Recycled roads pave the way to a sustainable future
New roads mixed with recycled plastics at ten sites across Victoria will demonstrate a viable circular-economy solution to the nation, experts say.
Aug 9, 2023
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Energy & Green Tech
New roads mixed with recycled plastics at ten sites across Victoria will demonstrate a viable circular-economy solution to the nation, experts say.
Aug 9, 2023
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25
Engineering
For years, unrecycled plastic bottles have been dumped in landfills. Now, thanks to new research from UBC Okanagan, those bottles may have a second life in that landfill—stabilizing its earth walls.
Jul 20, 2023
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Engineering
Skoltech scientists in collaboration with SIBUR PolyLab Research Center and other universities and organizations presented results of a project exploring the e-nose technology for controlling the quality and technology of ...
Jul 19, 2023
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Engineering
Stanford engineers Michael Lepech and Zhiye Li have a unique vision of the future: buildings and roads made from plastic waste.
Jul 18, 2023
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Energy & Green Tech
Plastic waste is an increasing problem the world over, with food packaging and single-use items such as plastic knives and forks representing a significant component of the waste stream. There have been efforts to replace ...
Apr 24, 2023
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Engineering
Our society has a love affair with plastic. To take our relationship to the next level—happily ever after in a waste-free future—the path is circular.
Apr 19, 2023
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Engineering
As the world searches for ways to reduce the use of plastics such as single-use plastic bags, a novel study by Penn State researchers demonstrates a process to make paper bags stronger—especially when they get wet—to ...
Apr 19, 2023
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Engineering
An international team of scientists is helping to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere by exploring different natural fibers and blending the natural fibers in plastics to make light-weight and strong green composite ...
Apr 3, 2023
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Energy & Green Tech
Plastics are incredible materials with properties invaluable to the functioning of our modern world. They are strong, flexible, versatile, long-lasting and inexpensive. In particular, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) is ubiquitous ...
Mar 14, 2023
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Robotics
Robots are all around us, from drones filming videos in the sky to serving food in restaurants and diffusing bombs in emergencies. Slowly but surely, robots are improving the quality of human life by augmenting our abilities, ...
Mar 8, 2023
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Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic amorphous solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular weight, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce costs.
The word derives from the Greek πλαστικός (plastikos) meaning fit for molding, and πλαστός (plastos) meaning molded. It refers to their malleability, or plasticity during manufacture, that allows them to be cast, pressed, or extruded into an enormous variety of shapes—such as films, fibers, plates, tubes, bottles, boxes, and much more.
The common word plastic should not be confused with the technical adjective plastic, which is applied to any material which undergoes a permanent change of shape (plastic deformation) when strained beyond a certain point. Aluminum, for instance, is plastic in this sense, but not a plastic in the common sense; while some plastics, in their finished forms, will break before deforming and therefore are not plastic in the technical sense.
There are two types of plastics: thermoplastics and thermosets. Thermoplastics, if exposed to enough heat, will melt. Thermosets will keep their shape until they are charred and burnt. Some examples of thermoplastics are grocery bags, piano keys and some automobile parts. Examples of thermosets are children's dinner sets and circuit boards.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA