf1FvXt4uVkyWtp5iseVH4FmaVYGkfNEY/img.png?width=980" id="b5980" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0967b762faff5003e7a353180d4ad95e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>Another 2017 study by the chemical and waste disposal industry also shows that to date, Germany has not made much use of recycled plastic. According to the findings, plastic recyclate accounted for only 12% of the total amount of plastic processed in Germany <em>—</em> just under 1.8 million tons. The share of new plastic, on the other hand, was more than 12 million tons.</p>
Room for Greenwashing
<p>According to a 2018 survey by Germany's vzbv consumer protection association, most consumers would like to see more plastic recycling, especially when it comes to packaging.</p><p>Although some products come in packaging that is advertised as being "made from recycled material," Elke Salzmann, a resource protection officer with vzbv, says that can be misleading.</p><p>"It says nothing about how much recycled material the packaging actually contains," according to Salzmann. "And it also doesn't mean that the recycled plastic comes from collected plastic waste. It could just as well come from plastic leftovers created during the production of primary plastic."</p><p>The term "ocean plastic," which some textile and shoe manufacturers use to advertise the recycled plastic in their product lines, can also be misleading, Salzmann says.</p><p><span></span>"Plastic waste from the ocean is in much too bad a state to be recycled. Instead, they use plastic waste from beaches or riverbanks."</p>Laws Against Plastic
<p>Images of garbage choking our waters and <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eurythenes-plasticus-a-deep-sea-crustacean-full-of-plastic/a-52663559" target="_blank">killing marine wildlife</a> have played a key role in giving plastic a negative reputation among the public, and politicians have started to act.</p><p>Many countries worldwide have introduced bans on single-use items, and in Germany, a 2019 packaging law stipulates a plastics recycling quota of 90% from 2022, up from 36%. That said, the quota only refers to how much material has to be fed into the recycling system, not how much ultimately needs to be recycled.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxNjYxNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzE4OTE0M30.8xGfBu2brG_AIp45i_q_LxZZu0nMvlFGAEWGL93Hv6M/img.png?width=980" id="79d47" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6bc3d22db4f442dacf798ac32ccc7671" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>This may be addressed in future European Union legislation. As part of its "<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/will-trains-play-a-key-role-in-the-european-green-deal/a-52263495" target="_blank">Green Deal</a>," the European Commission <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/eu-commission-aims-to-clamp-down-on-waste-with-new-law/a-52720804" target="_blank">is aiming to move toward a circular economy</a>, and has announced an action plan to conserve resources and prevent waste.</p><p>The Commission is also being advised by the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) on how to establish new rules around the use of recycled materials.</p><p>The recommendations range from landfill and export bans on plastic waste and tax rebates for recycled products, to the introduction of a plastics tax and a legal minimum quota of recycled content in packaging.</p>
Rethinking the Whole System
<p>Although plastic is a very useful material, at the end of its life it causes many problems, EASAC environmental program director Michael Norton tells DW, adding that we have to rethink the whole system and completely change the way we use plastic.</p><p>Joachim Christiani says the packaging industry is starting to catch on. Around 70% of recycled mass can currently be generated from packaging, but that figure is expected to rise in the future.</p><p>"95% is quite feasible," says the engineer, adding that sorting facilities are currently undergoing improvements, while packaging design is also changing.</p>Clear Plastics Are Easiest to Recycle
<p>As things stand, PET bottles are easiest to recycle because they're not mixed with other materials. New bottles can therefore easily be made from the old ones and the recycling rate is high. But the color of the bottle can pose a problem.</p><p>Because plastic is sorted by type rather than color, if different colors of plastic are mixed, the resulting recyclate cannot be used for light-colored packaging, which many manufacturers want. The upshot is the introduction of new plastic instead.</p><p>Consumer and environmental associations have long called for recyclability, greater sorting purity and better sorting facilities, but their most important demand remains waste avoidance through reusable systems.</p><p>"Why melt down disposable bottles to make new disposable bottles when you can refill them up to 20 times?" Buschmann asks.</p>From Your Site Articles
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Plastic waste from the nearby city of Ushuaia is polluting nests and being found in penguins' stomachs and excrement. Deutsche Welle
Tierra del Fuego is at the southernmost tip of South America and is sometimes known as the "end of the world." This windswept part of Argentina is home to seven penguin colonies which breed, nest and feed in the area.
<p>Yet even here, the evidence of human encroachment on nature is clear.</p><p>Plastic waste from the nearby city of Ushuaia is <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/is-marine-plastic-pollution-a-threat-to-human-health/a-39161868" target="_blank">polluting</a> nests and being found in penguins' stomachs and excrement. And warmer waters mean adults must search longer for food, leaving their little ones more exposed to predators. Increasing tourism is also threatening the ecosystem.</p><p>Biologist Andrea Raya Rey has been studying the region's penguins for more than 20 years. She and others from the Austral Center for Scientific Research (CADIC) are working to protect the beloved flightless birds.</p>
A film by Aitor Saez
<iframe scrolling="no" width="640" height="477" frameborder="0" align="middle" name="Penguin colonies suffer from plastic trash | DW.COM" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="https://www.dw.com/embed/640/av-53424380"></iframe>From Your Site Articles
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Chemical recycling involves sorting plastic by type, grinding into powders, and mixing and melting into the same kind of polymers from which the powders were generated. sturti / Getty Images
By Brigitte Osterath
Yogurt pots, shampoo bottles, coffee-to-go lids, bubble wrap — plastic products are all composed of the same building blocks: long carbon chains.
Heating them to high temperatures makes the carbon chains crack into a mixture of shorter molecules, ultimately converting them back into crude oil, the resource from which the majority of plastic products were originally made.
