Recycling Styrofoam to Activated Carbon Which is Used for Most Water Filters
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Science
From packing peanuts to disposable coffee cups, each year the US alone produces some two billion pounds of Styrofoam -- none of which can be recycled.
Frustrated by this waste of resources and landfill space, Ashton Cofer and his science fair teammates developed a heating treatment to break down used Styrofoam into something useful.
Check out their original design, which won both the FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award and the Scientific American Innovator Award from Google Science Fair.
Source: TED
Attached link
http://www.youtube.com/embed/HR9956gDpUYMedia
Taxonomy
- Contaminant Removal
- Contaminant Movement Mapping
- Polymers & Plastics
- plastic debris
- microplastics
- nanoplastics
- Plastic Ban
1 Comment
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I think we are all happy to see innovation happening to tackle the global plastic pollution issues. However I'm alarmed watching these young people unwittingly burn plastics over low heat in an uncontrolled environment and not be aware of the dangerous situation they are creating. I'm not a scientist, but even I know about the health risks of dioxins and chemical gases being released with home-made open air burning of plastics. Styrofoam-brand items and other foam plastics made from polystyrene polymers will release styrene gas and carcinogenic dioxins.