Ashland and Cara Plastics study soy-based resins.
The Composite Polymers Division of Ashland Specialty Chemical Co and Cara Plastics Inc are jointly assessing the viability of using technology based on the use of soybean oil in resins across various processes. They believe the development of this technology could lead to a range of resins...

UK government grant for bioplastic research.
The UK's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has announced the provision of [pounds sterling]278 000 funding to develop strong but lightweight, environmentally friendly plastics for automobile doors and boat hulls. Announcing the project, Minister for Science and Innovation, Malcolm Wicks said "Normal plastics have a half-life...

Busy little recyclers: chemical process, microbial metabolism transform trash-bound plastics.
A two-step approach that converts a common plastic into a biodegradable polymer could cut the number of packing peanuts and Styrofoam cups that end up in landfills, researchers suggest. In 2003, U.S. manufacturers produced more than 2 million tons of polystyrene to make such items as food...

Biobased products.
Achieving greater energy security for the United States and the rest of the word means utilizing multiple approaches. In the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), giving greater visibility and relevance to biobased products has been an area of focus for many years. This effort was a major research...

Histogram of intensity feature extraction for automatic plastic bottle recycling system using machine vision.
INTRODUCTION A recent study by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government of Malaysia on current recycling practices showed that plastics accounted for about 9.7% of household waste. In addition to that, the National Technical Committee on Management of Solid Waste was studying various proposals on the...

A woody path to biodegradable plastics.
A woody path to biodegradable plastics For thousands of years, people have used vast amounts of wood for such low-tech applications as building their homes and fueling their fires. But wood scientists, who think of wood as "three-dimensional biopolymer composites," want to see this age-old, renewable and biodegradable...

Cereplast to Supply Bioplastic Resin for WNA's New 'Green' Product Line.
HEALTH AND BEAUTY CLOSE-UP-1 October 2008-Cereplast to Supply Bioplastic Resin for WNA's New 'Green' Product Line(C)2008 - CloseUpMedia - newsdesk@closeupmedia.com Cereplast, a manufacturer of proprietary bio-based, sustainable plastics, announced that it has started to supply compostable resin for a new line of environmentally friendly tableware developed by...

Corn-based resin used for plastic packaging. (Update June/2003).
Wilkinson Manufacturing Co. is the first manufacturer in North America to make a commercially thermoformed all-natural plastic container using a corn-based polylactide polymer, or PLA. This unique line of plastic packaging, called NaturesPLAstic[TM], is fully recyclable back to carbon dioxide and water when in a composting environment....

Inside our Green-Built Idea House: earth-friendly features you can use now.
Our next Idea House explores one of the fastest-growing trends in the West: green building. Using two side-by-side homes in Menlo Park, California, to demonstrate techniques and materials, the Green-Built Idea House will be a showcase for eco-savvy homeowners. While building green typically adds about 6 percent to the...

Thermoreversible gels from grain.
When it comes to cereals, most people think food--bread, baking, breakfast. But what about industrial and commercial packaging, biodegradable plastics and health products? The unique properties of grains provide plenty of opportunities to use renewable, biological resources to create new product opportunities. New Zealand's Crop and Food...