In this episode, we discuss how Penn state researchers accidentally discovered that heat treatment of paper bags could make them stronger - especially when wet - thereby increasing their reusability significantly.

Podcast: Burning Paper Bags For Sustainability

20230717-Podcast: Burning Paper Bags For Sustainability

Plastics are everywhere in our daily lives, but not all plastics are created equal &shy;&ndash; far from it.&nbsp;Take, for instance, polyethylene terephthalate, which is used to make plastic soda bottles and clothing fibers and is a key contributor to plastic pollution. Then there&rsquo;s high-density polyethylene, from which shampoo bottles, milk jugs, and cutting boards are derived. And don&rsquo;t forget polystyrene for packaging, or low-density polyethylene, which gives us cling wrap and grocery bags.All of these are plastics, which are the most widely used types of polymers &ndash; macromolecules made of repeating units of small molecules called monomers. Post-consumer plastics are almost always collected as a mixed stream of waste, and products are often manufactured from two or more types of plastics.The bad news about collecting them in this way &nbsp;is that these items, though all &ldquo;plastics,&rdquo; are chemically and physically incompatible, and there&rsquo;s no good industrial method for reusing or re-processing them into other, useful products. That&rsquo;s why most of those &ldquo;recyclables&rdquo; that many of us &nbsp;throw into recycle bins every week are going to a landfill. Even after careful sorting and separation into individual plastics, mechanical recycling usually yields inferior products, termed down-cycling.Polymer chemists at Columbia University and Colorado State University, have long been leaders in finding ways to tackle the environmental problems humans have created with plastics waste. Now, they&rsquo;ve come up with fundamental new chemistry that seeds a creative, chemistry-based solution to the challenge of recycling mixed-use plastics. &nbsp;Led by Columbia Professors <a href="https://www.chem.columbia.edu/content/tomislav-rovis" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tomislav Rovis</a> and <a href="https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/faculty/sanat-kumar" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sanat Kumar</a>, and collaborators at Colorado State University, the team has devised a new chemical strategy that delivers specifically designed small molecules called universal dynamic crosslinkers into mixed plastic streams. These crosslinkers transform a formerly immiscible muck into a viable new set of polymers, which can be turned into new, higher-value, re-processable materials, a process known as upcycling. Their work is published in the journal, Nature.When heated and processed together with the dynamic crosslinkers added in small amounts, the mixed plastics are made compatible with each other through in-situ formation of a new material, called a multiblock copolymer.&nbsp;Kumar, the Bykhovsky Professor of Chemical Engineering at <a href="https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Columbia Engineering</a> likened the block copolymers to soap molecules, which make water compatible with oily dirt molecules. &ldquo;In a similar way, these new types of dynamically formed &lsquo;soaps,&rsquo; i.e. the block copolymers, compatibilize mixed plastics and make them usable as a new kind of material with useful properties.&rdquo;This new method of upcycling, which does not involve deconstructing or reconstructing any of the original polymers, introduces a potential solution for recapturing materials and energy endowed in post-consumer mixed plastics that typically end up in landfills.<blockquote>These new types of dynamically formed &lsquo;soaps,&rsquo; i.e. the block copolymers, compatibilize mixed plastics and make them usable as a new kind of material with useful properties.&nbsp; - SANAT KUMAR,&nbsp;MICHAEL BYKHOVSKY AND CHARO GONZALEZ-BYKHOVSKY PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING</blockquote>The team designed their crosslinkers and tested them on a variety of plastics including samples of mixed polyethylene zip-lock bags and polylactide cups without prior purification or removal of additives or dyes, which are typically present in post-consumer plastic products. They combined their experiments with modeling studies to verify that the crosslinkers induce the formation of new multiblock copolymers.&ldquo;The system is so efficient, it compatibilizes three different polymers into a single new material,&rdquo; said Rovis, the Samuel Latham Mitchill Professor of Chemistry at Columbia.The researchers posit that their new strategy could help achieve the ultimate goal of reusing mixed plastic waste over multiple use cycles, Chen said. &ldquo;A key barrier is cost; we are talking about millions of tons of plastic waste, and you have to consider how many of these dynamic crosslinkers you need, although we currently need only less than 5% of the weight of the plastics in our upcycling process. Like many fundamental discoveries made in history, practical obstacles exist at the very beginning, but we are very excited about future potential.&rdquo;<hr><h2 id="isPasted">Learn more about Sanat Kumar and his research</h2><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GWtJUYfuLQg?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>Sanat Kumar&#39;s work has reshaped the way researchers think about polymers, particularly in confined geometries. And, as both an engineer and an educator he&#39;s reshaping how to think about the problems we tackle and their impact on society.

Photo Credit: Josep Curto/Shutterstock.com

Polymer chemists at Columbia University and Colorado State University have developed a fundamental new chemistry that seeds a creative, chemistry-based solution to the challenge of recycling mixed-use plastics.

An Upcycling Solution to Mixed Plastics Rooted in New Chemistry

Engineers at Duke University have produced the world&rsquo;s first fully recyclable printed electronics that replace the use of chemicals with water in the fabrication process. By bypassing the need for hazardous chemicals, the demonstration points down a path industry could follow to reduce its environmental footprint and human health risks.The research appeared online Feb. 28 in the journal Nano Letters.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1681253766429-ezgif-2-aeab43ebbb.gif" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">An aerosol jet printer puts down layers of carbon-based electronic inks to create transistors that can be fully recycled using only water, rather than requiring harsh, toxic chemicals. Credit - Jason Arthurs Photography&nbsp;One of the dominant challenges facing any electronics manufacturer is successfully securing several layers of components on top of each other, which is crucial to making complex devices. Getting these layers to stick together can be a frustrating process, particularly for printed electronics.<blockquote>&quot;Putting layers on top of each other is not as easy as putting them down on their own &mdash; but that&rsquo;s what you have to do if you want to build electronic devices with printing.&rdquo;AARON FRANKLIN</blockquote>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one layer on either slice of bread is easy,&rdquo; explained <a href="https://ece.duke.edu/faculty/aaron-franklin" target="_blank">Aaron Franklin</a>, the Addy Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke, who led the study. &ldquo;But if you put the jelly down first and then try to spread peanut butter on top of it, forget it, the jelly won&rsquo;t stay put and will intermix with the peanut butter. Putting layers on top of each other is not as easy as putting them down on their own &mdash; but that&rsquo;s what you have to do if you want to build electronic devices with printing.&rdquo;In previous work, Franklin and his group demonstrated the <a href="https://pratt.duke.edu/about/news/recyclable-printed-electronics" target="_blank">first fully recyclable printed electronics</a>. The devices used three carbon-based inks: semiconducting carbon nanotubes, conductive graphene and insulating nanocellulose. In trying to adapt the original process to only use water, the carbon nanotubes presented the largest challenge.To make a water-based ink in which the carbon nanotubes don&rsquo;t clump together and spread evenly on a surface, a surfactant similar to detergent is added. The resulting ink, however, does not create a layer of carbon nanotubes dense enough for a high current of electrons to travel across.<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CCwVaUYbarc?&wmode=opaque&rel=0&enablejsapi=1&origin=https://www.wevolver.com" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&ldquo;You want the carbon nanotubes to look like al dente spaghetti strewn down on a flat surface,&rdquo; said Franklin. &ldquo;But with a water-based ink, they look more like they&rsquo;ve been taken one-by-one and tossed on a wall to check for doneness. If we were using chemicals, we could just print multiple passes again and again until there were enough nanotubes. But water doesn&rsquo;t work that way. We could do it 100 times and there&rsquo;d still be the same density as the first time.&rdquo;This is because the surfactant used to keep the carbon nanotubes from clumping also prevents additional layers from adhering to the first. In a traditional manufacturing process, these surfactants would be removed using either very high temperatures, which takes a lot of energy, or harsh chemicals, which can pose human and environmental health risks. Franklin and his group wanted to avoid both.In the paper, Franklin and his group develop a cyclical process in which the device is rinsed with water, dried in relatively low heat and printed on again. When the amount of surfactant used in the ink is also tuned down, the researchers show that their inks and processes can create fully functional, fully recyclable, fully water-based transistors.<blockquote>&quot;If we were using chemicals, we could just print multiple passes again and again until there were enough nanotubes. But water doesn&rsquo;t work that way. We could do it 100 times and there&rsquo;d still be the same density as the first time.&rdquo;AARON FRANKLIN</blockquote>Compared to a resistor or capacitor, a transistor is a relatively complex computer component used in devices such as power control or logic circuits and sensors. Franklin explains that, by demonstrating a transistor first, he hopes to signal to the rest of the field that there is a viable path toward making some electronics manufacturing processes much more environmentally friendly.Franklin has already proven that nearly 100% of the carbon nanotubes and graphene used in printing can be recovered and reused in the same process, losing very little of the substances or their performance viability. Because nanocellulose is made from wood, it can simply be recycled or biodegraded like paper. And while the process does use a lot of water, it&rsquo;s not nearly as much as what is required to deal with the toxic chemicals used in traditional fabrication methods.According to a United Nations estimate, less than a quarter of the millions of pounds of electronics thrown away each year is recycled. And the problem is only going to get worse as the world eventually upgrades to 6G devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand. So any dent that could be made in this growing mountain of electronic trash is important to pursue.<blockquote>&ldquo;The performance of our thin-film transistors doesn&rsquo;t match the best currently being manufactured, but they&rsquo;re competitive enough to show the research community that we should all be doing more work to make these processes more environmentally friendly.&quot;AARON FRANKLIN</blockquote>While more work needs to be done, Franklin says the approach could be used in the manufacturing of other electronic components like the screens and displays that are now ubiquitous to society. Every electronic display has a backplane of thin-film transistors similar to what is demonstrated in the paper. The current fabrication technology is high-energy and relies on hazardous chemicals as well as toxic gasses. The entire industry has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/sector-spotlight-electronics" target="_blank">flagged for immediate attention by the US Environmental Protection Agency</a>.&ldquo;The performance of our thin-film transistors doesn&rsquo;t match the best currently being manufactured, but they&rsquo;re competitive enough to show the research community that we should all be doing more work to make these processes more environmentally friendly,&rdquo; Franklin said.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (1R01HL146849), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (FA9550-22-1-0466), and the National Science Foundation (ECCS-1542015, Graduate Research Fellowship 2139754).CITATION: &ldquo;All-Carbon Thin-Film Transistors Using Water-Only Printing,&rdquo; Shiheng Lu, Brittany N. Smith, Hope Meikle, Michael J. Therien, and Aaron D. Franklin. Nano Letters, Feb. 28, 2023. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04196

