Important Innovations Collection

Fully Recyclable Source:  Stock Image of Ocean Plastic Debris Plastic Debris There are an estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in world oceans.  Of that, 260,000 tons float on the surface, while 4 billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer liter the deep sea.  Plastic is a big environmental problem.  So, it's great news that a team at Berkeley Labs has developed a new form of plastic that is 100% recyclable.  Most plastics are not fully recyclable  Additives and fillers contained in them disrupt the process. PDK The new plastic material PDK or Polydiketoenamine can be broken down to the molecular level and then reassembled with no degradation in quality.  The differentiator with PDK is that it's composed of reversible bonds.  Common plastic is composed of tightly bound molecular bonds. Next G Plastic When placed in acid, PDK's bonds release, allowing the original monomers to be recovered and recycled for reuse and th...

Togo Innovators Turn e-Waste into Robots and Printers Source:  Stock Image e-Waste Innovative Ways to Recycle and Re-purpose Electronic Wast e The small West Africa nation of Togo has a digital revolution going on.  It imports 500,000 tons of electronic and electrical waste a year.  Innovative citizens are converting it into robots, 3D printers and much more.  Some have built businesses out of e-waste recycling. e-Waste Viewed as a Gold Mine Many of the entrepreneurs set up their shops near the e-waste dump sites to give them access for parts they need for their innovations. They view e-waste as their gold mine.   This is a poor nation and the entrepreneurs are providing something the world desperately needs:  re-cycling and re-purposing of the growing amount of global e-waste. Award Winning & Big Recycling Need One Togolese innovator won first place in the Barcelona Fabrication Technology Conference for his e-waste made printer.  Glo...