Could your dumpster moving equipment soon be pulling less plastic waste? With plastics rapidly accumulating, littering our green spaces and waterways, materials scientists and designers are looking to reinvent the plastics regime.
They’re striving to put an end to plastics problems such as unrecyclable products, confusing recycling symbols, and a lack of compatible recycling facilities worldwide. Their innovations, if adopted and integrated into the plastics industry, could put an end to the pileup.
What New Technologies Could Put an End to Plastic Waste?
1. New recyclable films
Plastic films, comprised of an assortment of polymers and used in paper and plastic packaging, make materials unrecyclable. Swapping these films for nature-inspired, nano-engineered recycled materials mimicking a few of nature’s molecular building blocks can provide a wider variety of new materials – those that are water-resistant, airtight, or printable.
2. Magnetic additives
Magnetic additives can improve the ability of plastics to block oxygen in sensitive products like coffee and medicines, while upholding their recyclability.
3. Wood ‘plastics’
The cellulose in renewable agricultural/forestry wood byproducts, formed into a compostable multilayered material, can be used for stand-up food pouches such as those used for dried cereal, nuts, and fruits.
4. Plastics from recycled food waste
Agricultural byproducts and food waste can be used to create compostable plastics for packaging in a broad range of products, from cereal bars to detergents.
5. Compostable coatings
Silicate and biopolymer compostable coatings could improve the performance of biodegradable packaging, which by itself cannot uphold the required minimum shelf-life of products.
Are your waste management practices falling behind the times? As the industry enters a a new era, ensure a safer, more efficient waste management system. Learn more about dumpster moving equipment from DJ Products today.