First-of-its-kind demonstration suggests a more environmentally friendly future for the electronics industry is possible

Fully Recyclable Printed Electronics Ditch Toxic Chemicals for Water

This article was discussed in our&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte&source=gmail&ust=1672821999265000&usg=AOvVaw3lLKdHdEN0YvCEsaHI7hx9" href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Next Byte podcast</a>.&nbsp;<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/63f10d22-cd2f-4c1e-8609-6ae7d0af5a2e?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-form-tracking-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true" data-lf-vimeo-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe> The full article will continue below.<hr>The study suggests a process for creating paper bags durable enough to be used multiple times and then broken down chemically by an alkaline treatment to be used as a source for biofuel production, according to researcher <a href="https://abe.psu.edu/directory/dec109" target="_blank">Daniel Ciolkosz</a>, associate research professor of agricultural and biological engineering.&ldquo;When the primary use of these paper products ends, using them for secondary purposes makes them more sustainable,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Recycling and reducing paper waste also helps in reducing total solid waste destined for landfills. This is a concept we think society should consider.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjgxMjUzMTMxOTI4LXBhcGVyLWJhZy1wZXhlbHMtbGlzYS1mb3Rpb3MuanBnIiwiZWRpdHMiOnsicmVzaXplIjp7IndpZHRoIjo5NTAsImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn19fQ==" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Paper bags are a popular alternative to plastic bags to reduce the environmental impacts caused by using plastics, but paper bags have short lifespans due to their low durability, particularly when wet. Credit:&nbsp;Lisa Fotios/Pexals.&nbsp;All Rights Reserved.&nbsp;Lead researcher <a href="https://abe.psu.edu/directory/jxt380" target="_blank">Jaya Tripathi</a>, who will graduate from Penn State this spring with a doctoral degree in biorenewable systems and has accepted a position at the Joint BioEnergy Institute in California, devised an innovative process in which cellulose in paper is torrefied, or roasted in an oxygen-deprived environment, to greatly increase its tensile strength when wet.Paper bags are a popular alternative to plastic bags to reduce the environmental impacts caused by using plastics, she explained, but paper bags have short lifespans due to their low durability, particularly when wet. And a paper bag must be reused several times to reduce its global-warming potential to below that of the conventional high-density polyethylene bag, Tripathi added.&ldquo;Reuse is mainly governed by bag strength, and it is unlikely that a typical paper bag can be reused the required number of times due to its low durability upon wetting,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Using expensive chemical processes to enhance wet strength diminishes paper&#39;s ecofriendly and cost-efficient features for commercial application, so there is a need to explore non-chemical techniques to increase the wet strength of paper bags. Torrefaction could be the answer.&rdquo;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjgxMjUzMTU3NTU0LWJhZy12ZWdnaWVzLW1hcmNvLXZlcmNoLWZsaWNrci1maXhlZC5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">By switching to stronger, reusable paper shopping bags, a large volume of plastic waste could be eliminated, the researchers suggest..&nbsp;Credit:&nbsp;Marco Verch/Flickr.&nbsp;All Rights Reserved.&nbsp;Because torrefaction decreased the glucose yield in the paper, she then treated the paper with a solution of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye or caustic soda, that increased its glucose yield, making it a better source for biofuel production.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344923000198" target="_blank">findings recently published in Resources, Conservation and Recycling</a>, using filter paper as the medium, the researchers reported that the wet-tensile strength of the paper increased by 1,533%, 2,233%, 1,567% and 557% after torrefaction for 40 minutes at 392 degrees Fahrenheit, 428 F, 464 F and 500 F, respectively.Glucose yield decreased with increased torrefaction severity, but after treating torrefied paper samples with an alkaline sodium hydroxide solution, glucose yield increased, the researchers noted. For instance, the glucose yield of raw filter paper was 955 mg/g of substrate, whereas it was 690 mg/g of substrate for the same paper sample torrefied at 392 F. The glucose yield increased to 808 and 933 mg/g of substrate with 1% and 10% alkaline treatment, respectively.The need for a concept like the one demonstrated by the researchers to replace plastic bags is obvious, Tripathi pointed out. According to the U.N. Environment Programme,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/" target="_blank">5 trillion plastic bags are produced worldwide annually</a>. It can take up to 1,000 years for these bags to disintegrate completely. Americans throw away 100 billion bags annually &mdash; the equivalent to dumping nearly 12 million barrels of crude oil.&ldquo;By switching to stronger, reusable paper shopping bags, we could eliminate much of that waste,&rdquo; Tripathi said. &ldquo;The implications of a technology like the one we demonstrated in this research &mdash; if it can be perfected &mdash; including using the worn-out bags as a substrate for biofuel production, would be huge.&rdquo;Like many scientific discoveries, Tripathi learned about the synergy of torrefaction and alkaline treatment for increased paper capabilities by accident.&ldquo;I was looking into something else, studying how torrefaction impacts cellulose for glucose yield for use as a biofuel substrate,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But I noticed that the paper&rsquo;s strength was increasing as we torrefied the cellulose. That made me think that it probably would be good for packaging, an entirely different application.&rdquo;Contributing to the research was Daniel Sykes, teaching professor of chemistry.This research was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture&rsquo;s National Institute for Food and Agriculture.

As the world searches for ways to reduce the use of plastics such as single-use plastic bags, a novel study by Penn State researchers demonstrates a process to make paper bags stronger — especially when they get wet — to make them a more viable alternative.

