The plastic is (not so) great!

[moinsdewatt]

Danone and Nestlé team up to bio-bottle their water bottles

Usine Nouvelle the 02 / 03 / 2017

An unprecedented alliance between two agri-food giants: Danone and Nestlé are working with a Californian start-up to market biosourced plastic water bottles in three years' time. They confide exclusively to L'Usine Nouvelle.

They are competitors, and are in the top three worldwide water producers. The French groups Danone and Swiss Nestlé, however, decided to join forces in a research program to offer consumers plastic bottles 100% biobased. Alongside them is a start-up: Californian biotech Origin Materials.

"We identified this company at the same time, making the same observation: its technology is quite futuristic and constitutes a revolution in PET material," says Frédéric Jouin, head of R&D for plastic materials for Danone, at L'Usine Nouvelle. So we decided to work together to bring it to market as quickly as possible. " Objective of the partners: to offer from 2020 a PET made from 75% sustainable and renewable resources. While the most innovative bottles on the market are currently only 30% bio-sourced.

Plastic made from used cardboard, sawdust and wood shavings

Used cardboard, sawdust and wood chips, or even tomorrow, rice husks or other agricultural waste: Origin Materials' use of raw materials from biomass attracted Klaus Hartwig, head of R&D at Nestlé Waters (Perrier, Vittel, Hépar, Contrex…). "Our ambition is to replace oil with a renewable material, we were looking for a source that does not compete with human or animal food."

Alongside Coca-Cola, Danone (with its brands Evian, Volvic, Badoit ...) had previously entered the capital of the Dutch biotech company Aventium, a spin-off from Shell, inventor of PEF (polyethylene-furanoate), a biosourced plastic but made from starch and sugar.

On the road to industrialization

The plastic produced by Origin Materials is expected to be as light, transparent as PET, ensure the same quality of content, adapt perfectly to the filling plants of Danone and Nestlé Waters, but also PET recycling channels.

In his Sacramento lab, the start-up has already produced samples of these bottles. Next step, build in the coming months with the help of its partners, probably in California, an industrial demonstration unit. It should be able to produce next year 15 000 tons of this PET, with bottles bio-sourced up to 75%.

Open innovation technology

But in 2022, the bottles available on the market will come from at least 95%, promise the manufacturers. Who intend to continue "their research to increase production capacities, and meet an objective of 100% bio-sourced materials", by having several sites around the world offering this technology. But for it to gain momentum, "you need volume, explains Klaus Hartwig. So we want other actors to use it." Their ambition is to make this new material a benchmark throughout the food industry.

http://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/da ... au.N508259

[phil53]

Biosourced or not, do you need to put so much water in the bottle?
We have quality water at the tap, from time to time we may need a bottle of water but not for all the water consumed by a family.

[dede2002]

Biosourced or not, do you need to put so much water in the bottle?
We have quality water at the tap, from time to time we may need a bottle of water but not for all the water consumed by a family.

Hello,

Tap water is not of the same quality for everyone ...
It can be polluted by releases from industries and agrochemicals, drugs etc, which are difficult or impossible to filter.

Plastic for plastic, I would still prefer that it is done with oil (by storing a little carbon in passing?) And let the biomass back to the ground!

What is the "carbon footprint" of this whole "bio-based" plastic industry? And its "water pollution" record ...?

[moinsdewatt]

Tunisia bans plastic bags in supermarkets

AFP, released on Wednesday 01 March 2017 to 19h11

The ban on plastic bags in supermarkets came into effect Wednesday in Tunisia, a country facing a significant deterioration of its environment in recent years.

In the morning, instead of the traditional free single-use plastic bags, a large brand offered reusable "ecological" shopping bags at half price to encourage their purchase, while another sold fabric bags for a small fee.

The ban comes in favor of an agreement between the Ministry of the Environment and the Chambre Syndicale des Large Outlets. The ministry had explained to AFP last year that it was a question of protecting the "biological diversity" of the country and to put an end to "visual pollution".

Environment Minister Riadh Mouakher acknowledged in November that since the 2011 revolution, "waste is everywhere".

However, the measure only concerns plastic bags in the case. They will remain available in the fruit and vegetable department of supermarkets but also in the markets, at the grocers 'and sellers' stores.

Their ban in supermarkets is "a drop in the ocean", regretted a customer of a supermarket in Mourouj 6, in the southern suburbs of Tunis, hoping that the authorities also tackle pollution industrial.

But another customer welcomed it: "Look around us, we are invaded by plastic bags," he said, pointing to wasteland strewn with blue, white and black bags. "They end up in the stomachs of sheep and fish, and then we are the ones who suffer."

This ban is only a "first step", explained to AFP the Ministry of the Environment, which has prepared a larger decree. It must be sent "within a month" to the government after discussions with industry and experts.

The measure caused concern from the trade union chamber of plastic manufacturers. According to her, bags distributed in supermarkets are only a small part of those in circulation. The overwhelming majority of bags come from contraband, according to the manufacturers.

Asked about its impact on industrialists, Hédi Baccour, the president of the Chambre syndicale des large surfaces, ruled Tuesday on Express FM that "it is like the disappearance of the fixed telephone compared to the cell phone".

