The Truth About Biodegradable Plastics
Plastic has become an important aspect in our lives, can you imagine what kind of care you would get in a hospital if we didn’t have plastic? Some historians are saying that this age will be known as the plastic age. The next time you go to the store take a look around and see if you can find products that don’t have plastic. As important as plastic is to our lives it has also demonstrated some negative side effects and there isn’t any one perfect answer for solving plastic pollution.
JUNK SCIENCE: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us
The book titled JUNK SCIENCE: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us by Dr. Dan Agin was very interesting book. Dr. Agin has a Ph.D. in biological psychology and thirty years of laboratory-research experience in neurobiology and is an associate professor emeritus of molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.
MICROBES: An Invisible Universe
The book titled MICROBES An Invisible Universe by Howard Gest was one of the most informative and interesting books I have read on the world of microbes. This book is 200 pages crammed full of detailed information about the history and the function of microorganisms, also known as microbes. The author, Dr. Howard Gest is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Microbiology and Adjunct Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Gest is widely recognized for his research on microbial physiology and metabolism.
The Ecology of microbes to one another and their surroundings is extraordinary with respect to the diversity of chemical and physical conditions that can be tolerated. Microbes thrive in extreme environments with regards to temperatures, high concentrations of salts and sugars, relative acidity, and with or without the presence of oxygen.
Sorting out Biodegradable Plastics
There are three main categories of degradable plastics: biodegradable plastics, compostable plastics and degradable plastics. One of the biggest contributions to the confusion surrounding the subject of degradable plastics is a combination of the lack of common definitions and the loose usage of these definitions.
The ASTM International, originally known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization, host to committee D20.96 on Environmentally Degradable Plastics and Biobased Products. The ASTM maintains a Standard Terminology Relating to Plastics under their designation: D 883 – 08. The following are the ASTM definitions for degradable plastics:
biodegradable plastics—a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae.
compostable plastic—a plastic that undergoes biological degradation during composting to yield carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials and leaves no visually distinguishable or toxic residues.
degradable plastic—a plastic designed to undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties that may vary as measured by standard test methods appropriate to the plastic and the application in a period of time that determines its classification.
The waste stream
I’m reading an interesting book and you might want to take a look. Its “Garbage Land,” by Elizabeth Royte.
It’s an excellent point of view on what happens to our waste and the consequenses.
Max
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