Stronger paper bags, reused repeatedly then recycled for biofuel could be future

Recovering up to 70 percent of the lithium from battery waste without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures or prior sorting of the materials: This is made possible by a recycling process developed at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) that combines mechanical processes and chemical reactions. The method allows a wide variety of lithium-ion batteries to be recycled in a cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly manner. The researchers report in the journal Nature Communications Chemistry ( <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s42004-023-00844-2" target="_blank">DOI: 10.1038/s42004-023-00844-2</a> )&nbsp;Lithium-ion batteries permeate our everyday life: They not only supply notebooks and smartphones, toys, remote controls and other small devices with wireless power, but also act as the most important energy storage medium for the rapidly growing electromobility. The increasing use of these batteries calls for economically and ecologically sustainable recycling methods. Today, mainly nickel and cobalt, copper and aluminum as well as steel are recovered and recycled from battery waste. The recovery of lithium is currently still expensive and not very profitable. The available, mostly metallurgical processes consume a lot of energy and/or leave behind harmful by-products. In contrast, approaches in mechanochemistry, which use mechanical processes to bring about chemical reactions, promise&nbsp;<h2>Suitable for different cathode materials</h2>Such a method has now been developed by the Institute for Applied Materials - Energy Storage Systems (IAM-ESS) of KIT together with the Helmholtz Institute Ulm for Electrochemical Energy Storage (HIU) founded by KIT in cooperation with the University of Ulm and EnBW Energie Baden-W&uuml;rttemberg AG . In the journal Nature Communications Chemistrythe researchers present their method.&nbsp;You can achieve a recovery rate of up to 70 percent for the lithium without the need for corrosive chemicals, high temperatures or prior sorting of the materials.&nbsp;&quot;The process is suitable for recovering lithium from cathode materials with different chemical compositions and is therefore suitable for many different commercially available lithium-ion batteries,&quot; explains Dr.&nbsp;Oleksandr Dolotko from the IAM-ESS of the KIT and from the HIU, main author of the publication.&nbsp;&quot;It allows for cost-effective, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly recycling.&quot;<h2>Reaction takes place at room temperature&nbsp;</h2>For their process, the researchers use aluminum as a reducing agent in the mechanochemical reaction. Since aluminum is already contained in the cathode, the process does not require any additional substances. How it works: The battery waste is first ground up. Then they are used in a reaction with aluminum to create metallic composites with water-soluble lithium compounds. The lithium is then recovered by dissolving the water-soluble compounds in water and then heating to remove the water through evaporation. Since the mechanochemical reaction takes place at ambient temperature and pressure, the process is particularly energy-efficient. Another advantage is the simple process, which will facilitate use on an industrial scale.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1680261956042-2023_015_Batterierecycling+70+Prozent+des+Lithiums+zurueckgewonnen_2_72dpi.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">The more batteries there are for recycling, the more important sustainable recycling processes for the recyclable materials they contain become. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)&nbsp;<hr>Original publication (Open Access)&nbsp;Oleksandr Dolotko, Niclas Gehrke, Triantafillia Malliaridou, Raphael Sieweck, Laura Herrmann, Bettina Hunzinger, Michael Knapp &amp; Helmut Ehrenberg: Universal and efficient extraction of lithium for lithium-ion battery recycling using mechanochemistry. Communications Chemistry, 2023. DOI: 10.1038/s42004-023-00844-2&nbsp;

dr Oleksandr Dolotko, lead author of the publication, conducts research at the IAM-ESS Institute and the HIU. (Photo: Amadeus Bramsiepe, KIT)

KIT researchers develop inexpensive and environmentally friendly mechanochemical recycling process - publication in Nature Communications Chemistry

Battery recycling: 70 percent of the lithium recovered

Plastic is everywhere. Our society cannot do without it: plastics have numerous advantages, are extremely versatile, and are also cost effective. Today, plastics are mainly produced from crude oil. When the products reach the end of their life, they often end up in a waste incineration plant. The energy-intensive production of plastics and their incineration release large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere, making plastic products a major contributor to climate change.One way out would be to rely on sustainable production methods, such as the circular economy, in which as much plastic as possible is recycled. Then the main raw material for plastic products would no longer be crude oil but shredded plastic waste. But is it even possible to tweak the plastics economy to absolute sustainability? Yes, it is, shows a new study led by Andr&eacute; Bardow, Professor of Energy and Process Systems Engineering at ETH Zurich. Gonzalo Guill&eacute;n Gos&aacute;lbez, Professor of Chemical Systems Engineering at ETH Zurich, and researchers from RWTH Aachen University and the University of California, Santa Barbara collaborated on the study.<h2>Massively increased recycling rate needed</h2>The scientists looked at the complete value chains of the 14 most common types of plastics, including polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride. These 14 bulk plastics account for 90 percent of the plastic products manufactured worldwide. In their study, the researchers investigated for the first time whether it is possible for the plastics industry to respect planetary boundaries. These are a measure of comprehensive sustainability. They go beyond energy and climate issues to include, for example, impacts on land and water resources, ecosystems and biodiversity. In short: processes that adhere to planetary boundaries can be sustained over the long term without depleting the Earth&rsquo;s resources.The study finds that circular plastics are feasible within planetary boundaries. This would require at least 74 percent of the plastic to be recycled. By way of comparison, only around 15 percent is recycled in Europe today, and the rate is likely to be much lower in other regions of the world. In addition, the study finds that recycling processes would have to be improved. Specifically, plastics recycling would have to become as efficient as other chemical processes already are today. As things currently stand, not all plastics can be recycled. In the case of polyurethanes used as foams, for example, recycling has yet to be established &ndash; a question Professor Bardow is also addressing.For the remaining maximum 26 percent of plastics, the carbon needed for production could be sourced using two other technologies, according to the study: on the one hand, CO2 captured from combustion processes or from the atmosphere (known as carbon capture and utilisation or CCU), and on the other hand, from biomass. &ldquo;Recycling alone won&rsquo;t do it; we need all three pillars,&rdquo; Bardow says.<blockquote>&#39;Recycling efforts should be intensified wherever possible. More recycling of plastic always leads to more sustainability.&#39; -&nbsp;<cite>Andr&eacute; Bardow</cite>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;</blockquote>&ldquo;Increasing the recycling rate to 74 percent worldwide is a very ambitious goal,&rdquo; Bardow admits. As such, it is unlikely to be achieved by 2030, but 2050 is more realistic. Another challenge, however, is that more plastic products are currently being manufactured year after year. If the current trend continues until 2050, it won&rsquo;t be enough to simply improve recycling processes, as planetary boundaries would still be exceeded in 2050.That is why the study&rsquo;s authors suggest also addressing demand as well as assigning a different value to plastic. &ldquo;Plastic is considered cheap, which for a long time was a blessing but has now become a curse,&rdquo; Bardow says. &ldquo;Given its outstanding properties, we should view plastic as the high-quality material it truly is. That way, it would be okay for it to cost a little more, and its recycling, too.&rdquo;<h2>Fuller understanding of product stewardship</h2>In the study, the scientists point out that plastic products must be better aligned with the circular economy in future. To this end, manufacturers should work more closely with recyclers. According to the study&rsquo;s authors, it would be desirable if plastics manufacturers had a wider understanding of the responsibility they hold: Today, responsibility often ends where the product leaves the factory gates. The scientists therefore call for product stewardship to encompass the entire life cycle &ndash; including disposal and recycling &ndash; as the basis for optimising the design of sustainable processes.In any case, pushing recycling is the right way to go: given that it has no serious disadvantages, it should be treated as a special case in the transformation of the economy toward sustainability. In many other areas, conflicting goals arise. Take, for example, the production of synthetic fuels, which is extremely energy-intensive, or the use of biomass, which competes with food production. Recycling plastic, on the other hand, does not lead to such a conflict of goals. &ldquo;Recycling efforts should be intensified wherever possible,&rdquo; Bardow says. &ldquo;As a good rule of thumb: More recycling of plastic always leads to more sustainability.&rdquo;ETH Zurich&#39;s part in this study was conducted under the auspices of the National Centre of Competence in Research <a href="https://www.nccr-catalysis.ch/" target="_blank">external page(NCCR) Catalysiscall_made</a>.

