1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,040 Okay, Chelsea, for a Fringy Mini this week, 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,900 I generally have news that I say has to be conveyed to people, 3 00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:08,120 not that it's bad news. 4 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:10,120 This one I think I can actually say 5 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:12,280 is somewhat good news, in fact. 6 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,600 Well, wow, that's incredible. 7 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:15,880 Yeah. 8 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,360 And I only had to put a little qualifier of somewhat. 9 00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:24,020 I feel like we're actually using this source a lot these days. 10 00:00:24,020 --> 00:00:25,400 It's fizz.org. 11 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,940 This article was posted on October 22nd, 2023. 12 00:00:28,940 --> 00:00:31,640 So very new from recording date. 13 00:00:31,640 --> 00:00:35,200 And the article is by Paul Boisvert. 14 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:36,400 And it is called, 15 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,560 Scientists Close the Cycle on Recycling Mixed Plastics. 16 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:43,400 Okay, that sounds promising. 17 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:46,800 I feel like you're just setting me up to be disappointed. 18 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:48,000 I don't know. 19 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,000 It's gonna have a twist at the end. 20 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:52,560 That's gonna be like, and the earth is ending. 21 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,000 Yes, tomorrow, in fact. 22 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,840 And this was published yesterday. 23 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,280 No, little of the mixed consumer plastics thrown away 24 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,280 or placed in recycle bins actually end up being recycled. 25 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,120 We do know that from our previous recycling episode. 26 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:08,680 If you haven't heard it, there's a recycling episode. 27 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:10,880 I think it's called recycling topic ideas 28 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:11,720 or something like that. 29 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:12,960 And you have just listened to all episodes 30 00:01:12,960 --> 00:01:14,240 if you can't find it. 31 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:16,840 Nearly 90% is buried in landfills 32 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:18,680 or incinerated at commercial facilities 33 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:21,200 that generate greenhouse gases and airborne toxins. 34 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,360 Neither outcome is ideal for the environment. 35 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,600 Why are more mixed plastics recycled? 36 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:27,080 It's usually easier and less expensive 37 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:28,440 to make new plastic products 38 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,480 than reclaimed, sort, and recycle used ones. 39 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:33,860 Conventional recycling of mixed plastics 40 00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:36,480 has previously meant manually or mechanically 41 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:37,600 separating the plastics 42 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:39,560 according to their constituent polymers. 43 00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:41,440 Addressing the issue, scientists at the Department 44 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:44,080 of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory 45 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,600 use carefully planned chemical design, 46 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,800 neutron scattering, and high performance computing 47 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,500 to help develop a new catalytic recycling process. 48 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:54,800 The catalyst selectively and sequentially 49 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:56,520 deconstructs multiple polymers 50 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,320 and mixed plastics into pristine monomers, molecules, 51 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,800 that react with other monomer molecules to form a polymer. 52 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,800 A process offers a promising strategy 53 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:07,840 for combating global plastic waste, 54 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:10,300 such as bottles, packaging, foam, and carpets. 55 00:02:10,300 --> 00:02:13,520 The research analysis published in Materials Horizons 56 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,680 compared using the new multi-purpose catalyst 57 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,040 to using individual catalysts for each type of plastic. 58 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,720 The new catalyst would generate up to 95% fewer greenhouse 59 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:25,960 gases required up to 94% less input energy 60 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,360 and results in up to 96% reduction 61 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:30,120 in fossil fuel consumption. 62 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,800 Quote, our approach involves a tailored synthetic 63 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,800 organo-catalyst, a compound comprised 64 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:37,200 of small organic molecules 65 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:40,360 that facilitates organic chemical transformations. 66 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:42,880 The organo-catalyst can convert batches 67 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,380 of mixed plastic waste into valuable monomers 68 00:02:45,380 --> 00:02:48,140 for reuse in producing commercial-grade plastics 69 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:49,840 and other valuable materials. 70 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,120 This exceptionally efficient chemical process 71 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,160 can help us close the loop for recycling mixed plastics 72 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,720 by replacing first use monomers with recycled monomers, 73 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,960 said Tom Inori Saito, an ORNL synthetic polymer chemist 74 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:04,600 and corresponding author. 