Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was used to develop a non-destructive and rapid qualitative method for the analysis of plastic films used by the pharmaceutical industry for blistering. Three types of films were investigated: 250 microm PVC [poly(vinyl chloride)] films, 250 microm PVC films coated with 40 g m(-2) of PVDC [poly(vinylidene dichloride)] and 250 microm PVC films coated ...

The efficient large-scale recycling of plastic waste is of increasing interest from an ecological and economic point of view but it represents a goal that has yet to be achieved by the recycling industry. The W2Plastics project aims at a fundamental change of the present status of plastics recycling by creating a breakthrough technology for the recycling of polyolefin’s from complex wastes, i.e...

The potential of bio based plastics for replacement of petrochemical plastics is 90%, corresponding to 240 million tons per year.1 Bio-based materials such as polynucleotides, polyamides, polysaccharides, polyoxoesters, polythioesters, polyanhydrides, polyisoprenoids and polyphenols are potential candidates for substitution of synthetic plastics.2 Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), belonging the gro...

The possibility that workers could be adversely affected by environmental policies imposed on heavily regulated industries has led to claims of a “jobs versus the environment” trade-off by both business and labor leaders. The present research examines this claim at the industry level for four heavily polluting industries: pulp and paper mills, plastic manufacturers, petroleum refiners, and iron...

conclusions the results suggest that b. coagulans is a good candidate for the fermentative production of phb. background biodegradable polyesters are candidates for the development of environmental friendly plastics. poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (phb) is a type of polyester from the hydroxyalkanoates family, synthesized by bacteria as an intracellular material and accumulated as granules in the cytop...