Recyled PET from drinks bottles can be used to make shoes and clothing. (Photograph: Adobe Stock)

A new study shows what it will take for the plastics industry to become completely sustainable: lots of recycling combined with the use of CO2 from the air and biomass. It is also the image of plastics that need to change.

A wholly sustainable plastics economy is feasible

Less than 15% of the 92 million tons of clothing and other textiles discarded annually are recycled&mdash;in part because they are so difficult to sort. Woven-in labels made with inexpensive photonic fibers, developed by a University of Michigan-led team, could change that.&ldquo;It&rsquo;s like a barcode that&rsquo;s woven directly into the fabric of a garment,&rdquo; said <a href="https://mse.engin.umich.edu/people/mshtein" target="_blank">Max Shtein</a>, U-M professor of materials science and engineering and corresponding author of the study in Advanced Materials Technologies. &ldquo;We can customize the photonic properties of the fibers to make them visible to the naked eye, readable only under near-infrared light or any combination.&rdquo;Ordinary tags often don&rsquo;t make it to the end of a garment&rsquo;s life&mdash;they may be cut away or washed until illegible, and tagless information can wear off. Recycling could be more effective if a tag was woven into the fabric, invisible until it needs to be read. This is what the new fiber could do.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1676377902069-PhotonicFibers1.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Brian Iezzi scans and measures the photonic fibers in the fabric he developed. The laptop screen reflects the information he gathered. Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering&nbsp;Recyclers already use near-infrared sorting systems that identify different materials according to their naturally occurring optical signatures&mdash;the PET plastic in a water bottle, for example, looks different under near-infrared light than the HDPE plastic in a milk jug. Different fabrics also have different optical signatures, but <a href="https://shteinlab.engin.umich.edu/profile/brian-iezzi/" target="_blank">Brian Iezzi</a>, a postdoctoral researcher in Shtein&rsquo;s lab and lead author of the study, explains that those signatures are of limited use to recyclers because of the prevalence of blended fabrics.&ldquo;For a truly circular recycling system to work, it&rsquo;s important to know the precise composition of a fabric&mdash;a cotton recycler doesn&rsquo;t want to pay for a garment that&rsquo;s made of 70% polyester,&rdquo; Iezzi said. &ldquo;Natural optical signatures can&rsquo;t provide that level of precision, but our photonic fibers can.&rdquo;The team developed the technology by combining Iezzi and Shtein&rsquo;s photonic expertise&mdash;usually applied to products like displays, solar cells and optical filters&mdash;with the advanced textile capabilities at MIT&rsquo;s Lincoln Lab. The lab worked to incorporate the photonic properties into a process that would be compatible with large-scale production.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1676377925678-PhotonicFibers2.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Brian Iezzi use his phone to simulate the scanning of the photonic fibers fabric he developed. In the future, one will be able to use their phone to read the clothing woven-in labels made with inexpensive photonic fibers. Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering&nbsp;They accomplished the task by starting with a preform&mdash;a plastic feedstock that comprises dozens of alternating layers. In this case, they used acrylic and polycarbonate. While each individual layer is clear, the combination of two materials bends and refracts light to create optical effects that can look like color. It&rsquo;s the same basic phenomenon that gives butterfly wings their shimmer.The preform is heated and then mechanically pulled&mdash;a bit like taffy&mdash;into a hair-thin strand of fiber. While the manufacturing process method differs from the extrusion technique used to make conventional synthetic fibers like polyester, it can produce the same miles-long strands of fiber. Those strands can then be processed with the same equipment already used by textile makers.By adjusting the mix of materials and the speed at which the preform is pulled, the researchers tuned the fiber to create the desired optical properties and ensure recyclability. While the photonic fiber is more expensive than traditional textiles, the researchers estimate that it will only result in a small increase in the cost of finished goods.&ldquo;The photonic fibers only need to make up a small percentage&mdash;as little as 1% of a finished garment,&rdquo; Iezzi said. &ldquo;That might increase the cost of the finished product by around 25 cents&mdash;similar to the cost of those use-and-care tags we&rsquo;re all familiar with.&rdquo;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1676377988942-PhotonicFibers3.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Max Stein and Brian Iezzi analyze the fabric with photonic fibers woven into it. Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering&nbsp;Shtein says that in addition to making recycling easier, the photonic labeling could be used to tell consumers where and how goods are made, and even to verify the authenticity of brand-name products. It could be a way to add important value for customers.&ldquo;As electronic devices like cell phones become more sophisticated, they could potentially have the ability to read this kind of photonic labeling,&rdquo; Shtein said. &ldquo;So I could imagine a future where woven-in labels are a useful feature for consumers as well as recyclers.&rdquo;Iezzi worked closely with Lincoln Lab researchers Austin Coon, Lauren Cantley, Bradford Perkins, Erin Doran, Tairan Wang and Mordechai Rothschild to adapt the technology to a scalable, low-cost textile manufacturing process.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1676378024473-PhotonicFibers4.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Brian Iezzi scans and measures the photonic fibers in the fabric he developed. Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering&nbsp;The team has applied for patent protection with the assistance of Innovation Partnerships at the University of Michigan and is evaluating ways to move forward with the commercialization of the technology.The research was supported by the United States National Science Foundation INTERN program (no. 1727894) and the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering under Air Force (no. FA8702-15-D-0001).

Max Stein and Brian Iezzi analyze the fabric with photonic fibers woven into it. Photo: Marcin Szczepanski/Michigan Engineering

Photonic fibers borrow from butterfly wings to enable invisible, indelible sorting labels.

A "game changer" for clothing recycling?

DTU Campus Service at Ris&oslash; operates a server park with supercomputers covering 3,500 square metres. However, the energy does not simply vanish into thin air, but is converted into heat by means of a heat pump at Ris&oslash; Campus. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s possible to channel up to 600 kilowatts of waste heat from the IT equipment into the district heating network at Ris&oslash; Campus. This means that we are self-sufficient with heating four months of the year,&rdquo; says Esben H&oslash;jrup, Technical Project Manager at DTU Campus Service (CAS). For the rest of the year, the surplus energy contributes to a district heating corresponding to 19 percent of Ris&oslash; campus&#39; energy consumption in the same period.<h2>Low carbon footprint</h2>Despite rising electricity prices, it is still worthwhile to run the heat pump that recovers the surplus energy. This is shown by figures from DTU&rsquo;s latest green accounts. &ldquo;We get close to six times as much heat into the district heating network than the electricity consumed by the heat pump. This ratio&mdash;which is called the COP value&mdash;is really impressive,&rdquo; says Bjarke Nonb&oslash;l, Engineer at DTU Campus Service (CAS). Electricity emits more CO2 than district heating&mdash;approximately 2.7 times more per megawatt hour&mdash;but as the heat pump generates about six times more heat, the heat pump is the solution with the lowest carbon emission. &quot;The carbon emission is only 45 per cent of what it would have been with district heating from a utility company,&rdquo; says Bjarke Nonb&oslash;l.<h2>Intelligent control</h2>If electricity prices continue to skyrocket&mdash;or if we have periods of power shortages&mdash;it may be necessary to turn off the heat pump to save power. &ldquo;You can&rsquo;t say that the price of electricity must reach as much as, for example, ten Danish kroner on average before it&rsquo;s worthwhile to buy district heating from outside. The ratio between the electricity price and the district heating price determines whether it&rsquo;s still worthwhile to run the heat pump,&rdquo; says Bjarke Nonb&oslash;l. Therefore, CAS Ris&oslash; is working to develop a system that can monitor in real time whether operation of the heat pump is worthwhile. &ldquo;We regulate our heat production by using PLC&mdash;which is a programmable device&mdash;a small computer specially developed for automation and control of a process, also called &lsquo;process control&rsquo;. For example, opening and closing a valve, controlling temperatures, or controlling flow and pressure,&quot; says Esben H&oslash;jrup and continues:&quot;What we still need to do is to program the fluctuating electricity prices into the PLC environment.&nbsp;In this way, we can completely automatically control whether the heat pump is to supply heat to the campus, or whether we are to get the heat from the district heating company.&rdquo;<h2>Critical look</h2>CAS Ris&oslash; has long been working to reduce its carbon emissions by reducing its energy consumption. At a time when power has become expensive and will remain expensive for a long time to come, however, it raises the question of whether it is a luxury to choose to use power for heating.&ldquo;We have to consider the current prices and our power consumption. Power can be used for most purposes, while heat can primarily be used for heating in buildings. Therefore, we also need to take a critical look at how we can optimize our current heat recovery model using intelligent control,&rdquo; concludes Esben H&oslash;jrup.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1667560575661-Serverrum.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">In 2021, the server park contributed 2,525.5 [MWh] to DTU Ris&oslash; Campus&#39; district heating network, which makes a contribution of 19% of the total heat consumption.&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1667560610087-Varmeroer-Risoe.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">DTU Ris&oslash; Campus is supplied with heat from the server park during the summer months.&nbsp;

With a heat pump connected to DTU's data center, engineers Esben Højrup and Bjarke Nonbøl from DTU Campus Service utilize waste heat from the cooling servers. The heat pump supplies heat to the district heating network on Risø Campus.