<p><br/></p>
<p>Varying the process can result in different carbon chain lengths and therefore different carbon-based products, ranging from fuels such as diesel and kerosene to petroleum naphtha, a valuable liquid for the chemical industry.<br></p><p>This potential mode of recycling — where plastic is broken down into its original components — has been becoming increasingly popular in industry.</p><p>It's known as 'chemical recycling,' as opposed to 'mechanical recycling' — the chop-and-wash-method in which plastic is sorted by type, ground into powders, mixed and melted into the very same kind of polymers from which the powders were generated.</p>
<p>"Chemical recycling has emerged as a major topic [in industry], mainly out of helplessness of how to proceed in mechanical recycling," says Thomas Fischer, head of the recycling management division with the non-profit environmental association Deutsche Umwelthilfe.</p><p>A prerequisite for mechanical recycling, he says, is making plastic that is actually recyclable. "That requires a lot of know-how, such as which dyestuffs and additives can be used and which cannot."</p><p>You also have to design the product itself in a certain way. When a product has been manufactured by layering several different polymers on top of each other, for example, recycling becomes tricky.</p><p>Chemical recycling is much simpler — it's just a case of heating everything with no need for prior sorting. That's the idea at least. </p>
Big Business
<p>Several companies have made significant investments in chemical recycling, building facilities to test various ways of making what is allegedly more environmentally friendly oil. So far, it's still in the development and test stage.</p><p>In 2018, multinational chemistry giant BASF launched ChemCycling — a project that aims to generate a so-called pyrolysis oil from plastic waste. The company claims it can be used in the production of new polymers, which it says will save fossil fuel resources.</p><p>Austrian oil and gas company OMV has built a pilot plant which it says can process all common packaging material such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene.</p><p>The plastics are chopped down, mixed with a high-boiling solvent and heated in a furnace at over 300 degrees Celcius (572 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the product has been distilled and the solvent filtered off, the company is left with synthetic crude oil, which it claims is "free of sulfur, lighter than fossil crude oil and with a higher hydrogen content — therefore of higher quality."</p><p>The product can be refined to make fuels such as gasoline, kerosene and diesel or petrochemical products.</p><p>The plant has the capacity to convert 100 kilos of waste each hour, OMV told DW. But a planned successor facility would be able to process 2,000 kilos hourly.</p><p>Similar pilot plants are being constructed in other countries across Europe.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzI4NzAyNi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5MzgyMjM0MX0.Hf-XPYf0ht6v_H6v6-uFahkuhhTv0u2X8Dy6h9eNdxM/img.png?width=980" id="abe46" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b06e2170d3c847695e9395339482e7ba" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Behind the Hype
<p>So, can chemical recycling solve our waste problem through the creation of fuels?</p><p>Roman Maletz, a researcher at the Institute of Waste Management and Circular Economy at the Technical University in Dresden, is not convinced.</p><p>The idea of recycling plastic trash by cracking it, he says, is neither new nor revolutionary. It has just never worked before.</p><p>"In the past, such plants always ran into problems when in continuous operation," Maletz said. "I don't see how these issues could suddenly be resolved."</p><p>Problems arise when the trash contains too many different materials or when it is too dirty.</p><p>"In that case, the quality of the product is lowered, and the whole process becomes economically unviable."</p><p>Moreover, it is not necessarily environmentally friendly, adds Henning Wilts, Director of the Circular Economy Division at Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.</p><p>"If you break waste apart at a molecular level, you need a lot of energy, so the CO2 savings are quite low," he tells DW. "If the energy needed comes from burning coal, then the whole thing is an environmental disaster."</p><p>Although it is expensive, he says mechanical recycling still remains the recycling of choice.</p><p>"If countries use the existence of chemical recycling as an excuse to stop any efforts in mechanical recycling, that will become a problem."</p><p>He says the fact that petroleum naphtha generated from chemical recycling could be used to produce new food-grade plastics which is "one of the big drivers to develop the technology."</p><p>Producing fuels like diesel or kerosene from plastic trash, however, Fischer says, makes less sense.</p><p>"If fuels are produced which are burned afterwards, then even more CO2 is blown into the air," Fischer explains. "That's not the idea of a cycle."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/do-fuels-made-from-plastic-make-eco-sense/a-51495966?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2646025410#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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Cocoa Beach saw a huge spike in trash as cleanup crews collected more than 13,000 pounds strewn across the sand over the weekend. Jeffrey Greenberg / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
When beaches in Florida reopened last week, people flocked to them to absorb the sun, sand and water. Unfortunately, many forgot to take their trash with them when they left.
<p>While pollution and emissions have precipitously dropped worldwide, Cocoa Beach saw a huge spike in garbage as cleanup crews collected more than 13,000 pounds strewn across the sand over the weekend, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/497183-more-than-13000-pounds-of-trash-collected-at-florida-beach-just" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p><p>The beaches, which reopened on April 21, will remain open, but authorities will start to crack down on litter by increasing the fines and enforcement, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/05/09/coronavirus-reopenings-cocoa-beach-florida-cracks-down-litter/3104430001/" target="_blank">Florida Today</a>. Littering will now come with a $250 fine.</p>
<p>"As restrictions are becoming more relaxed during this pandemic, the City of Cocoa Beach is beginning to see an influx of day-trippers to our beaches, along with piles of unlawfully discarded trash in their wake," Cocoa Beach Police Department wrote in a notice, according to <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/05/09/coronavirus-reopenings-cocoa-beach-florida-cracks-down-litter/3104430001/" target="_blank">Florida Today</a>. "This will not be tolerated."</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CocoaBeachPoliceFire/photos/a.135655014526966/228991078526692/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">Facebook post</a>, the Cocoa Beach Police Department stated that they will be "focusing on litter violations in the days and weeks ahead in an effort to educate the public and mitigate this repulsive and disrespectful behavior."</p>
<p>This weekend's litter collection surpassed the previous weekend's total of roughly 12,000 pounds. Two weekends ago, cleanup crews collected 297 bags of trash, which weigh roughly 40 pounds per bag. Bryan Bobbitt, executive director of Keep Brevard Beautiful, told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-beach-litter-pandemic-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> that the true number would be higher since they did not collect many larger items like tent poles and beach chairs that were left behind.</p><p>This weekend's total was 305 bags of trash, according to Bobbitt. Volunteers and observers have noticed that the discarded items are often single-use <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics">plastics</a>.</p>
<p>"People will come from out of town and leave an umbrella, a tent or chairs because it's a onetime use," said Bobbitt to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-beach-litter-pandemic-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "Chip bags, plastic straw wrappers and anything can get blown into the dunes."</p><p>Cocoa Beach Police Chief Scott Rosenfeld said in a statement that the local community works "very hard to be stewards of environmental sustainability," as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/497183-more-than-13000-pounds-of-trash-collected-at-florida-beach-just" target="_blank">The Hill</a> reported.</p><p>"If I need to relocate critical resources during our peak season to combat litterers, we are no longer asking our visitors to comply with our litter laws, we expect it, and there will be consequences for offenders," he added.</p>
<p>The litter poses a threat to Florida's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/marine-life">marine life</a> and to the beach environment. Keep Brevard Beautiful says the goal of their cleanup efforts is to keep the environment safe for humans and for animals.</p><p>"When we see something that can be a choking hazard to marine life, we make it a point to get that stuff as well," Bobbitt said to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-beach-litter-pandemic-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "If we don't pick it up, it gets blown into the water. We've all seen the photo of the straw stuck in a sea turtle's nose or a 6-pack ring around a bird's neck."</p>This past weekend, the police only issued one citation for littering. Noting some of the challenges in issuing a litter violation, Cocoa Beach Detective Sgt. Thomas Cooper told <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/florida-beach-litter-pandemic-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>, "You have to say they're the person who legally left that trash. The officers are stuck."
