By Robert English, TCD—The Cool Down.  Excerpt: Heliene, a  solar panel  manufacturer based in Ontario, is making big strides in the solar energy industry by using  recycled   solar panel  materials in its new ones, according to  Electrek . Partnering with  solar panel   recycling  company  Solarcycle , Heliene will use  recycled  solar glass in its solar panels manufactured in its two factories, in Ontario and Minnesota. Over the next four years, Solarcycle plans to deliver approximately 20 million square meters (about 215 million square feet) of recycled glass to Heliene for use in its products....  Full article at https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/recycled-solar-panel-materials-manufacturer-heliene/ .  See also Heliene will make solar panels using SOLARCYCLE’s recycled glass and it’s a big deal and New report finds one major energy source breaking records worldwide: 'Growing faster than people expected' ...

By Robert Sanders , UC Berkeley News.  Excerpt: A new chemical process can essentially vaporize plastics that dominate the waste stream today and turn them into hydrocarbon building blocks for new plastics. The catalytic process, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, works equally well with the two dominant types of post-consumer plastic waste: polyethylene, the component of most single-use plastic bags; and polypropylene, the stuff of hard plastics, from microwavable dishes to luggage. It also efficiently degrades a mix of these types of plastics. The process, if scaled up, could help bring about a circular economy for many throwaway plastics, with the plastic waste converted back into the monomers used to make polymers, thereby reducing the fossil fuels used to make new plastics. ...“We have an enormous amount of polyethylene and polypropylene in everyday objects, from lunch bags to laundry soap bottles to milk jugs ...,” said  John Hartwig , a UC Berkeley pr...

By Cecilia Seiter , Berkeleyside.  Excerpt: At the height of COVID-19 lockdowns, when restaurants survived off takeout and delivery and residential trash bins were brimming with discarded to-go containers, Dispatch Goods launched a reusable container restaurant service that, many hoped, would be the long-awaited elegant solution to the scourge of ballooning restaurant refuse. ...But customer confusion and complicated logistics proved to be stubborn problems, and the company sunset the program at the close of 2022.  Despite an alleged growing demand for the service, the blog post cited complicated logistics, challenging unit economics and low lifetime value of the products — all of which contributed to significant financial hurdles for the early-stage startup. ...container standardization is key to the viability of large-scale reusables rollouts. For now, large-scale reusable container standardization is still a work in progress, but many beverage containers are already qu...

By Ryan W. Clarke et al, Science.  Abstract: Wind energy is helping to decarbonize the electrical grid, but wind blades are not recyclable, and current end-of-life management strategies are not sustainable. To address the material recyclability challenges in sustainable energy infrastructure, we introduce scalable biomass-derivable polyester covalent adaptable networks and corresponding fiber-reinforced composites for recyclable wind blade fabrication. ...Overall, this report details the many facets of wind blade manufacture, encompassing chemistry, engineering, safety, mechanical analyses, weathering, and chemical recyclability, enabling a realistic path toward biomass-derivable, recyclable wind blades....  Full article at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp5395 . 

By Helena Kudiabor , Nature.  Excerpt: Researchers have developed a chemical-processing technique that can break down fabrics into reusable molecules, even when they contain a mixture of materials. The process, outlined in a  Science Advances  paper on 3 July, shows that chemical recycling can give old textiles a new lease of life. If scaled up, it could help to tackle the  growing mountain of waste generated by the fashion industry , says study co-author Dionisios Vlachos, an engineer at the University of Delaware in Newark. Estimates suggest than less than 1% of textiles are recycled, and nearly three-quarters of used garments end up incinerated or dumped into landfill. “A good third or more of the microplastics that end up in the ocean” come from clothing, says Vlachos. “Our ability to develop technology to be able to handle all this waste and remove them from the environment, landfills and the oceans is very important.” Miriam Ribul, who researches sustainable ma...