A project at DTU Risø Campus shows that heat recovery is the most sustainable and economical choice—even at a time of rising electricity prices.

Heat from supercomputers recycled at DTU

When electronic devices stop working, our immediate reaction tends to be to bin them and buy something new. But this throwaway culture is not good for the planet, and we need to think differently. If devices lasted longer and were easier to fix, they could provide many years of good service before recycling. That saves precious materials and the energy needed to manufacture new products.The problem is that most consumer products are not designed with long life or repair in mind. Consider the smartphones in our pockets. These have been designed to be feature-packed, sleek, and aesthetically pleasing, things that don&rsquo;t make for easy repair. Instead, consumers are encouraged to upgrade to new versions every few years. So what&rsquo;s the point of making them last longer?<h2>Making products repairable</h2>The good news is that change is afoot. For one, global tech giant Apple has indicated a desire to make its products more repairable. The company announced last year it would&nbsp;allow users to repair some iPhones, and in April, it released iPhone repair kits for several of its latest models.Samsung has also started allowing users to self-repair their devices with kits available for select models. Other major tech companies, including Google, are anticipating the release of self-repair services. And the <a href="https://www.ifixit.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">iFixit website</a>, among others, provides free user-submitted instructions on how to repair thousands of consumer electronics devices.Beyond consumer electronics, there are already billions of IoT devices across the globe that would also benefit from being &lsquo;designed for repair.&rsquo; And tomorrow, there will be billions more. Robust design, upgradable software, and very long life from batteries are already helping IoT products based on Nordic technology last for a very long time. Making those same devices easy to repair when they finally do fail would see them remain in service for even longer.<h2>Time for a rethink</h2>Both consumer electronics and IoT devices need semiconductors to support on-device processing and wireless connectivity. And before the pandemic, it was assumed there would be an unlimited number of chips to satisfy this demand (and the demand from all the other places silicon chips are used). This made production planning relatively simple for manufacturers. But a skyrocketing appetite for electronics coupled with production constraints during the pandemic has resulted in a squeeze on supply.At the same time, extraction of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite&mdash;the raw materials at the heart of the batteries powering most portable electronics&mdash;is struggling to meet soaring demand, according to a report by business data and analytics firm, GlobalData.BCS, a global IT industry body, argues that a primary driver of the strain on semiconductor supply has been the constant demand for upgraded products every few years. According to Alex Bardell from BCS, the underlying challenge that must be addressed is the very short life span of the devices themselves. If developers prioritized longevity and repairability in their designs, fewer chips would be needed.<h2>Sustainability advantages</h2>The constant demand for new gadgets has implications beyond chip logistics. Today, smartphone manufacturing alone has an annual carbon footprint equal to that of a small country. Moreover, smartphones comprise 10 percent of global e-waste &ndash; which contains toxic substances that can be dangerous to human health and the environment if not disposed of properly.The call from bodies like BCS for more durable products, supported for longer and more suitable to repair, engenders an approach not only for more sustainability in chip supply, but also for the health of the planet.A report commissioned by Microsoft found that repairing a product instead of replacing it can reduce potential waste and greenhouse emissions by 92 percent. While the study partly focused on devices being taken to an approved service center or shipped to a factory, this projection was also based on designing devices in ways that make them easier to fix.<h2>Durable chip architecture</h2>Chip companies are taking a positive approach to sustainability. Nordic Semiconductor, for instance, is committed to contributing to the UN&rsquo;s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It actively supports customers looking for alternatives to one-time or minimal usage solutions and enthusiastically supports IoT applications to optimize resources in energy, travel, transport, agriculture, manufacturing, waste handling, and smart cities. Nordic strongly favors trying to extend the lifetime of products using its chips for as long as practical.The company&rsquo;s technology is designed to help end-product makers meet this goal. In the first instance, Nordic creates technology with the future in mind. Its chip architecture is designed with powerful processors and lots of memory to cope with not only what innovative designers come up with today but also to cope with what they might come up with tomorrow. That means today&#39;s Nordic-powered devices could still be doing their jobs in ten years.Better yet, firmware can be easily upgraded over the air, extending the life of hardware and allowing in-situ IoT devices to be upgraded to new applications. Nordic also makes its products backward compatible so that tomorrow&#39;s products will seamlessly connect with today&#39;s.The outlook will be even more promising if we continue towards a battery-free IoT world through energy harvesting from the environment, which promises to eliminate battery replacements in IoT sensors.Recommended reading:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/how-the-iot-can-help-create-a-more-sustainable-future" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How the IoT can help create a more sustainable future</a>By designing electronic products so they can be fixed rather than discarded and equipping them to last for a long time, manufacturers will be making a big difference towards a sustainable future.<hr>This article was first published on Nordic&#39;s&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" id="isPasted"></a><a href="https://blog.nordicsemi.com/getconnected?utm_campaign=2021%20wevolver" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Get Connected Blog</a>. &nbsp;

If devices lasted longer and were easier to fix, they could provide many years of good service before recycling. That saves precious materials and the energy needed to manufacture new products.

Designing IoT products for many years of service

EPFL scientists have developed a new, PET-like plastic that is easily made from the non-edible parts of plants. The plastic is tough, heat-resistant, and a good barrier to gases like oxygen, making it a promising candidate for food packaging. Due to its structure, the new plastic can also be chemically recycled and degrade back to harmless sugars in the environment.&nbsp;It is becoming increasingly obvious that moving away from fossil fuels and avoiding the accumulation of plastics in the environment are key to addressing the challenge of climate change. In that vein, there are considerable efforts to develop degradable or recyclable polymers made from non-edible plant material referred to as &ldquo;lignocellulosic biomass&rdquo;.Of course, producing competitive biomass-based plastics is not straightforward. There is a reason that conventional plastics are so widespread, as they combine low cost, heat stability, mechanical strength, processability, and compatibility &ndash; features that any alternative plastic replacements must match or surpass. And so far, the task has been challenging.Until now, that is. Scientists led by Professor Jeremy Luterbacher at EPFL&rsquo;s School of Basic Sciences have successfully developed a biomass-derived plastic, similar to PET, that meets the criteria for replacing several current plastics while also being more environmentally friendly.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1657285739569-6e37cc10.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Highly transparent and flexible strand of the bioplastic. Credit: Lorenz Manker&nbsp;&ldquo;We essentially just &lsquo;cook&rsquo; wood or other non-edible plant material, such as agricultural wastes, in inexpensive chemicals to produce the plastic precursor in one step,&rdquo; says Luterbacher. &ldquo;By keeping the sugar structure intact within the molecular structure of the plastic, the chemistry is much simpler than current alternatives.&rdquo;The technique is based on a discovery that Luterbacher and his colleagues published <a href="https://actu.epfl.ch/news/turning-biofuel-waste-into-wealth-in-a-single-step/" target="_blank">in 2016</a>, where adding an aldehyde could stabilize certain fractions of plant material and avoid their destruction during extraction. By repurposing this chemistry, the researchers were able to rebuild a new useful bio-based chemical as a plastic precursor.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1657285759962-6049d711.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Processing of the bioplastic by extrusion to make fibers for 3D-printing. Credit Maxime Hedou.&nbsp;&ldquo;By using a different aldehyde &ndash; glyoxylic acid instead of formaldehyde &ndash; we could simply clip &lsquo;sticky&rsquo; groups onto both sides of the sugar molecules, which then allows them to act as plastic building blocks,&rdquo; says Lorenz Manker, the study&rsquo;s first author. &ldquo;By using this simple technique, we are able to convert up to 25% of the weight of agricultural waste, or 95% of purified sugar, into plastic.&rdquo;The well-rounded properties of these plastics could allow them to be used in applications ranging from packaging and textiles to medicine and electronics. The researchers have already made packaging films, fibers that could be spun into clothing or other textiles, and filaments for 3D-printing.<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1657285778244-2a3e2c42.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Lorenz Manker, the study&#39;s lead author, holding a 3D-printed EPFL logo made with the bioplastic. Credit: Stefania Bertella.&nbsp;&ldquo;The plastic has very exciting properties, notably for applications like food packaging,&rdquo; says Luterbacher. &ldquo;And what makes the plastic unique is the presence of the intact sugar structure. This makes it incredibly easy to make because you don&rsquo;t have to modify what nature gives you, and simple to degrade because it can go back to a molecule that is already abundant in nature.&rdquo;Other contributors<ul><li>EPFL Laboratory for Processing of Advanced Composites</li><li>University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria)</li><li>Competence Center for Wood Composites &amp; Wood Chemistry (Austria)</li><li>EPFL Industrial Energy Systems Laboratory</li></ul>

