Will DOW Set a New Standard with Styrofoam-A?

A new insulating foam from Dow, called Styrofoam-A, is helping the U.K. construction industry meet the high standards of the Government-mandated Code for Sustainable Homes Global Warming Potential (GWP), within the categories of Energy Efficiency, Materials and Waste.  How can a material like Styrofoam be “green”, you ask?.  In an interesting example of the potential for carbon dioxide sequestration, recycled as well as naturally occurring Carbon dioxide is employed as a blowing agent to form the ubiquitous light blue extruded foam segments one sees on many construction sites.  Like its less-green predecessor, the foam maintains the properties of lightness, rigidity, water resistance and superior cell density which make it such an effective insulator, certainly a plus as British standards for energy efficient structures become ever more stringent.  An additional benefit of the foam is that it is 100% recyclable, which aids in keeping a construction site and and overall project, more sustainable.

Dow

Code for Sustainable Homes Global Warming Potential (GWP)

How to Lay Some Misconceptions About Mattress Recycling to Rest in 1 1/2 Minutes

With increasing concern over our throw-away culture, many have asked what happens to those old mattresses seen left on the street, and if there is any way to keep them from being landfilled or incinerated with toxic consequences.   According to Greg Conigliaro, founder of Conigliaro Industries, a versatile recycling company in Framingham, Massachusetts, a mattress is one of the most difficult products to recycle due to its complex multi-material structure.  In spite of this, in 2002, the company became the first commercial mattress recycler in the country, and won a $10,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for their solution.  The minute-and-a-half process involves feeding a mattress through a large-scale “shredder”, which breaks it apart and allows it to be magnetically separated into its individual parts, (foam, cotton, wood, and steel) for resale as raw materials.  Conigliaro’s website claims that they annually process over 3000 tons of such material, “enough mattresses to fill 900 tractor trailers.”

(Image courtesy of Conigliaro Industries)

Please visit Conigliaro Industries for more information.

Recycled Cardboard Made Into Furniture

Krooom focuses on environmental performance and makes products which are produced with at least 60% recycled paper. Their technical team has developed and invented patented technology that has enabled the creation of products which are strong, sturdy and lightweight. They ship folded flat and require no tools for assembly. According to Nitzan Bertele, their Chief Design Officer, “advanced patented technology ensures no visible corrugated edges. Our products are completely printable, and meet many of the standards for moisture resistance.  Their production facility in China is supervised by our own staff, strictly working under international and local labor laws.”

In a typical re-manufacturing process, recycled cardboard is dropped into a water-based solution in which it dissolves, contaminants (tape, staples, dirt, etc.) are removed by gravity, flotation, or filtration, the recycled pulp is blended to produce a mix with the characteristics required for production of a specific paper product, and the pulp is pumped to a paper machine where the final product is manufactured. Paper production from recycled cardboard consumes less energy, produces fewer emissions to air and water, and generates less solid waste than production of similar products made from virgin fiber.

Please visit Krooom for more information.

From “Paper or Plastic?” to “Glass, Plastic or Aluminum?”

There is a new debate emerging about which packaging material, glass, plastic or aluminum, has the least environmental impact over the course of its lifetime, and there are many perspectives to consider prior to determining a true winner.  Barry Sanel, a former packaging executive with over 20 years of experience in branding and packaging, brings this issue to the forefront of an industry which plays a major role in the amount of waste produced by ubiquitous single-use consumables.  According to the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the four most crucial determinants by which to gauge a package’s level of sustainability, are how its materials are sourced, manufactured, applied within the packaging itself, and finally, disposed of or reconstituted at end of life.  All three materials have their inherent benefits as well as drawbacks when viewed within the scope of the SPC’s considerations, so the question might be better posed thusly: How may vested interests, including the public at large, quickly establish the means by which to use each material efficiently, while minimizing waste and overall carbon footprint, such as furthering incentives for recycling across the board, as well as cleaning and refilling glass bottles as done in Germany.

Sustainable Packaging Coalition

Google Makes a Mouse (from Recycled Plastic)

From Google comes a wireless optical mouse (with USB WiFi dongle) made of recycled plastic, a worthy entry into the burgeoning market of greener electronics. Even the packaging is made from recycled materials! Of course, it still uses AAA batteries (please use rechargeable ones when possible), and like most electronic devices today, the internal components are probably still toxic. However, it is clear that Google is taking an environmentally pro-active approach to product development, not to mention their initiative in leading the transition to alternative energy and making California (and the nation) a green powerhouse. One question is whether the company will accept these mice back at end of life for further recycling/reuse, but my guess is that they will. As part of their Green Initiative, the company intends to develop more products like the mouse, office supplies, clothing, etc, from more sustainable (e.g. organic or recycled) sources, for sale to customers and fans.

