January 2012 - Plastic Waste Solutions
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Plastic Trash on Port Melbourne Beaches
Posted on January 25, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsPlastic debris washes up on the beaches of Port Melbourne quite regularly, especially when there is an on shore wind. Local volunteer groups and the local council spend a lot of time and effort removing this and other litter from the...
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Plastic degradation options and their fallacies
Posted on January 24, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsFor a good quick readable summary of the three main plastic degradation options being pushed at the current time and why two of them have problems the manufacturers do not want you to know, read this Continue reading this entry →
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Plastic Choking Beaches
Posted on January 23, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsA recent walk along the Esplanade in Melbourne over the weekend found a lot of plastic debris blown up and caught in a scrub bush. See this video. By anyones standards this is unacceptable. Once...
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Disposable plasticware replacing biodegradable natural alternatives
Posted on January 20, 2012 by DrRossH in GeneralThis is going to be an environmental disaster for those regions. More of the not so good exports from the West to the third world. There are a number of biodegradable plastic options that could be used to prevent this...
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Australia’s Northern Territory launches bottle refund scheme amid industry critics
Posted on January 19, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsOnce this new container deposit scheme settles down there will be little discussion and the people will be happy, but at the moment it seems there are some unfounded critics caused by excessive price hiking. Why would a...
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Biased study has predetermined answer for Bottle Refund Scheme
Posted on January 19, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsThis study was done with the conclusion already decided before the study was started it seems. Why would an independent auditor such as PWC Pricewaterhouse Coopers 'employ a long standing public opponent of CDS to advise on CDS...
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Plastic Wrap for Farmer’s Baling to be Addressed
Posted on January 17, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsCleanfarms is to be congratulated for recognising this problem. The plastic bale wrap is becoming a big plastic problem that did not exist a few years ago. Farmers have few ways to deal with this problem waste. A...
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Plant Bottle news again
Posted on January 17, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsWhile they are excited about making plastic bottles from plant materials, with great claims of environmental benefits, they conveniently do not mention that they are still making plastic bottles and they will have the same pollution and litter problem...
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Compostable plastic being Green Washed Again
Posted on January 17, 2012 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsIn response to a news release on BPI announcing that the NSF was going to verify compostable claims and how much credence this valuable certification would add to the compostable plastic industry. Lets have a closer look. Compostable plastics...
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Bioplastics not coming through on Promises
Posted on January 16, 2012 by DrRossH in BioPlasticsThe link shows another example of the promise of Bioplastics disappointing many people with its lack of success. Bioplastics or plastics made from plants, commonly have the same disposal problems as conventional plastics. While industry manufacturers would lead us to...
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How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?