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Olives growing on a tree in Pula, Croatia. Sebastian Rothe / EyeEm / Getty Images
By Stuart Braun
1.3 billion plastic bottles are sold daily around the world. And that's just the tip of the fossil-based plastic iceberg. Plastic preserves our food. It's in the nylon and polyester we wear, and it protects medical staff from the coronavirus.
<p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-plastics-issue-we-seem-to-ignore/a-47307954" target="_blank">Petroleum-based plastics</a> dominate the market because they're durable, light-weight and cheap, but most of them can't be recycled or reused.</p><p>Of the 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015, only <a href="https://bioplasticsnews.com/2019/09/08/plastic-bottles-sold-per-hour-day-month-and-last-ten-years/" target="_blank">9% was recycled</a>. The rest of it ended up in landfills, was incinerated or, all too often, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/whose-fault-is-plastic-waste-in-the-ocean/a-49745660" target="_blank">landed in the ocean</a>.</p><p>A raft of new bioplastic innovations is starting to catch up, though. And, unlike unsustainable fossil fuels, they are derived from renewable sources.</p><p>While bioplastics have the same molecular structure as petroleum-based plastics, which take hundreds of years to decompose, <a href="https://research.chalmers.se/publication/512835/file/512835_Fulltext.pdf" target="_blank">research</a> shows that biomass-based polymers are also more likely to biodegrade and break down, including in industrial compost facilities. Bioplastic proponents believe they are key to making plastic part of a <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/circular-economy-what-goes-around-comes-around/a-48854512" target="_blank">circular economy</a>. </p><p>Here's a look at five ingredients that could make bioplastics competitive with traditional plastics.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzIzNjk4MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTAyMzk1OH0.jIhyRoOryQD-l6leAFjgT1lcuWLlRXe9-TohxIrxeeQ/img.png?width=980" id="470d3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d813dd463a7ada543363a223331a883" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
1. Olive Pits
<p>Countries that produce a lot of olive oil have a byproduct that can be used for plastic: olive pits. A Turkish startup called Biolive began creating a range of began creating a range of bioplastic granules created from olive seeds that result in bio-based, partially biodegradable products that can decompose in a year.<br></p><p>The active ingredient oleuropein found in olive seeds is an antioxidant that extends the life of the bioplastic while also hastening composting of the material into fertilizer within a year. </p><p>And since Biolive's granules act like fossil fuel-based plastics, plastic producers can simply substitute the conventional granules without disrupting the production cycle for industrial products and food packaging. </p><p>Biolive claims that by utilizing olive oil waste, production costs are reduced by up to 90% in relation to some existing bioplastics. This is important says founder Duygu Yilmaz, since starch-based bioplastics made from corn are often more expensive than petroleum-based plastics are therefore not a viable alternative. </p><p>In 2019, award-winning Biolive was chosen to represent Turkey at the United Nations Development Programme.</p>2. Sunflower Hulls
<p>Like olive seeds, the husks of sunflower seeds used for oil production is a waste product also being used to created bioplastics. And luckily, they're in near endless supply.</p><p>The German start-up Golden Compound has created a unique Sustainable Sunflower Plastic Compound bioplastic – referred to as S²PC. It's reinforced with sunflower hulls, which they claim are 100% recyclable.</p><p>The S²PC bioplastic is being moulded into everything from office furniture to recyclable transport and storage boxes and crates.</p><p>Golden Compound also produces a "green" bioplastic that is 100% biodegradable, GMO-free and can be fully composted at home. Products include award-winning, <a href="https://www.plasticsinsight.com/golden-compound-and-alpla-bring-a-world-first-biodegradable-coffee-capsule-compostable-at-home" target="_blank">world-first biodegradable coffee capsules</a>, plant pots and coffee mugs. </p><p>The German start-up attributes the success of its bioplastics to performance. "In the end, the only reason people will be willing to switch, is if it works," Marcel Dartée, General Manager at Golden Compound, told the <em>Plastic Today </em>trade publication.</p>3. Fish Waste and Algae
<p>The growing attempt to transform organic waste into plastic now includes fish processing refuse.</p><p>A UK initiative called MarinaTex is using fish skin and scales – 500,000 tons of which are generated annually in the UK alone – bound with red algae to make a compostable plastic alternative that can replace single-use plastics such as bakery bags and sandwich packs.</p><p>MarinaTex claims the biopolymer creates stronger packaging than a conventional plastic bag — flying in the face of perceptions that bioplastics lack strength and durability.</p><p>Lucy Hughes, who created the product in her final year at the University of Sussex, says MarinaTex's flexibility, strength and pliability was inspired by actual fish skin and scales.</p><p>"It kind of struck me that nature can make so much from so little, so why do we need to have hundreds of man-made polymers when nature has so many already available," she told the World Economic Forum in November. </p><p>MarinaTex, which won the 2019 James Dyson Award worth €35,000, describes its product as home compostable and says it can break down within four to six weeks.</p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1195022350338732032" id="twitter-embed-1195022350338732032" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1195022350338732032&created_ts=1573750505.0&screen_name=dw_europe&text=Meet+the+woman+turning+fish+waste+into+an+alternative+to+single-use+plastic.+%0A%0ALucy+Hughes%2C+a+student+from+the+UK%27s%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FuyVd76HdaT&id=1195022350338732032&name=DW+Europe" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="a1a4e7b6fc6b378a824d6e9258791b5b"></iframe>
4. Plant Sugars
