After an extensive effort to research, map, and identify expertise and infrastructure to accelerate the move to circular systems, Accelerating Circularity Project is going to the trial phase in the U.S. and Europe to demonstrate what is possible and to measure environmental savings. Trials will showcase the ability to mechanically and chemically recycle cotton, and…
Read the full article at: sourcingjournal.com
Conceptual photographer Benjamin Von Wong has shared details about his latest project on his blog—an art installation made from 168,000 plastic straws called “The Parting of the Plastic Sea.” The idea behind the work is to draw attention to the “truckload of plastic flowing into the ocean every 60 seconds”—and to emphasize how a small step like forgoing a plastic straw when conducted on a large scale can make a big difference—stopping the “strawpocalypse,” as Von Wong puts it. Of course, Von Wong didn’t go out and buy the straws for the project—even if it would have only cost $10 for 100,000 of them. He took the harder route, working with Zero Waste Saigon, Starbucks Vietnam and hundreds of volunteers to gather used straws over the course of half a year. A local builder then helped to construct the frame that would support the “waves” of plastic. To generate maximum awareness, the installation was located at the Estella Place shopping mall in Ho Chi Minh City. On his blog, Von Wong says “The Parting of the Plastic Sea” isn’t only about straws. He writes: “It’s about taking a first step towards paying attention to the plastic epidemic threatening the…
Swedish company Automotive Components Floby has relaunched its SiCA Light product – an aluminium brake disc with silicon carbide particle reinforcement.
“I dislike the word waste,” says Simone Post. “We should regard every material, and that includes waste, as a new source of material.” The Dutch expert demonstrated what she meant with her graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven: She developed an upcycling concept for offcuts of material that she then fashions into circular rugs. The leftovers and rejects come from the production lines at textile manufacturer Vlisco, a company known for its highly colorful and extravagantly patterned fabrics made using a complex wax technique. “The big difference between upcycling and recycling is that with upcycling as part of the circular economy the material is imbued with greater value,” says the designer. By contrast, recycling might mean that a fabric involving a complex manufacturing process is later only used to make insulating boards.
In the 1920s, a group of the largest lightbulb companies from around the world came together and made a plan to sell more lightbulbs: make them worse. The group, called the Phoebus Cartel, decided that their bulbs would last 1,000 hours, much lower than the 2,500 hours the bulbs had lasted before. Customers would then have to buy more bulbs. It was a foolproof plan, except for being unethical and shortsighted. The Phoebus Cartel shows the problems with a traditional linear economy that a circular economy solves. In a circular economy, the point is to look past sheer profit or growth and consider a sustainable future with wider social benefits.
Africa should implement strategies that do not create jobs at the expense of polluting the environment.
The airline will replace the plastic straws, stirring sticks and cutlery used in the cabins and lounges with eco-friendly materials from February 2020…