A 3D-printed “leaf” made with the new bioplastic. Credit: Alain Herzog (EPFL)

EPFL scientists have developed a new, PET-like plastic that is easily made from the non-edible parts of plants. The plastic is tough, heat-resistant, and a good barrier to gases like oxygen, making it a promising candidate for food packaging.

New PET-like plastic made directly from waste biomass

<section id="isPasted"><a href="https://www.core-chemistry.com/" target="_blank">CORE</a>, a student team from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), has developed a new installation that can use artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize batteries in waste streams. CORE aims to use TEMNOS - as the installation is called - to actually separate waste in the future. Not only does this offer opportunities for better recycling of valuable raw materials from batteries, but hazardous waste fires due to battery-containing products occur more frequently when recycling these waste streams. These fires can be prevented with the new installation.</section><section tabindex="-1">CORE&#39;s TEMNOS installation addresses two different challenges. On the one hand, the installation aims to improve the current recycling process. By better sorting at the front end of the process, more efficient recycling becomes possible further down the line. This makes it possible to recover more raw materials from waste streams. The second challenge is to prevent waste fires in (e-waste) waste processing, where by far the most fires are caused by hidden batteries.<h2>Recovering Raw Materials</h2>Better recycling is a hot topic due to rising global metal prices. An improved sorting process therefore prevents batteries ending up in the wrong place in the chain. By efficiently detecting and sorting batteries earlier in the chain, TEMNOS offers opportunities to recover more raw materials, such as rare metals.<h2>Battery Burning</h2>In the current waste streams, batteries are detected less efficiently. This can result in large fires as batteries become damaged and spontaneously combust. In recent years we have seen a sharp increase in the number of waste fires in Europe.Research has shown that the main causes of these are heating and the presence of flammable substances. The latter includes batteries, the cause of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2020/12/17/bijlage-1-verkenning-inzameling-li-ion-batterijen#:~:text=hier%3A%20Home%20Documenten-,Verkennend%20Onderzoek%20InzamelingLithium%2DIon%20Batterijenin%20Nederland,batterijen%20in%20consumentengoederen%20te%20verlagen." target="_blank">49 of the 53</a> fires at European companies that recycle electronic devices. These fires sometimes also release hazardous substances.It is not only in the recycling industry that battery fires play a major role. In the metal industry, it is the number one cause of fires. It also ranks as high as spot three in scrap paper companies. According to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, the cause may be the low percentage of batteries collected.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2020/12/17/bijlage-1-verkenning-inzameling-li-ion-batterijen#:~:text=hier%3A%20Home%20Documenten-,Verkennend%20Onderzoek%20InzamelingLithium%2DIon%20Batterijenin%20Nederland,batterijen%20in%20consumentengoederen%20te%20verlagen." target="_blank">Only 24 percent</a> of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in the Netherlands are taken away. The rest end up among PMD waste, residual waste and waste paper, resulting in a possible battery fire.</section><section tabindex="-1"><h2>Collaboration with waste management industry</h2>Apart from all the immediate risks of waste fires, reducing losses of precious metals such as cobalt is reason enough for Team CORE to tackle the problem.The TEMNOS project is a follow-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/storage/electrical-engineering/faculteit/news-and-events/news-overview/12-10-2021-tu-eindhoven-students-present-shredder-that-prevents-battery-fires/" target="_blank">TITAN project</a>, also by CORE students. TITAN is a shredder to convert battery-containing products to a plastic-metal mix without causing a fire. TITAN still required salts, an additional pollutant in the process. TEMNOS enables us to treat only the hazardous streams and process the safe waste streams through existing routes.Identifying battery-containing products can be done in several ways. When it comes to phones and tablets, much can already be sorted by means of visual recognition which recognizes whether a phone has a removable battery or not and whether that battery has actually been removed. This application is currently being developed in a pilot with Huiskes Metaal B.V. in Waalwijk.To sort batteries into more complex streams, such as toothbrushes, music boxes and other electronic devices, more is needed, such as X-ray technology. In this way it will be possible to see the specific location of the battery in the device and automatically remove it.<h2>A unique collaboration</h2>To make this kind of project possible, collaborations between education and industry are crucial. Therefore, the student team CORE is collaborating with <a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/research/institutes/eindhoven-artificial-intelligence-systems-institute/" target="_blank">EAISI</a>, the AI institute of Eindhoven University of Technology, to further develop the models. In addition, direct collaboration with companies such as <a href="https://huiskes.com/" target="_blank">Huiskes</a> and <a href="https://wecycle.nl/" target="_blank">Wecycle</a> is crucial to understand the market and achieve the greatest possible social impact.<hr><style type="text/css" id="isPasted"></style><style type="text/css"></style>This article was first published here:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/07-06-2022-tu-eindhoven-students-detect-batteries-in-waste-streams-with-ai/" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.tue.nl/en/news-and-events/news-overview/07-06-2022-tu-eindhoven-students-detect-batteries-in-waste-streams-with-ai/</a></section>

Team CORE presents new system using AI technology to detect batteries in waste streams to prevent waste fires

Students detect batteries in waste streams with AI

Replacing today&rsquo;s cement is one of the hardest challenges on the journey to a safe climate with zero emissions. There are many options to make cement with reduced emissions, mainly based on mixing new reactive cement (clinker) with other supplementary materials. However, until now, it has not been possible to make the reactive component of cement without emissions. The new invention achieves this for the first time within the parameters of established industrial processes.The inspiration for Cambridge Electric Cement struck inventor Cyrille Dunant, when he noticed that the chemistry of used cement is virtually identical to that of the lime-flux used in conventional steel recycling processes. The new cement is therefore made in a virtuous recycling loop, that not only eliminates the emissions of cement production, but also saves raw materials, and even reduces the emissions required in making lime-flux.The new process begins with concrete waste from demolition of old buildings. This is crushed, to separate the stones and sand that form concrete from the mixture of cement powder and water that bind them together. The old cement powder is then used instead of lime-flux in steel recycling. As the steel melts, the flux forms a slag that floats on the liquid steel, to protect it from oxygen in the air. After the recycled steel is tapped off, the liquid slag is cooled rapidly in air, and ground up into a powder which is virtually identical to the clinker which is the basis of new Portland cement. In pilot-scale trials of the new process, the Cambridge team have demonstrated this combined recycling process, and the results show that it has the chemical composition of a clinker made with today&#39;s process.The new cement was invented as part of the large multi-university <a href="http://www.ukfires.org/" target="_blank">UK FIRES</a> programme led by Professor Allwood, which aims to enable a rapid transition to zero emissions based on using today&rsquo;s technologies differently, rather than waiting for the new energy technologies of hydrogen and carbon storage. Invention of the cement has been rewarded with a new research grant of &pound;1.7m from EPSRC, to allow the inventors to collaborate with Dr Zushu Li at Warwick University and Dr Rupert Myers at Imperial College, to reveal the underlying science behind the new process. The new grant will fund an additional team of researchers, to probe the range of concrete wastes that can be processed into Cambridge Electric Cement, evaluate how the process interacts with steel making, and confirm the performance of the resulting material.Professor Allwood said &lsquo;If Cambridge Electric Cement lives up to the promise it has shown in early laboratory trials, it could be a turning point in the journey to a safe future climate. Combining steel and cement recycling in a single process powered by renewable electricity, this could secure the supply of the basic materials of construction to support the infrastructure of a zero emissions world and to enable economic development where it is most needed.&rsquo;