75 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:05,760 The quote does continue on, 76 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:08,280 today nearly all plastics are made from fossil fuels 77 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:12,280 using first use monomer made by energy-intensive processes. 78 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,760 Establishing this kind of closed loop recycling, 79 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:17,940 if used globally, could reduce annual energy consumption 80 00:03:17,940 --> 00:03:21,200 by up to 3.5 billion barrels of oil. 81 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:22,480 End quote. 82 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:25,640 The new organo-catalyst has proven to efficiently 83 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:27,400 and quickly deconstruct multiple polymers 84 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:28,520 in around two hours. 85 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:31,160 Such polymers include those used in materials 86 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,000 such as safety goggles, foams, water bottles, 87 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,200 and ropes or fishing nets, 88 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,320 which together comprise about 30% 89 00:03:38,320 --> 00:03:40,000 of global plastic production. 90 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,960 Until now, no single catalyst has been shown 91 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:46,000 to be effective on all four of these polymers. 92 00:03:46,000 --> 00:03:48,560 The process provides many environmental advantages 93 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,560 by replacing harsh chemicals for deconstructing polymers 94 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:53,960 as well as offering good selectivity, 95 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:57,480 thermal stability, non-volatility, and low flammability. 96 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,600 Its effectiveness against multiple polymers 97 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:01,880 also makes it useful to be for deconstructing 98 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:04,440 the increasing amounts of multi-component plastics, 99 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:07,240 such as composites and multi-layer packaging. 100 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,480 Small angle neutron scattering at ORNLs, 101 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:12,160 sphalation neutron source, 102 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:14,840 was used to help confirm the formation 103 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:17,520 of deconstructed monomers from the waste plastics. 104 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:19,960 And the method scatters neutrons at small angles 105 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,720 to categorize the structure at different levels of detail 106 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,240 from nanometers to fractions of a micrometer. 107 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:26,800 There is more to it than this, 108 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:28,840 but I suggest you go read the rest of the article. 109 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:31,600 I thought it was super uplifting in ways. 110 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:35,360 And that's not usually my MO on these things. 111 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,560 I know sometimes I go to the recycling bin 112 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,680 and I pull out things that don't fit. 113 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,560 Just put them to the side so that it's not all garbage, 114 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:44,200 but that's promising. 115 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,160 I wonder how it would be implemented 116 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:49,560 and if it would be everywhere 117 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:51,960 or if they say it was too expensive. 118 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,000 Well, it says it's going to be cheaper long term, 119 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:57,240 but of course we will have to wait and see. 120 00:04:57,240 --> 00:04:59,480 Like I've said, when you hear stories about, 121 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,120 oh, like that cured cancer and then nothing comes of it. 122 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:03,880 It generally ends up that the studies 123 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,600 either didn't go the way they wanted to, 124 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,640 or it ends up being too not cost effective to go about it. 125 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:12,640 So I guess cost effective shouldn't be a thing 126 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:14,840 in the face of like global warming 127 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:16,560 because we're destroying the planet. 128 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:17,880 Overall, it just- 129 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:19,720 Money won't exist afterwards. 130 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:22,840 Let's us have our planet for a little bit longer. 131 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:23,680 Yeah. 132 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:25,960 Okay, well, that's good. 133 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:27,680 Yeah, at least there is potential 134 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:29,280 for good news down the road. 135 00:05:29,280 --> 00:05:32,080 This is good news now, but potential good news. 136 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:33,880 So let's raise spirits. 137 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,360 Raise spirits, sink ships or something like that. 138 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,200 I can't remember how the sayings go. 139 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,040 Yeah, let's sink ships. 140 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:41,520 Yeah, let's sink ships. 141 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:44,120 And then we'll raise them on Friday. 142 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,200 48 hours underwater is what you guys get. 143 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:48,760 That's how tight you are at the end of the day. 144 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:50,520 And global warming. 145 00:05:50,520 --> 00:06:12,520 Yes, anyhow, bye.