Valorisation des déchets
Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. Le surcyclage (upcycling en anglais) est l'action de récupérer des matériaux ou des produits dont on a plus l'usage afin de les transformer en matériaux ou produits de qualité ou d'utilité supérieure. On recycle donc « par le haut » (up en anglais). En plus des bénéfices écologiques de la réutilisation, le surcyclage donne l'occasion de créer et recréer des objets uniques. De ce fait, on rencontre le surcyclage dans de nombreux contextes : à domicile, en entreprise, en galerie d'art, etc. Histoire et développement[modifier | modifier le code] Le terme a été proposé au milieu des années 1990 par Reiner Pilz. Exemples[modifier | modifier le code] L'entreprise TerraCycle, créée au début des années 2000 aux États-Unis a pour objectif d'éliminer le concept même de déchets en créant des réseaux de ramassage et des solutions de recyclage et de surcyclage.L'entreprise FREITAG lab ag. Notes et références[modifier | modifier le code]
Styrofoam-Eating Mealworms Could Happily Dispose of Plastic Waste
One man's trash is another man's — or worm's — treasure. Research from Stanford shows that darkling beetle larvae, commonly called mealworms, will happily eat a diet of polystyrene (better known by its trade name, styrofoam), providing a possible method for disposing of this notoriously durable and pervasive plastic waste. Related: Millions of Tons! Scientists Tally Up Plastic Pollution in Oceans Wei-Min Wu and his colleagues at the university's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering raised a hundred mealworms from birth strictly on styrofoam, which the creatures can digest thanks to a type of bacteria in their gut. Amazingly, the worms seem to suffer no ill effects from eating plastic all day — they were as healthy as a control group that ate bran. Understanding how bacteria process a plastic thought to be practically indestructible, let alone edible, may lead to a way of disposing safely of the millions of tons of non-recyclable plastic thrown away every year.
5 Ways to Green Your K-Cup
Since Keurig’s K-Cup coffee system arrived on the market in the late ‘90s, single-serve coffee makers have exploded in popularity. In fiscal year 2013 alone, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, owner of the Keurig Company since 2006, sold more than $827 million worth of brewers and other accessories, more than double its sales just three years before. While the convenience and variety afforded by single-serve coffee systems is celebrated by many, the appliance’s darker side—the mountains of unrecyclable waste that result from its use—is equally abhorred by environmentalists and others concerned about the impacts of on-demand coffee. To put this waste into perspective, John Sylvan, the system’s creator, has himself estimated that a single K-Cup machine can create ten times more waste than a conventional drip brewer, and in fact now notes regretting his invention. In 2013, roughly 10 billion individual K-Cup packs were sold. Here are five greener single-serve alternatives worth checking out:
Science Update: The Science Radio News Feature of the AAAS
May 30, 2014 A biodegradable plastic isolated from shrimp shells could help curb a huge environmental problem. Podcast: Play in new window Transcript BOB HIRSHON (host): From shrimp to plastic. Plastics made from chitosan are versatile and break down quickly. Plastic waste can take decades or longer to break down, leaching toxic chemicals the whole time. DON INGBER (Wyss Institute, Harvard University): We literally took one of those clear plastic egg cartons that you may see in the supermarket, and he used that as a mold, and he made one out of this chitosan shrimp shell based plastic. HIRSHON: That suggests it could be more versatile than existing biodegradable plastics.
Assainissement
Un article de Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. L’assainissement est une démarche visant à améliorer la situation sanitaire globale de l'environnement dans ses différentes composantes. Il comprend la collecte, le traitement et l'évacuation des déchets liquides, des déchets solides et des excréments[1]. Origines[modifier | modifier le code] Littéralement « action d'assainir », l’assainissement est originellement l'ensemble des techniques et méthodes visant à traiter les eaux usées. Objectifs[modifier | modifier le code] En l'absence d'assainissement, les déchets à même le sol bloquent les canaux de drainage. L'assainissement est fortement lié à la santé publique en raison des nombreuses maladies liées à un milieu malsain. La proximité avec les eaux usées peut engendrer des maladies à transmission fécale-orale (diarrhée, typhoïde, hépatites, choléra), ou liées à un vecteur (paludisme, filariose, dengue)[2]. Domaines d'activité[modifier | modifier le code] Excréta[modifier | modifier le code]
NYIT Students Turn Plastic Bottles Into Disaster Relief
Last week’s devastating typhoon in the Philippines has reminded designers of the ongoing challenge of creating safe, temporary shelters when natural disasters hit. Crates of food and water are some of the first types of aid delivered to these ravaged areas; so what if these resources could be designed to also provide shelter and minimize waste? The New York Institute of Technology’s School of Architecture asked just that question and came up with a solution: SodaBIB, a new type of shipping pallet that would allow commonly used plastic bottles to be used for shelter. The team just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a full-scale shelter using their patented water bottle roofing system: the roof is constructed with discarded water bottles that are crushed, overlapped, and offset like Spanish tiles. Recently, NYIT has seen enough value in the idea to award it a modest construction budget as an institutional grant.
A lot of US plastic isn’t actually being recycled since China put up its Green Fence
For many environmentally conscious Americans, there’s a deep satisfaction to chucking anything and everything plasticky into the recycling bin—from shampoo bottles to butter tubs—the types of plastics in the plastic categories #3 through #7. Little do they know that, even if their local trash collector says it recycles that waste, they might as well be chucking those plastics in the trash bin. “[Plastics] 3-7 are absolutely going to a landfill—[China’s] not taking that any more… because of Green Fence,” David Kaplan, CEO of Maine Plastics, a post-industrial recycler, tells Quartz. “This will continue until we can do it in the United States economically.” The Green Fence went up…and it’s not coming down Kaplan is referring to an initiative the Chinese government launched last year ostensibly to reduce pollution. The program was supposed to end in November of 2013. The many lives of plastic junk Why would China import this? Cheap plastic’s toll on China’s environment But it will take time
Plastic-eating wax worm 'extremely exciting' for global pollution crisis
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