An inconvenient convenience..
Plastic has filled our lives
since the 1950's. Approximately 15% of all plastic produced has ever been
recycled. There is enough plastic waste in our environment to wrap a sheet of
glad wrap around the Earth 3 times...
The urgency of the issue has
led to brands, governments, NGOs and celebrities promoting a host of solutions.
Reusable packaging is part of the answer, and shopping bags, water bottles and
coffee cups have become popular purchases for those trying to do their bit.
This works to replace certain types of packaging, but think about all the other
pieces of plastic we come into contact with every single day. Plastic film can
keep food fresher for longer, and wrappers ensure medical equipment is safe for
patients. In many cases, it wouldn't be hygienic, convenient or feasible to go
fully reusable.
A number of initiatives also
aim to tackle the impacts of the problem, from scooping plastics out of the
ocean to collecting litter from beaches. Again, these are valuable efforts and
must continue. However, the three best known major international ocean
clean-ups combined deal with less than 0.5 percent of those 8 million tonnes of
plastics that enter the ocean annually. We need to treat the cause as well as
the symptoms.This means looking upstream to design a plastics system that
works, in which this material never ends up as waste in the first place.
The challenge here is that
when it's used, plastic packaging becomes dispersed. These items are
distributed throughout the world in endless configurations and uses, with
billions of customers. They're often tiny, lightweight, difficult to collect
and individually aren't worth that much. So to truly rethink the way we make
and use plastics, we need to come up with new approaches and systemic
solutions.
Items such as shampoo sachets,
wrappers, straws and coffee cup lids. These "small-format packaging
items" account for 10 percent of all plastic packaging. They are not
recycled and often end up in the environment.
"Clean-ups
continue to play an important role in dealing with the consequences of the
waste plastic crisis, but we know we must do more. We urgently need solutions
that address the root causes of the problem."
If
we don’t change how we make and use plastic, by 2050 the oceans could contain
more plastics than fish, by weight.
The problem is nowhere near
resolved yet but there are plenty of alternatives to throw-away plastics, as
well as other plastic-recycling breakthroughs that may make an impact. Here, we
check up on 8 best innovations that require entrepreneurs attention to be
explored and convert into a business opportunity.
1.
Plastic-eating mushrooms
Still on the subject of
eating, a group of fungi have been found to gorge on plastic. One type of
mushroom can exist on an all-plastic diet, in fact. Is this the solution to
plastic waste, and potential problems from a contaminated food chain? If it can
be scaled up to a sufficient degree, there is huge potential here.
**Update 2019** Big news on
this one. At least 50 new types of plastic-biodegrading fungus have been
discovered since 2017, but more investment is needed to scale up operations,
and work out the best way of applying fungi in the plastic-tackling process.
2.
Bacteria get stuck in, too
Two young scientists are in
the process of commercializing their concept, bacteria which breaks down
plastic quicker than methods currently on offer. It may take a few years before
this innovation enters the waste recycling process, but again, it seems like
nature might have the answer to human error.
**Update 2019** It’s not just
22 year-olds on the case with this one. Scientists are becoming increasingly
optimistic that microorganisms are going to play an active role in breaking
down our plastics and converting them into their useful – and profitable –
chemical components.
3.
Waste plastic homes
A social enterprise called
Conceptos Plasticos has come up with a way of creating stackable bricks from
waste plastic and rubber, to create quickly-built, durable and – most
importantly – extremely affordable housing for those who need it most.
**Update 2019** This idea has
spread its wings well beyond its origins in Colombia. A Conceptos Plasticos
project in Abidjan, Ivory Coast was recently featured in The New York Times. It
takes the plastic collected by women in the city, paying them a higher rate than
they would normally receive, and uses it to create the bricks to build homes
and schools.
4.
Waste plastic roads
This is a brand new story for
2019: the novel idea of using non-recyclable plastic to create roads on housing
developments. Scotland led the way in the UK, Bristol has followed (albeit
using the same Scottish innovator, MacRebur), and there seems to be a general
clamour for a lot more waste plastic in road building. Whether its plastic bags
or bottles going into the surface, this seems to be a highly practical way of
contributing to a growing ‘circular economy’.
5.
A new kind of fuel
Converting waste plastics to
fuels like petrol, kerosene and diesel has been the aim of the game for
Australian PhD student Songpol Boonsawat – and it's brought a breakthrough.
Emissions, of course, would still be a problem in the end though – but they are
said to be lower than existing fuels, while 'closing the loop' in the plastic
life cycle. It's said the process, if taken up widely, could potential reduce
plastics going to landfill by 80%.
**Update 2019** There’s not
much to report on this particular research, but plastic waste-fuel has remained
a hot area of study – with promising results. One such example is a new
technique established to turn polypropylene plastic waste into useful products
such as fuel using water raised to a temperature and pressure above its
critical point.
6.
No-energy air conditioning
Plastic bottles and air
conditioning systems don't seem the most natural connection, but a very simple
invention, using just bottles and a perforated board, may prove to the answer
to lowering the temperature of scores of households off the electricity grid.
The Eco Cooler concept, currently being used in Bangladesh, creates a natural
cooling effect by warm air entering the large opening of the bottle and leaving
through the thinner neck.
**Update 2019** This being
such a simple concept, not a lot’s changed in the last few years. It’s still a
good idea which could be adapted pretty much anywhere there are plastic bottles
and something to mount them in.
7.
Stop plastic clogging the oceans – in your
washing machine
One way to stop plastic
harming ecosystems is to stop it getting there at the first possible
opportunity. Synthetic clothing materials shed lots of plastic microfibres when
washed, and they often end up in waterways. However, a new microfibre catcher,
modelled on sea anemones, has been invented to catch the rogue plastic in your
machine. From there, it goes back to the manufacturer where it's dealt with. It's
out next year in the States, so in the meantime, washing synthetics sparingly
and looking out for natural materials is advised.
**Update 2019** Public
interest can certainly be considered piqued by this one. A Kickstarter set up
to get the product to market raised $353,461 – a fair bit more than the $10,000
target.
8.
Printing with waste plastic
The main problem with 3D
printing is it uses a lot of plastic. But it also poses a potential use for
waste plastic, and Greek project The New Raw is among a wave of innovators
making plastic bottles, cups and more into useful printing filament. More than
that, though, it is raising awareness of plastic recycling on the island of
Syros with initiatives like creating pet houses for stray cats and stools which
compress waste plastic.
**Update 2019** Given the
profile of the fight against plastic waste, very few innovative projects
stagnate, and this one is no different. The New Raw has now opened a zero waste
lab in Thessaloniki, where the public are invited to bring in their household
waste plastic and use it to transform public space by creating their own street
furniture.
Related Posts:
48 Best Food Waste Recycling Business Ideas For 2020
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Very well said Ishan
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