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steel recycling process. For the Cambridge Electric Cement process this material will be cooled to make Portland Cement clinker. Credit: UKFIRES

Three Cambridge engineers, Dr Cyrille Dunant, Dr Pippa Horton and Professor Julian Allwood, have filed a patent and been awarded new research funding for their invention of the world’s first ever zero-emissions cement.

Engineers invent world's first zero emissions cement

Faced with the pressing problem of climate change coupled with the impact of finite resources, the circular economy (CE) is a potential solution to many of the environmental, business and production issues in the world today.&nbsp;A CE is a business model of production and consumption which veers away from the traditional linear method of making something - consuming it - and throwing it away. Instead, it harnesses practices which are all about keeping materials in the economy, be it by repairing, reusing, sharing or recycling products to extend their lifespan.&nbsp;A CE can encompass many differing types of industries and resources, but all are based on the same principles<a href="#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" target="_blank" title="">[1]</a>. Firstly, the desire to eliminate pollution and waste. The second is to protect and regenerate nature, and the third is to enable the circulation of products and materials at their highest value while reducing waste.Global and national policies are evolving to enable the implementation of the &nbsp;CE, helping to make it one of the tools of tackling climate change. This was illustrated in 2020<a href="#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" target="_blank" title="">[2]</a>, when the European Commission announced its European Green Deal. The European Green Deal includes the new Circular Economy Action Plan which features proposals on more sustainable product design, reducing waste, and empowering consumers - such as with the right to repair<a href="#_ftn3" name="_ftnref3" target="_blank" title="">[3]</a>.&nbsp;<h2>An environmental benefit and a business model</h2>A CE has many benefits, with the primary positive impact on the environment.<a href="#_msocom_1" id="_anchor_1" language="JavaScript" name="_msoanchor_1" target="_blank"></a>By using waste as a feedstock for the production of new materials, fewer materials have to be consumed to produce new products, meaning energy use and extraction of raw materials are reduced and fewer products end up in incineration plants or landfill at the end of their life.&nbsp;Another, sometimes overlooked benefit, is to operational effectiveness and financial resilience. Companies which have established a CE model are able to reduce their dependence on raw material suppliers, especially during a time when supply chains are under increasing pressure<a href="#_ftn4" name="_ftnref4" target="_blank" title="">[4]</a>.&nbsp;It also helps answer the problem of fossil resources being finite. Using waste as a resource will help mitigate against resource scarcity in the future.&nbsp;While a CE can be adopted for many different materials, it has huge potential for the plastics sector and its resulting impact on the environment. In this article, we will look at how the plastics industry is being impacted by the growth of the CE.<h2>The global impact of plastics&nbsp;</h2>Plastics are a vital product used for many different applications and their use has only been accelerated by the pandemic, with personal protective equipment (PPE) such as facemasks being produced in huge quantities. But this has also led to more waste, with an estimated 129 billion face masks and 65 billion plastic gloves needing to be disposed of each month<a href="#_ftn5" name="_ftnref5" target="_blank" title="">[5]</a>.The wider impact of plastic on the world&rsquo;s oceans has also gained worldwide attention in recent years, and for good reason. Of the 300 million tons of plastic produced every year<a href="#_ftn6" name="_ftnref6" target="_blank" title="">[6]</a>, at least 14 million tonnes end up in the ocean every year, with plastic making up 80% of all debris in oceans and waterways. This waste can harm sea creatures and also find its way into the human food chain.&nbsp;But there is also the underlying effect of plastic production on the environment too. Most plastics are made from fossil raw materials and are produced in plants which use fossil fuels to power them<a href="#_ftn7" name="_ftnref7" target="_blank" title="">[7]</a>. Fossil fuel used for transport further contributes to the industry&rsquo;s carbon footprint. A report<a href="#_ftn8" name="_ftnref8" target="_blank" title="">[8]</a> released by the environment group Beyond Plastics suggests that the production of plastics will release more greenhouse gas emissions than coal plants in the US by 2030. While not strictly part of the CE, the chemical industry is already working on solutions for this. Companies are shifting their energy supply more and more towards renewable energy and are using bio-based and recycled feedstocks for the production of plastics.<h2>Plastics and the circular economy&nbsp;</h2>It is generally accepted that a CE for plastics should be built around the following principles:<ul><li>Plastic can be reused, recycled, or composted in practice.</li><li>The use of plastic is fully decoupled from the consumption of finite resources.</li><li>Plastic is free of hazardous chemicals, and the health, safety, and rights of all people involved are respected.</li></ul><h2>Practical techniques</h2>But with those guiding principles in mind, what does that actually look like in practice?&nbsp;There are a few methods already being used which contribute to a CE for plastics and they centre around recycling and reuse.&nbsp;Reusable consumer products is one method that has gained popularity in recent years. From coffee shops to grocery bags, plastic products are no longer being thrown away after one single use but being reused on each occasion. Not only is this beneficial for the environment, it reduces production costs and raw material use for the company and increases brand loyalty.&nbsp;Recycling is another vital pillar of a CE for plastics - and one that can be extended to engineering-grade plastics that cannot be simply resued in the same manner as consumer plastic products.&nbsp;Plastic recycling falls into four main categories.&nbsp;<ul><li>Mechanical recycling is used for the physical recycling of plastics like polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethylene, which are typically used to make soft drinks bottles or containers. The process uses grinding, washing, sorting and reprocessing to repurpose plastic material for use as new products.</li><li>Chemical recycling is a process by which the material is broken down to its original chemical building blocks, so that they can be built back up again into new products.&nbsp;</li><li>Dissolution recycling is a recycling process where one polymer type in mixed plastics waste is dissolved in a solvent so it can be separated from the other polymer types and recovered with high purity.&nbsp;</li><li>Organic recycling uses the controlled microbiological treatment of biodegradable plastics waste under aerobic conditions (composting) or anaerobic conditions (biogasification).&nbsp;</li></ul>While the technology to enable the recycling and reusability of plastics exists and is effective, there are other factors that need to be introduced to really make CE as productive as it can possibly be: mainly product design and the introduction of recycling/reuse infrastructure.&nbsp;Product design is a big factor in producing items that can be reused and recycled. Along with the &lsquo;right to repair&rsquo; introduced by the European Union, it&rsquo;s essential that more products are designed with things like reusability and recycling in mind.It is also important for there to be a clear plan and system for the life cycle of plastics to be in place to enable recycling to happen, where used plastic is collected from consumers and sent to recycling facilities so the plastic can then be kept inside the economy.&nbsp;Designing the systems for parts and products to be returned to recycling facilities is core to achieving the CE. The loop of the systems should drive design decisions of the part, rather than being an add-on or bonus.&nbsp;<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ5MjQxNjU5MjI3LVAyODdfQkFTRl9OZXcgRW5lcmd5X09wb255XzJfMTZ4OS5qcGciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 788px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">Chemical recycling focuses on plastic waste that is not recycled mechanically for technological, economic, or ecological reasons. Image credit.:BASF.<h2>Changing mindset&nbsp;</h2>But there also needs to be a change in mindset both for companies and consumers. For decades, consumers have been used to the idea of using something and throwing it away, this has had a negative impact on the environment, but has also meant companies had an equally wasteful mindset. They were creating new, disposable products from scratch rather than using recycled materials. This not only had an impact on the environment but could prove more costly for firms too.&nbsp;As well as developing the infrastructure and technology to build an effective plastics CE, education has to be a factor, with consumers and wider society realising the benefits of a plastics CE, but companies also understanding the clear business case for it too.For companies, this means they have to re-evaluate how they think about their product lifecycle. Developing and implementing the technology &ndash; such as recycling technology &ndash; is not enough, they have to think more about the products they develop, their reusability, how easy or difficult they are to repair, and what happens to them at their end of life.&nbsp;A long-term view is also vital because initial investment is needed to implement recycling systems and technologies. But with the increasing importance of the green agenda across all aspects of society, investment now will produce dividends in the future.<hr><h2>The Circular Economy Challenge</h2>Wevolver, in partnership with Growth Garage, the business accelerator from Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials, Mitsubishi Chemical Europe, and &nbsp;Mitsubishi Chemical Methacrylates, invites engineers, designers, entrepreneurs, startups, companies, and students to submit their ideas, technologies, and products as part of the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-circular-economy-challenge" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2022 Circular Economy Challenge.</a>The challenge is looking for innovators throughout the&nbsp;plastics circular economy&nbsp;who want to make use of advanced low carbon footprint engineering plastics&nbsp;or have developed innovative recycling technologies for advanced engineering plastics.The winners of the challenge are invited to participate in a pilot program with Growth Garage, the business accelerator from Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials to further develop their idea. The total value of this program is $25,000.&nbsp;The challenge is looking for participants in two key areas:&nbsp;1. Recycling Technology2. Products &amp; Parts&nbsp;For more information and how to submit to the challenge,<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/the-circular-economy-challenge" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> head to the challenge page. </a><h3>About the sponsors:&nbsp;</h3>The Circular Economy Challenge is sponsored by Mitsubishi Chemical&rsquo;s group companies Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials, Mitsubishi Chemical Europe, and Mitsubishi Chemical Methacrylates.&nbsp;Growth Garage is a business accelerator program from Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials that supports and helps to grow new ideas to tackle some of today&#39;s biggest engineering challenges.&nbsp;<h3>Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation&nbsp;</h3>Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, has the global organization and infrastructure to leverage local and global synergies through the vast network of affiliated companies. With over 40,000 employees at 351 affiliates in more than 30 different countries, Mitsubishi Chemical provides a comprehensive range of solutions based on chemistry that contribute to solve social and environmental issues. Our vision is to realize the sustainable well-being of people, society, and our planet Earth &ndash; we call it KAITEKI.<h3 dir="ltr" id="isPasted">Mitsubishi Chemical Europe</h3>Mitsubishi Chemical Europe is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. The company, with headquarters in D&uuml;sseldorf, offers and sells highly developed chemical-based products. The portfolio includes performance polymers, carbon fiber &amp; composites, polyester films, aluminum, and metal composite sheets as well as semiconductor solutions for a wide range of industries. In an additional role as regional headquarters for Europe, located in Frankfurt, it promotes the exchange between group companies in Europe and management in Japan. The stem of all activities is to contribute to the KAITEKI corporate philosophy, which strives for sustainability for people, society, and the earth.<img src="https://images.wevolver.com/eyJidWNrZXQiOiJ3ZXZvbHZlci1wcm9qZWN0LWltYWdlcyIsImtleSI6ImZyb2FsYS8xNjQ5MjQzNzM3NjMyLU1DQU0gQ0UgYmFubmVyIGRlc2t0b3AgKDEyODAgw5cgMzAwcHgpICgyKS5wbmciLCJlZGl0cyI6eyJyZXNpemUiOnsid2lkdGgiOjk1MCwiZml0IjoiY292ZXIifX19" style="width: 300px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"> <h2>&nbsp;References and further reading&nbsp;</h2><div id="ftn1">1. <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/a-new-barometer-of-global-supply-chain-pressures/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview</a></div><div id="ftn2">2. <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/a-new-barometer-of-global-supply-chain-pressures/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://ec.europa.eu/environment/strategy/circular-economy-action-plan_en</a></div><div id="ftn3">3. <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/a-new-barometer-of-global-supply-chain-pressures/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://repair.eu/</a></div><div id="ftn4">4. <a href="https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/a-new-barometer-of-global-supply-chain-pressures/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2022/01/a-new-barometer-of-global-supply-chain-pressures/</a></div><div id="ftn5">5. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00824-1" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00824-1</a></div><div id="ftn6">6. <a href="https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic-pollution#:~:text=The%20most%20visible%20impacts%20of,stomachs%20become%20filled%20with%20plastic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic-pollution#:~:text=The%20most%20visible%20impacts%20of,stomachs%20become%20filled%20with%20plastic</a><a href="#_ftnref7" name="_ftn7" title="" target="_blank"></a>7. <a href="https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics#:~:text=How%20does%20plastic%20harm%20the,%2C%20oil%20and%20even%20coal" id="isPasted" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics#:~:text=How%20does%20plastic%20harm%20the,%2C%20oil%20and%20even%20coal</a></div><div id="ftn8">8. <a href="https://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-and-climate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-and-climate</a></div>