By Amanda Schupak , The Guardian.  Excerpt: ...Here’s our (mostly) scientific ranking, from worst to best. 7. [worst] Compostable serveware. ...6. Some plastic and paperboard packaging ...Some plastics used in food service containers, such as number 6 (polystyrene), generally are not recyclable. Nor are   soft plastics, like film labels and straws.... 5. Clear, rigid plastic boxes, cups and clamshells The same goes for classic Chinese takeout boxes and similar containers, since they’re coated with plastic to prevent leaking. ...But among different types of plastics, those with a number 1 (PET or PETE) or 2 (HDPE) inside the chasing arrows ...are more valuable to recyclers than plastics with higher numbers. Widely used number 5 (polypropylene or PP) plastics are becoming more recyclable and valuable, too. ...4. Recycled containers ...Containers made from recycled materials are better than ones that aren’t. ...3. Aluminum boxes ...there’s a robust market for recycled alumin...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/01/headway/plastic-recycling-california-law.html By Susan Shain , The New York Times. Excerpt: Jan Dell ...collects what she calls “bad plastic containers.” ...Her specimens include lids from oatmeal canisters, cups from fast-food joints, cleaners wrapped in shrink sleeves, and many, many Amazon mailers. Each carries the familiar  “chasing arrows” recycling symbol ; none, she believes, will ever be recycled. ...Ms. Dell has run a one-woman nonprofit,  the Last Beach Cleanup ,.... Ms. Dell also headed an advisory committee that pushed for a landmark truth-in-labeling law in California. Starting in the fall of 2025, that law will  prohibit companies from placing recycling symbols  on products that are not widely recycled in the state. Yogurt tubs could be among them. So could baby food pouches. And takeout containers. And coffee cup lids....

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj2807 By Kevin M. Van Germ, Science.  Excerpt: ...the public is dissatisfied with recycling rates, notably below 9% in the United States.... This makes governments respond by enforcing a minimum recycled plastic content, such as the 30% target in the European Union. Therefore, a plastics circular economy, in which new, high-quality plastics can be remanufactured from plastic waste, is becoming increasingly popular. Plastics should no longer be considered waste but rather valuable resources. ...A recent study showed that it is possible, by 2050, to produce all plastics in a circular way, without requiring fossil resources.... ...Reducing CO 2  emissions for plastic recycling technologies is also crucial. By electrifying the chemical process and using electricity from nonfossil sources, millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions can be avoided....

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2023/07/27/making-renewable-infinitely-recyclable-plastics-using-bacteria/ By Lauren Biron, Berkeley Lab.  Excerpt: Scientists engineered microbes to make the ingredients for recyclable plastics – replacing finite, polluting petrochemicals with sustainable alternatives. The new approach shows that renewable, recyclable plastics are not only possible, but also outperform those from petrochemicals. ...Most plastics can’t be recycled, and many use finite, polluting petrochemicals as the basic ingredients. But that’s changing. In a  study published today in  Nature Sustainability , researchers successfully engineered microbes to make biological alternatives for the starting ingredients in an infinitely recyclable plastic known as poly(diketoenamine), or PDK. ...PDKs can be used for a variety of products, including adhesives, flexible items like computer cables or watch bands, building materials, and “tough thermosets,” rigid plastics made through a ...

https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2023/02/01/an-easy-new-way-to-recycle-batteries-is-here/ By Aliyah Kovner, UC Berkeley News.  Excerpt: Lithium-ion batteries have revolutionized electronics and enabled an accelerating shift toward clean energy. These batteries have become an integral part of 21 st  century life, but we’re at risk of running out before 2050. The main elements used in each battery – lithium, nickel, and cobalt metals as well as graphite – are increasingly scarce and expensive, and there is little environmental or fair-labor oversight of  some of the remaining international supply chains . There is a pressing need to start reusing the materials we’ve already dug up and to make the battery production process safer and more equitable for all. A team of scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has invented  an award-winning new battery material  that can check both boxes. Their product, called the Quick-Release Binder, makes it s...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/22/style/hand-me-downs.html By  Anna Grace Lee , The New York Times.  Excerpt: In a San Antonio garage, two millennial mothers ...Kara Livingston, 36, and Nicole Boynton, 35, ...founders of  Hand Me Up , a small business aimed at helping parents shop more responsibly to cut down on children’s clothing waste. ...There is little data available about how much children’s clothing is discarded, said Amanda Forster, a materials research engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and an author of a  2022 report  that looked at how to extend the life of textiles. The report said that a circular approach focused on reuse and repair is key, and Dr. Forster said that the principle applies to children’s wear as well. ...“You want to try and keep things circulating back through the economy in their original form as much as possible,” Dr. Forster said. ...More  children’s wear brands  have embraced responsible fash...