<p>While PET is one of the most recyclable fossil-based plastics it takes hundreds of years to decompose. In response, Amsterdam-based Avantium has created a revolutionary "YXY" plants-to-plastics technology that converts plant-based sugars into a new biodegradable packaging material, polyethylene furanoate or PEF.</p><p>A trial of PEF biodegradability in the natural environment is showing promising signs.</p><p>"PEF degrades much faster than PET under industrial composting conditions," Caroline van Reedt Dortland, Director Communications at Avantium, told DW. Degrading in 250-400 days as opposed to 300-500 years is significant.</p><p>It is used as a textile, film, and has the potential to become a major player in the packaging of soft drinks, water, alcoholic beverages and fruit juices, having already collaborated with the likes of Carlsberg to create <a href="https://www.avantium.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/20191011-Press-release-Avantium-joins-Paper-Bottle-Project-final.pdf" target="_blank">a "100% bio-based" beer bottle</a>.</p><p>According to Hasso Pogrell of European Bioplastics, it's even possible to " recycle PEF together with PET, and it makes the PET recyclate perform even better than the original PET."</p>5. Mushrooms
<p>Gadget blog<em> Gizmodo</em> wrote back in 2015 about resilient and biodegradable fungal mycelia-based materials which, unlike oil-based plastic, "create no toxic byproducts."</p><p>One emerging brand utilizing fungi is Reishi, a sustainable, fine mycelium leather substitute created from a woven cellular microstructure derived from mushrooms. By emulating the collagen structure of animal leathers, Reishi fine mycelium is both sustainable and versatile.</p><p>Reishi creator MycoWorks has taken the water-resistant biomaterial to the next level, promising the performance, quality and aesthetics of leather or synthetic plastic materials, but with a negative carbon footprint.</p><p>Already utilized by a selection of European luxury and footwear brands, in late 2019 $17 million (€18 million) financing was raised to help deliver commercially viable non-plastic, non-animal Reishi materials to the market.</p><p>In terms of limiting fossil-based plastic consumption, the biomaterial aims to outperform existing "vegan leathers" that are created with unsustainable plastics. <br></p><iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1001273202352500746" id="twitter-embed-1001273202352500746" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1001273202352500746&created_ts=1527557108.0&screen_name=indbio&text=Imagine+a+world+where+we+are+using+sustainable+biomaterials+%23Mycoworks+%23Lingrove%0Ahttps%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FfA6UIyThr4+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2Fm4OicryCBx&id=1001273202352500746&name=IndieBio" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="64183cdec4f234e8cf29c9f6a1844d93"></iframe>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-sustainable-alternatives-to-plastics/a-53338938?maca=en-VAM_volltext_ecowatch-28485-html-copypaste" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2645932261#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
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A man receives a food delivery in plastic bags at his home. Alex Potemkin / Getty Images
By Daiane Scaraboto, Alison M Joubert and Claudia Gonzalez-Arcos
In eight years, US environmentalist and social media star Lauren Singer had never sent an item of rubbish to landfill. But last month, in an impassioned post to her 383,000 Instagram followers, she admitted the reality of COVID-19 has changed that.
<p><br></p><blockquote>I sacrificed my values and bought items in plastic. Lots of it, and plastic that I know isn't recyclable in NYC (New York City) recycling or maybe even anywhere … why would I go against something that I have actively prioritized and promoted?</blockquote><p>Singer wrote that as the seriousness of COVID-19 dawned, she stocked up on items she'd need if confined to her home for a long period – much of it packaged in plastic.</p><p>Her confession encapsulates how the pandemic has challenged those of us who are trying to reduce our waste. Many sustainability-conscious people may now find themselves with cupboards stocked with plastic bottles of hand sanitizer, disposable wipes and takeaway food containers.</p><p>So let's look at why this is happening, and what to do about it.</p>
<h2>Sustainability out the window</h2><p>We research how consumers respond to change, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340451756_How_banning_legitimate_entities_can_change_markets" target="_blank">such as</a> why consumers largely resisted single-use plastic bag bans. Recently we've explored how the coronavirus has changed the use of plastic bags, containers and other disposable products.</p><p>Amid understandable concern over health and hygiene during the pandemic, the problem of disposable plastics has taken a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lauratenenbaum/2020/04/25/plastic-waste-during-the-time-of-covid-19/#2c6b6c47e484" target="_blank">back seat</a>.</p><p>For example, Coles' home delivery service <a href="https://shop.coles.com.au/a/essendon-fields/content/priority-service-information" target="_blank">is delivering items in plastic bags</a> (albeit reusable ones) and many coffee shops have <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8085567/Sydney-cafe-bans-customers-using-reusable-cups-stop-spread-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">banned reusable mugs</a>, <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coronavirus-reusable-cups-banned-from-starbucks-coffee-club/news-story/d840738f512c7f12ee1cc47e335e53a9" target="_blank">including global Starbucks branches</a>.</p>
<p>Restaurants and other food businesses can now only offer home delivery or takeaway options. Many won't allow customers to bring their own containers, defaulting to disposables which generate <a href="https://qz.com/1802406/startups-are-trying-to-solve-takeouts-plastic-problem/" target="_blank">plastic waste</a>. This means many consumers can't reduce their plastic waste, even if they wanted to.</p><p>Demand for products such as disposable wipes, cleaning agents, hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and masks is at a record high. Unfortunately, they're also being thrown out in unprecedented volumes.</p><p>And the imperative to prevent the spread of coronavirus means <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/26/21194647/the-covid-19-pandemic-is-generating-tons-of-medical-waste" target="_blank">tons of medical waste</a> is being generated. For example, hospitals and aged care facilities <a href="https://waste-management-world.com/a/coronavirus-advice-for-the-australian-waste-recycling-industry" target="_blank">have been advised to</a> double-bag clinical waste from COVID-19 patients. While this is a necessary measure, it adds to the plastic waste problem.</p>
