#plasticrecycling

121: Ocean Recovery Alliance – Environmental Engagement

We have this love-hate relationship with plastic. It is versatile, durable, light-weight and used in a multitude of applications. How do we recover and give this plastic a second life or third life?

Today we have with us Doug Woodring, Founder and Managing Director of the Ocean Recovery Alliance – Bringing Creative Surprise to Environmental Engagement. Ocean Recovery Alliance is focused on entrepreneuring programs to reduce plastic pollution, both on land and water, by creating strategic solutions for governments, industry and communities which lead to long-term, hands-on business practices that engage. They purposefully design programs to educate, build awareness and provide solutions which inspire positive societal change at the community, national and international levels. We learn more about their initiatives such as their global app that crowd sources and alerts authorities about trash on land along waterways. They have worked with cosmetic companies such as LUSH to help them look at their products and how they can reduce the plastic – for instance by eliminating glitter from all their products. Learn more of such efforts by the non-profit Ocean Recovery Project on this episode.

Mentions:

Ricron Panels

Lush Cosmetics
https://www.oceanrecov.org/
https://mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

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121: Ocean Recovery Alliance - Environmental Engagement
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95: Center for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics (CUWP) – Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics

We talk with Dr. George Huber, Richard Antoine Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin- Madison and the director of Center for Upcycling Waste Plastics (CUWP) about his research in recycling plastics. His technology offers a solution to filtrate the polymer from different plastics by applying solvents solvents. Though multi-layer plastics are more complicated his technology, solvent-targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP), is able to use thermodynamics and solvents to disintegrate them into their constituent resins. It’s a fascinating process – the key is to capture 99% of the polymer and make sure nothing is release into the atmosphere. With consumption of plastics showing no signs of abating, it is crucial to recycle efficiently to reduce the consumption of new plastics. CUWP consists of six universities, over ten industrial partners, one national laboratory, and one industry association. They also share with scientists, engineers, policy makers, business leaders, and the general public to help them make informed decisions about the costs and benefits of new technologies for plastic recycling. Learn all this and more from Dr. George Huber.

https://cuwp.org/
https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Art by Xin Zou, University of Wisconsin-Madison for Hochan Chang, Min Soo Kim, George W Huber, James A Dumesic, Design of closed-loop recycling production of a Diels Alder polymer from a biomass-derived difuran as a functional additive for polyurethanes, Green Chemistry (2021) 23, 9479-9488.

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95: Center for Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics (CUWP) - Chemical Upcycling of Waste Plastics
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