A closed-loop system for engineering quality plastics provides dividends to products, economy and people.  

The circular economy for low carbon footprint plastics

In this episode, we talk about how a radical change in plastic composition can significantly minimize waste when recycling plastics without compromising material properties and a first of its kind smart fabric with customizable properties which serves as the first step towards a whole new market. As always, you can find these and other interesting &amp; impactful engineering articles on Wevolver.com.<iframe height="200px" width="100%" frameborder="no" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://player.simplecast.com/e67f6081-3650-42ad-847d-ccb27822c445?dark=false" class="fr-draggable" data-lf-yt-playback-inspected-kn9eq4roawkarlvp="true"></iframe>&nbsp;<hr>This podcast is sponsored by <a href="https://www2.mouser.com/" id="isPasted" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mouser Electronics</a>. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1649152293551-Mouser-sponsor-1-a.jpg" style="width: 766px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib"><hr><h3 id="isPasted">EPISODE NOTES</h3>(1:45) -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/breaking-down-plastic-into-its-constituent-parts" target="_blank">Tackling Plastic Problem</a>(16:10) -&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/a-flexible-foldable-highly-integrated-smart-fabric-could-herald-the-future-of-the-cuddlier-internet-of-things" target="_blank">Smart Fabrics</a>Episode 64 was brought to you by Mouser Electronics, Farbod &amp; Daniel&rsquo;s favorite electronics distributor. Click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mouser.com/applications/touch_dispersive_signal/" target="_blank">here</a> to read the article explaining dispersive signal touch technology.Here&rsquo;s the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/article/podcast-why-plastic-eating-enzymes-will-save-our-oceans" target="_blank">link&nbsp;</a>to the episode mentioned that discussed plastic eating enzymes.<hr>About the podcast:Every day, some of the most innovative universities, companies, and individual technology developers share their knowledge on Wevolver. To ensure we can also provide this knowledge for the growing group of podcast listeners, we started a collaboration with two young engineers, Daniel Scott Mitchell &amp; Farbod Moghaddam who discuss the most interesting content in this podcast series.&nbsp;To learn more about this show, please visit the <a href="https://www.wevolver.com/profile/the.next.byte" target="_blank">shows page</a>. By following the page, you will get automatic updates by email when a new show is published.Be sure to give us a follow and review on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/nl/podcast/the-next-byte/id1548255861?l=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Apple</a> podcasts, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/6lPPsRtegnivsRUEsQ09R7?si=IPMiah7xT_apJtPjqvXMlA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Spotify</a>, and most of your favorite podcast platforms!

Like the pearls of a pearl necklace, molecular building blocks of polymer chains can be recovered and fully reused. (Symbol image: Adobe Stock)

In this episode, we talk about how a radical change in plastic composition can significantly minimize waste when recycling plastics without compromising material properties and a first of its kind smart fabric with customizable properties which serves as the first step towards a whole new market