Category: plastic recycling

Expert Calls for Uniform Plastic Recycling Rules Across Australia

Australia needs to set national guidelines on plastic recycling for consistent recycling schemes across the nation, an inquiry has been told. On June 30 during the parliamentary inquiry into plastic pollution in Australia’s oceans and waterways, Clean Up Australia’s CEO Jenny Geddes said the rules around plastic recycling need to be clearer to ensure people…


Company to Package Plastic Waste into a New Generation of Building Materials

In the circular economy, there are words, and there is action. “There’s definitely no shortage of ideas out there … there’s a million of them,” supply chain specialist Chris Collimore says. “But the big gap is commercial sustainability.” Collimore, the country manager of startup saveBOARD, is one of those turning a concept into reality. SaveBOARD’s…


From Medieval Corruption to Contemporary Environmentalism: Paying Others for Your Sins

Commentary Prior to the Protestant Reformation, many European Christians believed that they could buy their way out of punishment in the afterlife. It was reputed that some sellers of indulgences used the jingle, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.” As much as that was a caricature of…


Barbara Kay: Canada’s ‘Plastic Ban’ Will Have Zero Impact on Ocean Pollution

Commentary Eco-warriors neither slumber nor sleep in their pursuit of universal sustainability. Plastic looms large on their enemies list because of its non-biodegradability. Three years ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised his government would phase out the production and use of hard-to-recycle plastic items, with the goal of zero plastic waste by 1930. Thus, on…


Plastic Eating Worms Show Promise for Plant-Scale Recycling

Researchers at the University of Queensland have found that a common species of worm with a taste for polystyrene may significantly contribute to plastic recycling. The team, led by Dr Chris Rinke from UQ’s School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, found that the Zophobas morio—known as ‘superworm’—enjoys munching on polystyrene and can metabolise it due to…