<h2>Cause for hope</h2><p>Sustainability and recycling efforts are continuing. Soft plastics recycler <a href="https://www.facebook.com/REDcyclebyREDGroup/" target="_blank">Red Cycle</a> is still operating. However many dropoff points for soft plastics, such as schools and council buildings, are closed, and some supermarkets have removed their dropoff bins.</p><p>Boomerang Alliance's <a href="http://www.plasticfreeplaces.org/" target="_blank">Plastic Free Places</a> program has launched a guide for cafes and restaurants during COVID-19. It shows how to avoid single-use plastics, and what compostable packaging alternatives are available.</p><p>As the guide <a href="https://www.plasticfreeplaces.org/post/sustainable-takeaway-packaging" target="_blank">notes</a>, "next year the coronavirus will hopefully be a thing of the past but plastic pollution won't be. It's important that we don't increase plastic waste and litter in the meantime."</p>
<h2>Old habits die hard</h2><p>In the US, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/27/rightwing-thinktanks-use-fear-of-covid-19-to-fight-bans-on-plastic-bags" target="_blank">lobbyists for the plastic industry</a> have <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90483143/the-plastic-industry-is-using-the-coronavirus-to-fight-plastic-bag-bans" target="_blank">taken advantage of health fears</a> by arguing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/26/climate/plastic-bag-ban-virus.html" target="_blank">single-use plastic bags</a> are a more hygienic option than reusable ones. Plastic bag bans have since been rolled back in the US and elsewhere.</p><p>However, there is <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/food-safety-during-emergencies/shopping-food-during-covid-19-pandemic-information-consumers" target="_blank">little evidence</a> to show plastic bags are a safer option, and at least reusable cloth bags <a href="https://www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/health-alerts/coronavirus-covid-19/information-for/industry-and-businesses/resources-and-fact-sheets-for-industry/routine-household-cleaning" target="_blank">can be washed</a>.</p><p>A relaxation on plastic bag bans – even if temporary – is likely to have long-term consequences for consumer behavior. Research shows one of the biggest challenges in promoting sustainable behaviors is to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022242919825649" target="_blank">break old habits and adopt new ones</a>. Once people return to using plastic bags, the practice becomes normalized again.</p><p>In Europe, the plastic industry is using the threat of coronavirus contamination to push back against a <a href="https://fd0ea2e2-fecf-4f82-8b1b-9e5e1ebec6a0.filesusr.com/ugd/2eb778_9d8ec284e39b4c7d84e774f0da14f2e8.pdf" target="_blank">ban on single-use plastics</a> such as food containers and cutlery.</p><p><span></span>Such reframing of plastic as a "protective" health material can divert attention from its dangers to the environment. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0743915618810440?casa_token=UlRC8kaXhJ0AAAAA:qt91-_9-PxAHdGRRr-xYKavt9LRCaw0WvEmkT4sk3sao8bgrvvyCETMkm2RDFQXD3fwdAaIvvbq-tg" target="_blank">Prior research</a>, as well as our preliminary findings, suggest these <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1469540510390500?casa_token=27yxd3HU-bAAAAAA:F3-TFNtYQAGXJR0f8wgpJ4W69QZVuyKp79O9GddFOWy2kiGdNI9Ul2B77O4IfUQxz9dZnzhLUjWJeA" target="_blank">meanings matter</a> when it comes to encouraging environmentally friendly behaviors.</p><p>Many people are using their time at home to clear out items they no longer need. However, most second-hand and charity shops <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-04/charities-say-stop-donating-if-shop-closed-due-to-coronavirus/12120046" target="_blank">are closed</a>, so items that might have had a second life end up in landfill.</p><p>Similarly, many <a href="https://brisbanetoollibrary.org/" target="_blank">tool</a>, <a href="https://www.alia.org.au/how-libraries-are-responding-covid-19" target="_blank">book</a> and <a href="https://www.toylibraries.org.au/" target="_blank">toy libraries</a> are closed, meaning some people will be buying items they might otherwise have borrowed.</p>
<h2>What to do</h2><p>We can expect the environmental cause will return to the foreground when the COVID-19 crisis has passed. In the meantime, reuse what you have, and try to store rather than throw out items for donation or recycling.</p><p>Talk to takeaway food outlets about options for using your own containers, and refuse disposable cutlery or napkins with deliveries. Use the time to upskill your coffee-making at home rather than buying it in a takeaway cup. And look for grocery suppliers offering more sustainable delivery packaging, such as cardboard boxes or biodegradable bags.</p><p>Above all, be vigilant about ways environmental protections such as plastic bag bans might be undermined during the pandemic, and voice your concerns to politicians. <br></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/daiane-scaraboto-386773" target="_blank">Daiane Scaraboto</a> is an Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Melbourne.</em></p><p><u><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-m-joubert-1018513" target="_blank">Alison M Joubert</a> is a Lecturer in Marketing at The University of Queensland.</em></u></p><p><u><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/claudia-gonzalez-arcos-1018512" target="_blank">Claudia Gonzalez-Arcos</a> is a Lecturer in Marketing at The University of Queensland.</em></u></p><h3></h3><p><em>Disclosure statement: The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/using-lots-of-plastic-packaging-during-the-coronavirus-crisis-youre-not-alone-135553" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A plastic shopping bag lies on the ground at the Calabasas landfill on January 22, 2008. Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times / Getty Images
The plastics industry is asking the federal government for a $1 billion bailout to help recycling during the pandemic.