"The world is changing, manufacturers must evolve" and "can find other alternatives for (...) their business", he said.

http://actu.orange.fr/societe/environne ... DPnHj.html

[moinsdewatt]

VIDEO. Plastic waste. Pacific island breaks records

the 16 / 05 / 2017

Henderson Island, located in the southern Pacific, has the highest density of plastic debris on the planet, according to a recent study that shows the extent of ocean pollution by these extremely resistant wastes. Scientists are sounding the alarm.


The beaches of Henderson Island, a deserted Pacific island, are littered with nearly 38 million pieces of plastic. | EPA / MAXPPP

The beaches on Henderson Island, a deserted Pacific island, are littered with nearly 38 million pieces of plastic, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

With an area of ​​47 km², the island is so isolated that it is only visited every five or ten years for scientific expeditions. But it is near the center of the South Pacific Gyre, a gigantic whirlpool where debris carried by ocean currents or ships is accumulating.

671 waste per square meter

British scientists from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds recently conducted an expedition to the island. They counted nearly 671 pieces of plastic per square meter on the beaches, the highest density of waste ever measured.

"Based on our samples taken from five sites, we estimated that more than 17 tonnes of plastic waste has settled on the island and that more 3 570 new debris are stranded daily on only one of its beaches," says Jennifer Lavers, the main author of this study.

A real danger for animal species

"Plastic debris represents several dangers for animal species," says the scientist. They create barriers that prevent some animals, such as turtles, from accessing the beaches to lay eggs, and can also be ingested. "

According to scientists, our oceans could contain up to 110 million tons of plastic waste. Debris that represents a real danger to ecosystems because of their persistence in nature.

http://www.ouest-france.fr/environnemen ... ds-4994881

[Flytox]

Not as far as the pacific, it is with us, it is our splendid beaches of the immaculate Landes ..... before cleaning with force mechanical means (in the tourist zones of course).

See this edifying link:

https://surfrider64.com/2010/04/05/un-p ... es-landes/

[dede2002]

In view of the two photos, it seems that the amount of plastic on the beach is more important in the desert island than on the French beaches.

Is it nature that distances negative externalities from their source, or is it because French beaches are cleaned regularly?

[Flytox]

I do not know. After each big rainy episode / flood etc ... there is rubbish (+ plant debris, branches, tree trunks) as much or more concentrated than that on kilometers of beaches ... Besides, thank you to our friends Spanish because a very large part of plastic waste has labels in Spanish .... Chai not how they "manage" their waste but we must certainly be able to do much better .....

[moinsdewatt]

Mediterranean cetaceans poisoned by plastics

the 08 / 06 / 2017 lemarin.fr

WWF France publishes a study observing the exposure of Mediterranean cetaceans to phthalates. These endocrine disruptors present in plastics.


WWF France has found high levels of phthalates in biopsies on 90 cetaceans from the Pelagos sanctuary. (Photo: WWF / Frédéric Bassemayousse) 

http://www.lemarin.fr/secteurs-activite ... plastiques

[moinsdewatt]

Microplastics discovered in table salts

the 31.05.2017

Microplastics are increasingly invading our diet. Today, we discover in table salts, announces a Malaysian team.



Nutritionists do not stop the seriner with reason: eating too salty is bad for the health, especially for the heart and the arteries. Another reason could push you to reduce your salt intake: despite its immaculate whiteness, this condiment is now completely polluted with microplastics!

That these pollutants are more and more present in all the marine environments, including in the polar zones, is documented since the 1970 years. Ingested by zooplankton and fish larvae, microplastics are now present in the entire trophic chain. Even seabirds, sea lions and sea lions, by consuming fish containing them, are riddled with them.

But a team of Malaysian researchers from Putra Malaysia University wanted to go a step further. She wondered how the different salts sold commercially around the world contained these pollutants, scrutinizing 17 brands from 8 countries. The answer published in the journal Scientific Reports is cold: virtually all! Only one brand escapes. Cocorico, she is French. Otherwise, not too much reason to bully: the five other French brands studied contain. Unfortunately, Ali Karami, the first author of the study, has no right to reveal what brand it is. Just can it be said that this salt is packed in glass and not plastic, without the nature of the container has any impact on this pollution.

Pollution that would be much more extensive than that. "We believe that most seafood products are contaminated with microplastics," Ali Karami warns. We are only at the beginning of the nightmare! The moment comes when we will not dare to eat a single fish! "Microplastics come from various sources, but the majority of them come from the degradation of plastic waste abandoned by tourists or fishing boats.

"Without forgetting the plastic microbeads used in cosmetics as in exfoliators. Microplastics have a very long lifespan and can persist in the environment for decades", specifies Abolfazl Golieskardi, principal collaborator of Ali Karami. “Even if, according to the latter's calculations, the amount of microplastics in the salts is not of concern at the moment, our planet is being silently conquered by these 'microbombs'.” And the researcher of 'go even further: "I think plastic pollution is likely to eradicate all life on the planet. It is the big bad wolf of the XNUMXst century!"

https://www.sciencesetavenir.fr/nature- ... ble_113330