Services
July 3, 2012
Plastic waste is a huge environmental problem. Each year, in the United States alone, about 30 million tons of plastic is tossed into landfills where it stays for hundreds, or even thousands, of years. And half of that is in the form of containers and packages, many of which can be recycled, but frequently are not. A lot of that plastic garbage ends up in the ocean. Proof exists in the form of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which was formed as an accident of wind and water current, but now ranks as the largest dump in the world.
The good news is that recent research on fungi has shown that certain fungi are able to break down plastic packaging that contains BPA. If you follow us on Twitter, you may have seen our link to an article about the research. According to the article, a research team from India found that if they pre-treat BPA-containing plastic with heat and UV light, there are three types of fungi that can break down the plastic. The fungi use the plastic as a carbon source, which it needs to grow, and leave no traces of BPA behind. The article goes on to describe innovative forms of packaging that have no plastic at all, but are instead made of a dried and molded collection of the non-reproductive part of a fungus.
This is exciting news for the environment and for manufacturers that care about the environment and worry about where their products and packaging end up when the consumer is done with them. EquipNet is an ardent supporter of eco-friendly disposal of e-waste and we are also anxious to see these discoveries put into use. In the meantime, plastics are a fact of life and
disposing of them in an environmentally responsible way is important. If your company is trying to decrease its footprint, contact us about our Environmental Recycling program of your e-waste.
Categorias: Services
Tags: e-waste electronic recycling plastics,
