5high-techinnovationstakingonplasticbagrecycling

Source？

MotherNatureNetwork

ContentprovidedbySCJohnson

June16，2014

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Whenitcomestorecycling，whatwilltheythinkofnext？

This。

Checkouttheseuniquehigh-techmaterialsmadefromrecycledplasticbags。

Theyarethebrainchildrenofbiggreendreamersfromtheart，scienceandbusinesscommunities。

1。

DieselFuel

ResearchersattheUniversityofIllinoishavefoundawaytomakedieselfuelandotherpetroleumproductsfromusedgrocerybags。

Theenergyusedintheconversionprocessismuchlessthattheenergyrecovered。

Youcanreadmoreabouttheirresearchinthehighlightsfromanarticlepublishedinthescientificjournal，FuelProcessingTechnology。

Photo：FeelPic/iStock

2。

Roads

AhmedKhan，anentrepreneurinIndia，foundedthecompanyK。

K。

PlasticWasteManagementintheearly1990stomixplasticfromlandfillswithasphalttoformacompoundthatcanbeusedtobuildroads。

Nearly1，000milesofroadshavebeenbuilttodate，andthey’vebeenfoundtowearbetterandlastlongerthanthetraditionalroads，evenbetterwithstandingmonsoons。

Photo：Auris/iStock

3。

ConcreteBricks

HenryMiller，arecentgraduateoftheMasterofArchitectureprogramatRensselaerPolytechnicUniversityinAlbany，NewYork，developedawaytogranulateplasticbagsandmixthemwithconcretetoformbrickswithsignificantenvironmentalbenefits。

Thematerialblendkeepstheplasticusedoutoflandfillsandeliminatestheneedtoaddthetypicalminedaggregatetotheconcretemix。

Photo：kevinjeon00/iStock

4。

CarbonNanotubeMembranes(CNTs)

ScientistsattheUniversityofAdelaidehavediscoveredawaytoturnplasticbagsintohigh-techCNTs，thestrongestmaterialinexistence，hundredsoftimesstrongerthansteelandsixtimeslighter。

Thissophisticatedmaterialiscurrentlyusedtoproduceinnovativeelectronics，windturbines，sensingdevicesandmore。

Ithasexcitingfuturepotentialforenergystorageinlithiumionbatteriesandmedicalinnovations。

Photo：MechanismDigital/iStock

5。

CompositeDecking

AcompanycalledTrex？

ledthedevelopmentofcompositedeckingasanalternativetowoodlumberintheearly1990s。

Trexcollectssawdustfromreclaimedwoodandrecycledplasticfromanumberofsources–includingplasticshoppingbags，newspapersleeves，drycleaningbagsandfoodstoragebagslikeZiploc？

brandbags–tocreatethecompositematerialusedinitsproducts。

Theaverage500-square-footcompositeTrexdeckcontains140，000recycledplasticbags！

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Photo：Chiyacat/iStock