Plastics recycled for use on roads

recycled-plastics

As plastic increasingly chokes the world’s landfills, and China announced last year it didn’t want to buy recycled plastic anymore, the what to do with it all has become a pressing question.

Why not recycle it and use it to build roads?

Bound together with plastic polymers, the asphalt will be cheaper and last longer than conventional pavement, according to independent experts.

One European firm already is combining plastic pellets with hot-mix asphalt to resurface roadways. A U.S. company says that once it finds financial backing, its product “could be deployed within six months” with a process that combines asphalt milled from the road’s surface with plastic urethane.

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Ocean plastic is a huge problem. Blockchain could be part of the solution.

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It’s all about stopping the flow of plastic into the marine environment.

Plastic Bank uses blockchain and cryptocurrency technology to give people living in impoverished areas an incentive to recycle.

The world’s oceans are awash in plastic, and the problem is only getting worse. Each year, 8 million metric tons of plastic debris ends up in the oceans, and that’s on top of the 150 million metric tons already in marine environments. The debris ensnares seabirds, starves whales and infiltrates the entire marine food chain — including humans, too, when we eat seafood.

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Shapeways launches new full color 3D printable plastic material

shapewaysShapeways has announded full color plastic material.

The leader when it comes to on-demand 3D printing services is Shapeways. They lead in both, total business, as well as the variety of products and printing materials they offer to consumers. The company seems to be on a road of continued improvements, making sure they stay well ahead of the competition.

 

 

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Self-healing plastic grows back after damage

self-healing plastic

The newly-developed self-healing plastic can take rather extensive damage and heal it through a process of regeneration.

There are several self-healing substances in the world, ranging from the LG G Flex’s scratch-healing casing to Stanford’s synthetic self-healing skin.  A plastic developed by the University of Illinois is one of the latest plastics developed that regenerates when damaged.

 

 

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Top 10 reasons 3D printing hasn’t caught on yet

3d printing

3D printers may not be as easy to use as they seem. Photo credit: FredKahl/Flickr

3D printing stands to completely transform the way we make, replace, and transport products and will disrupt nearly every major industry. However, the technology is still geared toward passionate, motivated makers and hobbyists—not the average citizen.

 

 

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Japanese inventor finds solution to global trash problem by converting plastic to oil

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This YouTube video about the invention of a plastic-to-oil converting machine went viral and exceeded 3.7 million views. This shows that concern over “the plastic problem” is certainly not going away, despite encouraging bans on and decreases in the use of plastic shopping bags.

 

 

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Plastic surgery motivated by the fear of death

Cosmetic surgery

When people who were instructed to think about their own mortality they were more receptive to the idea of having cosmetic surgery than those who weren’t (3.57 versus 2.96 on a seven-point scale). This suggests that fear of death is a motivator behind patients’ decisions to have tummy tucks, says Kim-Pong Tam of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

 

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PVC plastic is making us gain weight

Is plastic making us fat?

Are you looking for something to blame your weight issues on?  Well, there is no shortage of scapegoats.  Just some of the things that have shown over the years that contribute to weight problems include, genetically modified food, BPA, diet soda, and your fork are a few.  Irvine researchers has added another excuse to the arsenal: PVC plastic, according to a new study from the University of California.

 

 

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Canada’s new high-tech plastic currency

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Canada’s plastic currency.

Many of us rely on plastic credit and debit cards to make the majority of our daily purchases but still the idea of saying goodbye to paper money seems ludicrous. The Bank of Canada is planning to do just that, and the first in an all-new line of plastic money will begin rolling out to consumers this month. The bills — made of a single piece of polymer — boast a longer life than paper notes, as well as some advanced security features to keep counterfeiters scratching their heads.

 

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