<p>A coalition of industry interests, including chemical and oil and gas companies that make plastics, sent a letter to Congress this month calling recycling an "essential service" and doubling their original ask of $500 million for recycling proposed in a bill introduced in the House in November. </p><p>An <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/c/*N8N_VcyPK8_hW132_yX6Zg8f_0/*W5hHZxN8v7rhZW1kSWKl8pQrmj0/5/f18dQhb0S1Xp2k5LP1W12P5fN629s-_V8qMwY1DRfZzW21rNVf8Mg71sW1ksq-f4w0xTYW7_WD0N9bJgCLW8mkFfC4Cmw9MW6kVhkY26VXGPW52x_ZR476XRWV7Zbdt6XJ3GvW1TmlN87M5L8-W1-KzxB43nBy0W7nhQBy3JJDRYW6YQym22l4fLBW3FLCsF3gNbwWW3dj4Ks2PPF5JW6B-DYS3WRHZJW7RYKx953RkY9W2zM3VT2qHrMnW2Gbyz856JCGTW5xYYWP1bmH3LW2BTlL61XBtrVW7QzKQv4z2ZJLW6cSvv12dYkpbW3cMRXJ2rZbdTVqVS3V5qThw-N2Jxdbth125mW9djsc_32X-3yW38vYCY2FBvvXW7JwZXk3647tTW2-6QKf2276XHW7ssK5N6_fQkKW8LfJ2Q4w8n2RW8NpCqk5-4wRSW5pFbl72BdWxmW3CJNrD99KYtvW6Txgj31KH7WTW5SZw611Y7NpxW81X1qf9fLzPRN6fFjhRgxL3KW6J1GwR25gNBZW10KNbR3VDG4PF1lhWjGP_QZW4yCRx63ZhXZMW74r9zq8gjj7BW8Xglf67dgYH-W3HGY5z14xjWDW55PLP354HV7MW4BzrZ08ywS_JW3Pf_Wm6zx_SdW3qtGZY2-7czZW8_lFRc7pD_b7W6rlC-t17y5YQdp0-nM03" target="_blank">investigation</a> from NPR and Frontline this month found the industry, including oil and gas companies intent on seeing more plastic produced, pushed recycling on the American public despite knowing the process was not effective, in order to sell more plastic products.</p><p>"Having multinational companies with their tin cups out asking for taxpayer dollars at this moment in time is wrong," Judith Enck, founder of the environmental group Beyond Plastics, told The Intercept.</p><p>"We need the federal spending to go to things like more testing, contact tracing, investments in clean energy — and not to attempts to prop up the feeble plastics recycling infrastructure."</p>
<h4>For a deeper dive:</h4><p><em><a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/04/27/plastic-industry-coronavirus-bailout/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=87068547&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9zmU_MBOn-zf3c6CYxD4FJtLTL0qeZBEAeknNJ-ptsa_zfF2IG1iR6Nmfg1e-VmtqnOzk8NBFK_M5KVzsF2C4OCiT-EKuqxPAcVilNeYk7jt0xwcA&_hsmi=87068547" target="_blank">The Intercept</a>, <a href="https://www.plasticsnews.com/news/plastics-groups-seek-1b-recycling-covid-bills?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=87068547&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9zmU_MBOn-zf3c6CYxD4FJtLTL0qeZBEAeknNJ-ptsa_zfF2IG1iR6Nmfg1e-VmtqnOzk8NBFK_M5KVzsF2C4OCiT-EKuqxPAcVilNeYk7jt0xwcA&_hsmi=87068547" target="_blank">Plastics News</a></em></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A used latex glove is seen abandoned as trash on a street floor on April 6 in Milan, Italy. Vincenzo Lombardo / Getty Images
By Nikolia Apostolou
Over a month into the lockdown and the usually bustling streets of Kalamata, a Greek city southwest of Athens traditionally known for its olives, are largely empty.
<p>As in the rest of Greece, residents of the coastal city are allowed out only in strict circumstances, including for short exercise and grocery shopping. But discarded gloves, wipes and bottles of sanitizer are strewn across parks, sidewalks and roads, as people try to protect themselves and others from infection.</p>
<p>The problem isn't confined to the small Greek city. Similar waste is causing problems in bigger metropolises such as New York and London.</p><p>And it has even hit the uninhabited Soko Islands. A few nautical miles from Hong Kong, Gary Stokes from the conservation group OceansAsia found some 100 masks washed up over the course of three visits to the beach.</p><p>"We hadn't noticed this many masks before in such a remote location," said Stokes, who suspects they came from nearby China or Hong Kong. "When we found them, it only had been six to eight weeks since people had started using these masks."</p>
Impact on wildlife
<p>Gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) are critical for those fighting the pandemic but are also widely used by the public. Still, because they're not always disposed of properly, environmentalists fear negative consequences for wildlife and the fight against plastic pollution.</p><p>"If they're thrown on the streets, when it rains the gloves and masks will eventually end up in the sea," said Anastasia Miliou, a marine biologist and research director with the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation based in Greece.</p><p>And because waste management problems are systemic in Greece, even gloves and face masks that are put in the trash could ultimately end up in nature.</p><p><span></span>Even in Hong Kong, where littering is rare, Stokes said there are dozens of other ways masks can reach the sea.</p>
<p>"People are walking, they pull their wallets out and from their pockets a mask accidentally falls," he explained, adding that even if they are put in the garbage, they are light enough to blow away.</p><p><span></span>And once they get into the water, they pose a threat to marine life.</p><p>"[In Hong Kong waters,] we've got pink dolphins and green turtles coming through this place," said Stokes. "A <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/environment/plastic-smells-like-food-to-sea-turtles" target="_blank">recently published study</a> showed that when plastic is left in the water long enough and algae and bacteria grow on it, it actually smells like food to turtles."</p>
How to properly recycle masks? It's a problem
<p>PPE items not left to float about in the environment and the sea are not necessarily easy to deal with either, explained Joan Marc Simon, executive director of Zero Waste Europe, a Brussels-based NGO.</p><p>He points to the European recycling scheme under which retailers and producers pay for the collection and treatment of plastic packaging. As gloves aren't considered packaging, they cannot be put into household recycling bins, explained Simon.</p><p>Even gloves made of latex rubber, a natural product, aren't always an eco-friendly choice, Simon added. It depends on the chemical additives used to produce them, he said, some of which can harm the environment when they decompose.</p><p>While it's understandable that sustainability practices backtrack in a crisis, said Richard Thompson, professor and director of the Marine Institute at the University of Plymouth, tackling the plastic waste crisis means not losing sight of the whole life cycle of a product — from design until end of life.</p><p>"This should be the same thing whether it's a bottle of lemonade or a mask that's used in a hospital," said Thompson. "Of course, it doesn't help that we're in this time of crisis, particularly when everybody is wanting a mask."</p><p>Still, the EU Commission spokesperson for environmental matters, Vivian Loonela, recently told media outlet <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/circular-economy/news/eu-dismisses-industry-calls-to-lift-ban-on-single-use-plastics" target="_blank">EurActiv</a> it's too early to assess the impact of the coronavirus on the overall amount of plastic packaging waste generated in 2020.</p>
What are the sustainable choices in this pandemic?