Available in (Google)Red and (Google)Blue directly from the company.

What Happens to All That Glass?

Ever think of all the potential future uses of that glass bottle or jar you just tossed into the recycling bin? A wide variety of both functional and beautiful products, ranging from Mod Rocks‘ architectural tiles, to Ice Stone’s countertops and flooring material, and even barware made from old or broken car windshields, are now being made from discarded glass. Thanks to its inherent properties, glass is often able to be recycled more frequently than other materials, re-formed into a wide range of different shapes and colors, and is becoming a sought after source material for many design and architectural projects.

Once retrieved from curb-side by municipal or private recycling service, discarded glass is then washed, color sorted and crushed at a recycling facility, at which point, it is ready to be reconstituted. The “cullet”, or crushed glass, is then transported to a particular manufacturing plant, either to be combined with concrete or other material (e.g., Ice Stone), or in its more traditional process, taken back to its viscous state after being mixed with sand, soda ash and limestone, and fed into a furnace for melting - crushed glass actually aids the process by lowering the melting temperature, and making for more stable results. The glass, in viscous state, may then be poured into molds or distributed in another way, resulting in its intended product, such as architectural tiles, drinking glasses, or more commonly, road beds, food containers and beverage bottles. Although perhaps counterintuitive, it’s worth noting that glass always remains in a super-cool liquid state, even when rigid and seemingly stable in the form of a final product.

This process represents a major positive effort in stemming the flow of waste to the landfill, but efforts to implement bottle bills throughout the U.S. (many countries are ahead of us in this regard), as well as enhance those that exist, are still needed. Great things to keep in mind as we all become more committed to recycling (or reusing) as much as we can!

Also, see Glass, How is It Made from the Ecolect Blog

Why does Germany LOVE to Recycle glass? on You Tube

The Genius of Paper Tube Architecture

(Images courtesy of Centre Pompidou)

To characterize some of Shigeru Ban’s recent architectural projects as paradigm-shifting would be an understatement. Born in Tokyo Japan in 1957, the world famous architect was influenced by both Japanese minimalism and many of the most renowned Western architects (Corbusier, van der Rohe, and others). In fact, one can see echoes of such simplicity in Ban’s use of cardboard shipping tubes in structures from temporary relief housing he designed for earthquake victims in Japan and Turkey, to a church in Kobe, Japan (reassembled in Taiwan in 2007), and even his small studio space on the roof of the Pompidou Center in Paris. Although there are certainly other materials present, such as recycled fiberboard, steel hardware and support cables, the cylindrical cardboard tubing often makes up the bulk of these simple structures.

When one considers Ban’s use of cardboard tubing as a structural (some might even remark on its minimalist aesthetic quality) material, it is easy to understand why many refer to him as a green architect, yet he eschews such labeling as contrived and perhaps short-lived, preferring to adhere to his own notion of designing and engineering structures holistically through a sort of practical minimalism. It is encouraging to see an architect as famous as him, utilizing such simple and straightforward waste as cardboard shipping tubes, within a project, rather than simply being comfortable with their being landfilled or incinerated. Perhaps his work will have a powerful influence not only on those humanitarian-minded architects and designers who are already inclined to offer solutions to overcrowding and low cost housing, but also on those who have yet seen the benefits of sustainable alternative materials.

Shiguru Ban’s Interview with designboom.com

The F3 Factory

SusChem is the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry. It is a multi-stakeholder body looking to help shape the European research agenda to ensure its alignment with the future requirements of a sustainable chemical industry. SusChem is focusing on three technology areas (Industrial Biotechnology, Materials Technology and Reaction & Process Design) and generic Horizontal Issues affecting innovation in Europe. SusChem is a joint initiative of Cefic and EuropaBio supported by the European Commission.

F3 stands for future, fast, flexible.

They are developing a flexible demonstration plant that will showcase the valuable of efficient, low-impact manufacturing. Their demonstration of technology is an attempt to promote the larger adoption of F³ Factories all over Europe. Their approach “greening” factories and production addresses the entire manufacturing process, including raw materials, energy used, staffing and logistics. They see the F3 factory as a new, crucial step towards future successful and competitive projects centered around sustainability in Europe. While building new facilities, they are also retrofitting high–performance to work with machines in the existing infrastructure. Their initiative aims to analyze the whole production processes, inspiring new technologies and encompassing a products full life-cycle to minimize the use of resources and improve eco-efficiency.

Further information on SusChem activities can be found at suschem.org.