United Nation University: Turning plastic containers, bottle caps, bags, all plastic waste BACK into useable oil (where it came from originally), back into gasoline, kerosene, etc.

Plastic to oil: Fantastic!

by Carol Smith (United Nation University)

Due to exceptional circumstances, we are republishing the present story about an exceptional innovation. Over a year after it was originally published, this video brief about the invention of a plastic-to-oil converting machine recently got a viral boost and exceeded 115,000 views on YouTube.

This is evidence that concern over “the plastic problem” is certainly not going away, despite encouraging bans on and decreases in the use of plastic shopping bags.

Here on Our World 2.0, on the video’s YouTube page and those of re-posters too, as well as on the hot Reddit Science link, the topic has generated much interest and debate amongst commenters.

Many think that this type of recycling is not a solution, but that instead the world should be seriously focused on the first “R” — which is reduce. We should shun single-use plastic (such as your average PET bottle or disposable container) altogether, they argue. The world’s oil resources are diminishing; does technology like this enable our denial of that fact, or is it a hopeful and constructive step in the right direction?

Others have concerns about pollution or toxic residue from the conversion process. Blest tells us that, if the proper materials are fed into the machine (i.e., polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene — PP, PE,  PS plastics), there is no toxic substance produced and any residue can be disposed of with regular burnable garbage. They also explain that while methane, ethane, propane and butane gasses are released in the process, the machine is equipped with an off-gas filter that disintegrates these gases into water and carbon.
Lastly, commentators from around the world are anxious to know if and where they can purchase a machine. Though the company still mainly produces larger, industrial-use machines, Blest Co. will be more than happy to hear from you. Please contact them directly at info@blest.co.jp.
Watch the video below:



Go here for more details: http://ourworld.unu.edu/en/plastic-to%20-oil-fantastic/

Early "Latex" Gloves

Art Director: I'm working on a small film set in the late 1920's, and we have a medical scene.  It seems that latex gloves did exist at that time, can you tell me please what colour would they be?  Are they loose or tight-fitting?  How thick is the latex?  An image I have seems to show a loose fitting clear glove, almost like today's vinyl gloves - but it's hard to tell from the black and white photo.
I appreciate your input in helping us to be as historically accurate as possible.

Thank you for your time!

John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant): Many thanks for the very interesting question.

Before I begin, I'd like to correct the erroneous use of the term "latex" which has been bugging me for years. Scientifically speaking, "latex" is defined as a dispersion of rubber or polymer particles in an aqueous medium.

Therefore, a "latex glove" should mean a glove that is made from either natural rubber latex (e.g. Hevea Brasiliensis or Guayule) or synthetic rubber latex (e.g. Nitrile or Polychloroprene)

It is equally wrong to state in a label that a certain product like glove "contains or does not contain latex" which is practically impossible since latex is a liquid. By the same argument, it is also wrong to state "latex free".

Although the market knows that a "latex glove" means glove made from natural rubber latex in the glove industry, one wonders why and how the experts and scientists from FDA and ASTM in the US could have allowed this error to be so widely spread for so long across the globe.

With that said, let's now talk about your question. The advent of the latex technology which allowed the manufacturing of gloves by dipping a former (i.e. mold) into the latex came only in 1930s'

Long before this period, medical gloves were made by dipping the former into rubber solution (i.e. rubber dissolved in solvent) and the gloves tended to appear slightly brownish and translucent although they could have made it whiter by adding a white pigment (e.g. Titanium dioxide).

It might interest you to know that the first pair of such gloves was made by a doctor in Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1890.

Medical gloves could be either "surgical" or "examination". As recent as 1970s and 1980s, most surgical gloves appeared brownish and clear while examination gloves were (and still are) whiter and more opaque.

Some manufacturers today deliberately make their surgical gloves brown in order to indicate that they are for surgical purpose while others make them brown to reduce eye strain in the O.R. and E.R. by providing good contrast to light-colored organs.

I'd therefore expect the surgical gloves used in 1920s to be brownish and translucent (i.e. clear), somewhat loose fitting and of thickness of around 0.15 to 0.2 mm.

Hope this helps.     

Seminar - Natural Rubber Market

Emerging Trends in Global Rubber Industry

with focus on Natural Rubber Prices

30 November 2010, Swissotel LeConcorde Hotel, Bangkok

 

Dear All,

 

Greetings from Rubber Industry Academy @ TechnoBiz, Bangkok !!

