From ReUse to ReGlow

In the vein of inventive reuse, industrial designer Shelley Spicuzza has created a versatile and attractive globe lamp called ReGlow, with the aid of used PET bottles.  The lamp is configurable as a hanging pendant, desk or table lamp, as well as a dramatic floor-to-ceiling lamp, with multiple units fixed along a tall aluminum pole.  What makes ReGlow interesting is it’s simple central element, made from a two-part clear plastic sphere with holes arrayed around it, which allow the user to secure the bottles by placing their necks through the holes and then screwing their caps back on inside the sphere.  With its ease-of-access, the sphere allows one to replace  bulbs as well as even the bottles themselves, in order to achieve an array of color schemes depending on the color of the bottles at hand.  Straightforward in design, this lamp helps us imagine the potential reuses of the standard PET bottle, an unfortunately under-recycled product.

How ECO2 Plastics Turns Our Idea of “Washing” on its Head

Although recycling plastics contributes a great deal to the effort to reduce waste and dependence on landfilling, and must become standard practice by society in general (we’re not there yet), the process does have one big downside, and that is water use.  What many people may not realize is that the recycling of plastic requires vast amounts of water for cleaning and other processes, amounting to billions of gallons every year.  With this challenge in mind, not to mention the increasingly strict water use policies in place in the State of California, Gary De Laurentiis, a world-renowned plastics recycling industry expert, founded ECO2 Plastics, and in turn, began to utilize an industry-changing process.

Referring to the process as “eco.logical.recycling”, the San Francisco-based company, along with Honeywell, has developed a method by which to clean plastic PET bottles using an FDA-approved biosolvent at a stage when typical plants use a great deal of water.  The solvent is then distilled to remove sugars and glues, and sequestered for ongoing reuse, at the same time that carbon vapors captured from power plants (an additional benefit of the process) are then converted into liquid CO2 form, which serves as the “bath” in the final stages of the process.  Once the FDA approves the resulting recycled plastic as food safe, the company will then be able to offer it for reuse in beverage containers.  Although ECO2 currently only utilizes PET, which is the most consumes plastic in the U.S. by volume, the company may soon work with HDPE bottles as well as ASR (auto shredder residue) from the auto industry, which will help reduce waste even further.  According to CEO Rod Rougelot, ECO2’s Riverbank, California plant will be joined by another plant to go online within a year, and the company hopes to introduce its waterless process to countries such as India and others, which have water crises even more dire than those in California.

ECO2 Plastics

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

National Geographic Explains e-Waste and Recycling

This month’s National Geographic features a very informative article on e-waste called High Tech Trash. We highly recommend this read to any designer or business owner working in the electronics industry.

Click here for the full article.