You may have noticed the trend in craft beers that are taking over the US. More and more bars are stocked with local breweries and to make themselves stand out, they need to have attract tap handles. I’m not sure if this is true for most people but I’ve definitely decided to try a new beer because the tap handle looks really cool.

Tap handles are traditionally carved from wood but many are starting to used injection molded plastic or urethane molding to make custom taps that can be painted or decorated with stickers to make them really stand out.

According the the Brewers Association, The number of barrels of craft beer made in the U.S. has climbed from 4 billion barrels in 2005 to more than 19 billion barrels in 2015. That means a lot more beer taps need to be made as well!

A Brazilian plastic supplier made plastic stadium seating for more 3 of the new stadiums in Rio. Oakley is making custom sunglasses for athletes. Check out the link below to see the video!

http://bcove.me/9ei3adgm

Aquafil USA Inc. has been named CARE Recycler of the Year but the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE). CARE encourages the reuse of raw materials from recycled carpet. Aquafil won the award because of their econyl system that turns old carpets and abandoned fishing nets into nylon 6 fibers.

Since 2002, CARE has diverted more than 4 billion pounds of carpet from landfills in the United States.

Scientist at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry and the University of California have published a new study that explore methods of converting plastic into liquid fuel. Currently, the way to do this is with heat and ultraviolet radiation. This method is extremely inefficient and lacks product control.

The new process they have been exploring is called cross alkane metathese or CAM. This is a highly efficient way of breaking down plastic without any pretreatment. CAM involves using two catalysts to create chemical reactions that split and separate the plastic.

According to the study, “After multiple cycles of CAM with light alkanes, PE [polyethylene] will be eventually converted to short hydrocarbons suitable for transportation oils.”  

This is another way that we could end landfills.

Prices for Nylon 6 in North America have fallen and average of 2 cents per pound in May as demand fell along with feedstock prices. Prices have fallen a total of 8 cents per pound in the first quarter of 2016, mainly do to lower feedstock prices.

Recycled high density polyethylene resins (HDPE) have continued to bounce back from recent lows. They have increased at an average of 4 cents per pound since April 1st.  Higher oil prices and a need to meet sustainability targets have made the material more attractive to buyers.  This applies to all grades of recycled HDPE.

GM is taking the next step in recycling bottles! They are using recycled bottles and turning them into engine insulation, air filters and coats for the homeless.

“Recycling is good, but viewing waste as a valuable resource that can be plugged into your operations or products is even better,” said John Bradburn, GM global manager of waste reduction. “It’s about rethinking the process and finding more sustainable ways to manufacturing products and contribute to our communities.”

Bottles from GM’s five sites in Michigan are collected and recycled by turning the PET flake into resin. The resin is then processed into fibers then into fleece. The fleece is used in three projects. The first is using the fleece to attach to nylon covers for the Chevy Equinox V6 Engine. This is used to dampen engine noise. The second project is using the fleece to make air filters. These air filters are used at all GM facilities to improve air quality.  The third is a partnership with Carhartt. They cut the fleece into coat insulation that is used by The Empowerment Plan to make coats for the homeless.  The coats can also double as a sleeping bag!

It is great that these big companies are doing their part in recycling plastic!

We LOVE plastic…but even this is good news for the environment! Apple has plans to stop using plastic bags in their retail stores. When you buy something from the Apple store, it comes in a white plastic drawstring bag. It has become quite iconic!

Starting later this month, Apple is planning on changing its bagging policy and switch from plastic bags to more environmentally friendly paper bags that are made with 80% recycled material. In addition to switching bags, employees are now being instructed to ask customers if they need a bag instead of automatically providing one. This is a commitment by the company to “leave the world better than we found it”, according to Apple.

Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan discovered a new bacteria that is the most effective, to date, at degrading plastic. This bacteria has two enzymes that help break down plastic.  The first strips the plastic of its structure and reduces it to and acid. The second enzyme turns that acid into the basic building blocks of plastic, which could be recycled and used again.

The name of the bacteria is I. sakaiensis. It is particularly good at breaking down a type of plastic called PET. PET is used most commonly to make bottles because of its reliable water barrier. PET can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, which is why our landfills and oceans are filled with it.

Right now, researchers are working on mapping the genome of the bacteria in hopes of producing a super charged version of it in the future.

The rumors are flying! There have been news that Hasbro and Mattel are considering a merger. If the two toy companies became one, it would create a company that does about $10 billion in annual sales. That’s more than double of LEGO!

The company would be big enough to rival the biggest of them all, Walt Disney Co. in the toy industry. The merger could be the start of a whole different type of toy company as the industry changes with the emergence of 3D printing. Hasbro has already launched a website where customers can download design specifications for Hasbro toys and tweak them to create a personalized toy. This is a huge change from the traditional mass toy production strategy.

The thin and light weight Gorilla Glass that is found on many kinds of smart phones is being used by Ford on their new Ford GTs. They are going to replace the standard windshield glass with a three-layer hybrid windshield consisting of Gorilla Glass, annealed glass and a sound deadening thermoplastic interlayer. It will also be used for the vehicle’s rear engine cover. It is 30% lighter than regular windshield glass.

According to Ford,” The windshield consists of automotive-grade Gorilla Glass as the inner layer and annealed soda lime glass as the outer layer, sandwiched around noise-absorbing thermoplastic adhesive. Ford says the window laminate is 25 to 50 percent thinner than traditional laminate.”