Canadian company JBI is setting the recycling industry on fire with its new Plastic2Oil plants that promise to convert non-recyclable plastics into fuel. More »
I throw out more expired food than I like to admit, but half the time, it’s because I can’t remember when I bought it and can’t tell if it’s spoiled or not. This new, “intelligent” plastic could fix that. More »
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There’s one kinda big problem with SunChips’ new 100 per cent compostable bag: It’s noisy as hell. An Air Force pilot says it’s louder than the cockpit of his jet, and this video test pegs it at a potentially damaging 95 decibels. More »
Earlier this week, IBM researchers announced a discovery that could lead to plastics made from plants instead of petroleum. The new plastics will be more energy efficient, more versatile, and infinitely recyclable (until we move to our space colony). More »
This nature photography by Chris Jordan isn’t for the faint of heart. The series of decomposing bird carcasses faithfully documents the impact of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch on albatross chicks in the Midway Atoll. More »
Curious as to how all those plastic cups, trash cans and containers you get at Ikea are made? Random Good Stuff takes a tour of the Koziol plastics factory in Germany, where many of those household items are designed. More »
I’m 100% certain I’m not alone when I say I hate gadget packaging—specifically the armoured transparent stuff that they clamshell-wrap electronic gizmos in nowadays. But an unexpected guardian angel has arrived to ease our packing woes: Amazon has just launched its “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative. I think they should call it the “don’t rip out your teeth/stab your fingers with scissors as you struggle with plastic” initiative, but I get the point.
It may look all innocent, but this little logic circuit is made from organic molecules that lined themselves up to form 300 transistors, without the need for machine production. This kind of chip-in-a-test-tube approach to creating semiconductors, demonstrated as effective for the first time by Philips Research, could cause a big leap towards cheaper, more flexible electronics—in a word, to quote The Graduate, “plastics.”