 

Pleasure to inform you that Rubber Industry Academy, a division at TechnoBiz Communications Co., Ltd. is organizing 1-day seminar on Natural Rubber Market on 30 November 2010 at Swissotel LeConcorde Hotel, Bangok. This seminar focuses on "Emerging Trends in Global Rubber Industry with focus on Natural Rubber Prices". This seminars covers 1. Size and Structure of the World Rubber Industry; 2. Factors Determining NR Prices;  and 3. Outlook for NR Demand & Supply. This seminar will be conducted by Mr. Jom Jacob, Senior Economist at ANRPC (Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries), who has vast experience and knowledge on natural rubber markets. Please download the program brochure at our website www.rubberindustry-academy.com or clik HERE to download the brochure. The early bird deadline is 31 October 2010. If you are interested to join this seminar, kindly send us registration form before 31 October 2010.

 

If you need further information, please don't hesitate to contact us.

 

Best regards

 

Sirinthip, Program Coordinator

Rubber Industry Academy
TechnoBiz Communications Co., Ltd.
2521/27, Lardprao Road, Khlongchaokhunsingha
Wangthonglang, Bangkok 10310 Thailand
Tel: 662-938 2315 Fax: 662-513 1301
Email: training@rubberindustry-academy.com
Web: www.rubberindustry-academy.com

 

Message From Plastics News

	Looking to crack the medical market? We can help...
	The recession-resistant medical products sector is appealing to plastics companies. It is growing, offers steady customers and good profit margins. But it also can be challenging, with steep barriers to entry that include rigorous validation, quality and processing requirements. If you're looking to make the leap into medical, Plastics News has some resources that can provide a jump start. We captured two full days of sessions at our Plastics in Medical Devices 2010 conference in Cleveland last April and are now offering a 4-DVD set of professionally edited videos that includes 22 full speaker presentations/panels integrated with their PowerPoint slides. Additionally, we've packaged some of the best of our medical market news coverage into a 26-page PDF white paper. Both are available - along with additional valuable content - in our new PN Store. http://www.plasticsnews.com for more information.

The Inaugural USA Science & Engineering Festival

Mark your calendar and plan to be a part of the largest celebration of science in the US: The first USA Science & Engineering Festival will be held on and around the National Mall, in Washington, DC, on October 23–24, 2010, from 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

This free event for curious people of all ages will include more than 1,500 fun, hands-on activities and 50 stage shows featuring science celebrities, magicians, and bands. ACS (American Chemical Society) will be right at the center of the action (Booths 518, 520, 522), along with the triumphant return of the ACS Mole Mascot!

For more information on this inaugural science celebration, visit the festival website. Give us your comment after your visit.

Chemical Resistance Of Polychloroprene Rubber

Manufacturer: One of our customers has insisted that we use Polychloroprene (e.g.Neoprene) for the product we make for them because they said the polymer "has good chemical resistance". Can you please tell us more about this so-called "chemical resistance"?

John Woon (Senior Latex and Rubber Consultant):  Your customer is partly right. Polychloroprene is generally resistant to most inorganic chemicals  but not the highly oxidizing agents such as concentrated sulphuric, chromic and nitric acids. Bases and salts usually have little effect up to about 65°C. Aromatic organic hydrocarbon sometimes swell and soften Polychloroprene products. However, it has good resistance to many aliphatic hydrocarbons, organic acids, petroleum products, alcohols, glycerine, glycols, vegetable and animal fats and oils.

It might interest you to know that Polychloroprene has excellent resistance to ozone attack compared to most other rubbers.


Click Here  For Chemical Resistance Chart of Neoprene

Note: Please use this only as a guide. You should test your products to simulate actual service condition with each chemical because the degree of chemical resistance also depends on your compound formulation.


 

You are at the site for answers and solutions to all your problems in natural rubber latex processing and manufacturing of industrial, household and medical gloves, condoms, catheters, baby teats and baby pacifiers, toy balloons, latex foam products, latex threads etc.

Geckos Inspire New Method to Print Electronics on Complex Surfaces

Geckos are masters at sticking to surfaces of all kinds and easily unsticking themselves, too. Inspired by these lizards, a team of engineers has developed a reversible adhesion method for printing electronics on a variety of tricky surfaces such as clothes, plastic and leather.

Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign designed a clever square polymer stamp that allows them to vary its adhesion strength. The stamp can easily pick up an array of electronic devices from a silicon surface and move and print them on a curved surface.

"Our work proposes a very robust method to transfer and print electronics on complex surfaces," said Yonggang Huang, Joseph Cummings Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Huang, co-corresponding author of the PNAS paper, led the theory and design work at Northwestern. His colleague John Rogers, the Flory-Founder Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois, led the experimental and fabrication work. Rogers is a co-corresponding author of the paper.

Key to the square and squeezable polymer stamp are four pyramid-shaped tips on the stamp's bottom, one in each corner. They mimic, in a way, the micro- and nano-filaments on the gecko's foot, which the animal uses to control adhesion by increasing or decreasing contact area with a surface.