Smart phones, computers, televisions and even children's toys are part of what makes our modern world so exciting. But these often rely on plastics and rare earth metals which are hard to recycle. Are there efficient ways to capture all those rare earth metals? How are rare earth metals in old phones recycled today, and can we make it better? Knowing which bin to put plastic in is difficult, so what if there was a more universal way to recycle plastics? How does turning plastic into a gas with the help of steam help create a circular plastic economy? How can some steam power help crack plastics back into their most basic forms? Is it possible to recycle plastics without to build whole new plastic refineries? Regulation is often playing catch up to making materials safe. Are the latest generation of 'safe' fire retardants any safer than those that came before?
References:
Robert F. Higgins, Thibault Cheisson, Bren E. Cole, Brian C. Manor, Patrick J. Carroll, Eric J Schelter. Magnetic Field Directed Rare-Earth Separations. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2019; DOI: 10.1002/anie.201911606
Arlene Blum, Mamta Behl, Linda S. Birnbaum, Miriam L. Diamond, Allison Phillips, Veena Singla, Nisha S. Sipes, Heather M. Stapleton, Marta Venier. Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants: Are They a Regrettable Substitution for Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers? Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 2019; DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00582
Henrik Thunman, Teresa Berdugo Vilches, Martin Seemann, Jelena Maric, Isabel Cañete Vela, Sébastien Pissot, Huong N.T. Nguyen. Circular use of plastics-transformation of existing petrochemical clusters into thermochemical recycling plants with 100% plastics recovery. Sustainable Materials and Technologies, 2019; 22: e00124 DOI: 10.1016/j.susmat.2019.e00124
Episode 417 - Umami, vitamins, juice and drinks
Episode 416 - Sourdough starters and less allergens in wheat and peanuts
Episode 415 - Greener ways to make Hydrogen and Ammonia
Episode 414 - The active life and dramatic death of galaxies
Episode 413 - Detecting gene doping in sport, and the strange air of gyms
Episode 412 - Magnetic Glues and Chemical gears
Episode 411 - Lightning fast eyes and looking for hidden spots
Episode 410 - Mysterious Volcanoes, Plates and Subduction
Episode 409 - Stellar Weather, Life on other planets and Space Dust
Episode 408 - Life in deep sea soil, and blending in amongst leaves
Episode 407 - Random generating DNA and random mouse movements
Episode 406 - Lifting mountains out of the ground...with rain
Episode 405 - Studying Supernova, pollution and air quality with trees
Episode 404 - Ants , Acid, and Yeast that grow acid
Episode 403 - Taking pollutants out of our water, factories and environment
Episode 402 - Feathers on Dinosaurs and Pterosaurs
Episode 401 - Space Collisions and cleaning up debris
Episode 400 - Nobel Prizes, Collaboration, and more sustainable trees
Episode 399 - Avoiding Fatbergs and Breaking down Plastic
Episode 398 - Ig Nobel Prize '20 - Alligators and Spiders
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