<p>The World Health Organization (WHO) told DW that regular hand-washing offers more protection against catching COVID-19 than wearing rubber gloves while out in public areas, while the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html" target="_blank">US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> says that for the public, washable cloth masks will offer the necessary protection.</p><p>And while PPE used in medical facilities is largely non-recyclable or non-reusable, sustainable innovations are emerging.</p><p>In the U.S., the car manufacturer Ford is producing reusable gowns from air bag materials that can be washed up to 50 times, while the University of Nebraska is also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/20/health/coronavirus-masks-reuse.html" target="_blank">testing</a> to see whether ultraviolet light will decontaminate and prolong the life of medical masks, and therefore, reduce waste.</p><p>Simon from Zero Waste Europe believes countries shouldn't have to choose between protecting the environment and protecting public health.</p><p>"That's currently what's happening," said Simon. "In the future we need to make sure we're ready for pandemics like this and that we're ready to deal with them in an environmental way; it doesn't have to be one at the expense of the other."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-plastic-waste-polluting-the-environment/a-53216807" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2645831072#/" target="_self"></a></em><em></em></p>From Your Site Articles
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A garbage yard in Lucknow, India where plastic bottles are dumped before being sent to recycling. Abhimanyu Kumar Sharma / Moment / Getty Images
Scientists have engineered a mutant enzyme that converts 90 percent of plastic bottles back to pristine starting materials that can then be used to produce new high-quality bottles in just hours. The discovery could revolutionize the recycling industry, which currently saves about 30 percent of PET plastics from landfills, reported Science Magazine.
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<p>Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is the plastic used in soda bottles, textiles and packaging. With almost 70 million tons manufactured annually worldwide, it is also the most abundant polyester plastic because it is strong and lightweight, explains the study's abstract, which was published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2149-4" target="_blank">Nature</a>.</p><p>Unfortunately, current PET recycling is inefficient. When plastics of different colors are melted down during the recycling process, a gray or black plastic starting material results that few companies want to purchase to package their products, explained <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a>. The process results in low-grade plastic fibers only good enough for clothing and carpets, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. These eventually end up in a landfill or incinerated, added <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a>.</p><p>"It's not really recycling at all," explained professor John McGeehan, the director of the Centre for Enzyme Innovation at the University of Portsmouth, to Science Magazine.</p>
<p>McGeehan, who was not involved in the research, called the new enzyme "a huge step forward," reported Science Magazine. He also noted that <a href="https://carbios.fr/en/" target="_blank">Carbios</a>, the French sustainable plastics company behind the breakthrough, is the industry leader in engineering enzymes to break down PET at large scale, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>.</p><p>For years, scientists at the forefront of the cultural war on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastics" target="_self">plastic waste</a> have searched for microbial enzymes that could break down PET and other plastics. Recently, a group of German scientists discovered a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scientists-find-bacteria-that-eats-plastic-2645582039.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">bacterium that breaks down polyurethane plastic</a> and uses it for food to fuel the process, but cautioned it might be a decade before commercial scale could be reached. Similarly, in 2018, researchers led by McGeehan accidentally discovered an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/plastic-eating-enzyme-scientists-2560856195.html" target="_self">enzyme that digests PET</a>, but noted that it doesn't do so very quickly (a few days). Even the base enzyme used in Carbios' research, leaf-branch compost cutinase (LLC) has been studied since 2012, when it was discovered in a compost heap of leaves by researchers at Osaka University, reported <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a>.</p><p>The team at Carbios screened 100,000 micro-organisms for promising candidates, and eventually began introducing mutations to LLC. Native LLC falls apart after just a few days of working at 65°C, the temperature at which PET begins to soften but not yet melt, explained Science Magazine.</p>
<iframe width="100%" height="150" scrolling="no" class="rm-shortcode twitter-embed-1248128693530173441" id="twitter-embed-1248128693530173441" lazy-loadable="true" src="/res/community/twitter_embed/?iframe_id=twitter-embed-1248128693530173441&created_ts=1586412044.0&screen_name=Carbios&text=Our+publication+in+%40nresearchnews+hails+the+breakthrough+innovation+developed+Carbios+and+%40TBI_Biotech.+Thanks+to+o%E2%80%A6+https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FIaQj4onb1n&id=1248128693530173441&name=Carbios" frameborder="0" data-rm-shortcode-id="0be0656f40c1069ab482071f53e0ea98"></iframe><p>The researchers re-engineered LLC to work faster and at higher temperatures. Alain Marty, Carbios' chief scientific officer, teamed up with Isabelle Andre, an enzyme engineering expert at the University of Toulouse, to isolate an optimized enzyme that is 10,000 times more efficient at breaking down the chemical bonds in PET than native LLC, reported Science Magazine. It also functions at 72°C, close to the temperature at which PET melts, making the process even more efficient.</p><p>The mutant enzyme broke down 90% of 200 grams of PET in a small reactor in just 10 hours. Different colors didn't matter because the enzyme can ignore dyes and other plastics in the molten mix. The researchers were able to use the resultant chemical building blocks to produce new PET and food-grade plastic bottles that were just as strong as those made from virgin plastics, reported Science Magazine.</p><p>"It's a real breakthrough in the recycling and manufacturing of PET," said Dr. Saleh Jabarin, a member of Carbios' scientific committee in a <a href="https://carbios.fr/en/carbios-announces-the-publication-of-an-article-on-its-enzymatic-recycling-technology-in-the-prestigious-scientific-journal-nature/" target="_blank">company statement</a> about the discovery. "Thanks to the innovative technology developed by Carbios, the PET industry will become truly circular, which is the goal for all players in this industry, especially brand-owners, PET producers and our civilization as a whole."</p>
