Enzyme-based plastics recycling is more energy efficient, better for environment eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(U.S. DOE) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced an investment of up to $14.5 million for research and development to cut waste and reduce the energy used to recycle single-use plastics like plastic bags, wraps, and films. This funding directed toward plastics recycling technologies advances the DOE’s work to address the challenges of plastic waste recycling and support the Biden Administration’s efforts to build a clean energy economy and ensure the U.S. reaches net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“For years, single-use plastics have had a detrimental impact on the environment clogging landfills and polluting our neighborhoods, parks, and beaches,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “Innovation in plastics recycling technology is a triple win by cutting plastic waste we see in our everyday lives, reducing industrial energy use and resulting emissions, and creating clean manufacturing jobs for American workers.”
LANL Invites Public To Earth Day Events April 19-22
LANL News:
Los Alamos National Laboratory is celebrating the 51st anniversary of Earth Day with a week of workshops, presentations, and tips on the greening of homes and the community.
This year’s Earth Week theme is “Holding Our World Together” and encompasses family, community, and the environment. Tune in to a week of speakers April 19-22 to help community members learn more about sustainability, recycling, reduced use of materials and more.
On Thursday, April 22, join Director Emeritus Terry Wallace and Mel Strong of the Bradbury Science Museum for their “Earth Day Afternoon” presentations to explore the scenic wonder and seasonal weather of New Mexico.
LANL Pollution Solutions: Taraka Dale Explains How Lab Technologies Could Solve Global Plastic Problems
LANL News:
Earth Week is April 16-22, and New Mexicans are coming out of their collective COVID-19 cocoons to find they’ve wracked up even more plastic waste in the form of old take-out containers and used PPE.
Now what?
Los Alamos biochemist Taraka Dale is offering a free, public talk, 5:30-7 p.m. Monday, April 19, via Webex on how Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Smart Microbial Cell Technology could not only accelerate the breakdown of existing plastics but also engineer bio-friendly ones in the future.
How To Solve the Mounting Problem of Plastic Waste? Focus on Its Chemical Roots
DOE Funding Pairs NREL with Academic, Nonprofit, and Industry Scientists To Transform How We Create and Recycle Plastic
Feb. 3, 2021
NREL researcher Chen Wang works on a UV-light setup to study light-driven oxidation reactions to degrade commodity plastics, such as polystyrene and polyethylene.
Photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL
Plastic pollution is a recognized global challenge. According to
Our World in Data, since 1950, only 9% of the roughly 5.8 billion tons of plastic waste has been recycled. Experts estimate that there will be more plastic than fish by mass in the ocean by