<p>Carbios reports that the enzyme costs just 4% of what virgin plastic made from oil costs, noted <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. The enzyme cannot be added to waste plastic until it is ground up and melted, however, so the recycled PET is still more expensive than virgin plastic. Still, McGeehan noted to <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a> that companies may be willing to pay a bit more for a recycled plastic that is as durable and attractive as the virgin material.</p><p>Carbios is partnering with major companies, <a href="https://carbios.fr/en/nestle-waters-pepsico-and-suntory-beverage-food-europe-join-consortium-founded-by-carbios-and-loreal-to-support-the-worlds-first-enzymatic-technology-for-the-recycling-of-plastic/" target="_blank">including Pepsi and L'Oréal</a>, to accelerate development and produce the new enzyme at scale, reported <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. It is aiming for industrial-scale recycling within five years. <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/huge-step-forward-mutant-enzyme-could-vastly-improve-recycling-plastic-bottles" target="_blank">Science Magazine</a> reported that a demonstration plant that can recycle hundreds of tons of PET per year should be online by next year.</p><p>"We are the first company to bring this technology on the market," said Martin Stephan, the deputy chief executive at Carbios, to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>. "Our goal is to be up and running by 2024, 2025, at large industrial scale."</p>
<p>McGeehan explained to The Guardian that the discovery could finally make true industrial-scale biological recycling of PET a possibility. The new enzyme is faster, more efficient and more heat-tolerant — qualities that make this such a large advancement for the field, he added.</p><p>McGeehan said, "It represents a significant step forward for true circular recycling of PET and has the potential to reduce our reliance on oil, cut carbon emissions and energy use, and incentivize the collection and recycling of waste plastic," reported The Guardian.</p>
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Aerial shot top view Garbage trucks unload garbage to a recycle in the vicinity of the city of Bangkok, Thailand. bugto / Moment / Getty Images
German researchers have identified a strain of bacterium that not only breaks down toxic plastic, but also uses it as food to fuel the process, according to The Guardian.
<p>The scientists discovered the strain of bacteria, known as <em>p</em><em>seudomonas bacteria</em>, at a dump site loaded with <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastic-waste">plastic waste</a>, where they noticed that it was attacking polyurethane. Polyurethane's are ubiquitous in plastic products because they are pliable and durable. However, when they reach the end of their usefulness and end up in landfills, they decompose slowly and slowly release toxic chemicals into the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/soil" rel="noopener noreferrer">soil</a> as they degrade. They are also notoriously difficult to recycle, <a href="https://www.courthousenews.com/bacteria-provide-key-to-recycling-durable-plastics/" target="_blank">according to Courthouse News</a>. </p>
<p>Since it is so difficult to recycle, millions and millions of products containing polyurethane like sneakers, diapers, kitchen sponges and foam installation end up in landfills. Polyurethane usually kills most bacteria too, so it surprised the researchers to find a strain that not only survived, but also used polyurethane to thrive, according to The Guardian. The findings were published in the journal <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00404/full" target="_blank">Frontiers in Microbiology</a>. </p>
<p>"The bacteria can use these compounds as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy," Hermann J. Heipieper, a senior scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany and co-author of the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00404/full" target="_blank">new paper</a>, said in a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-03-scientists-microbe-degrade-polyurethane-based-plastics.html" target="_blank">statement</a>. "These findings represent an important step in being able to reuse hard-to-recycle polyurethane products." </p>
<p><em>P</em><em>seudomonas bacteria</em> are part of a family of microorganisms known for its ability to withstand harsh conditions, such as high temperatures and acidic environments.</p>
<p>While the little germs offer hope for a solution to the plastic crisis polluting land and water around the globe, scientists are still a long way away from being able to use the bacteria on a large scale. Heipieper estimated that it could be 10 years before the bacteria are ready to consume plastic at a large scale. He added that in the meantime, it is important to reduce the use of non-recyclable plastic and to cut the amount of plastic used around the world, according to The Guardian.</p>
<p>Our reliance on plastic has created a waste crisis. In 2015, polyurethane products alone accounted for 3.5 million tons of the plastics produced in Europe, according to a <a href="https://phys.org/news/2020-03-scientists-microbe-degrade-polyurethane-based-plastics.html" target="_blank">press release</a> from the journal that published the <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00404/full" target="_blank">study</a>. More than 8 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced since the 1950s, according to The Guardian, and a vast majority of it has polluted the world's land and oceans, or ends up in landfills. Scientists say it threatens a "near permanent contamination of the natural environment." </p><p>As for polyurethane, its heat resistance make it a difficult and energy intensive to melt down. Because of that, it is disproportionately tossed into landfills around the world where its slow degradation releases toxic — and often carcinogenic — chemicals, according to Courthouse News.</p>
<p>In the laboratory, the researchers fed key components of polyurethane to the bugs. "We found the bacteria can use these compounds as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy," Heipieper said, as The Guardian reported. </p>
<p>"When you have huge amounts of plastic in the environment, that means there is a lot of carbon and there will be evolution to use this as food," Heipieper said as The Guardian reported. </p>
<p>"Bacteria are there in huge numbers and their evolution is very fast. However, this certainly doesn't mean that the work of microbiologists can lead to a complete solution," he added. "The main message should be to avoid plastic being released into the environment in the first place."</p>
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