A mixed bag
The Bangladesh government sends thin plastic bags packing, but has Dhaka seen the last of them? <font class='UCASE'>Pinaki Roy</font> on the ban s efficacy
The Bangladesh government sends thin plastic bags packing, but has Dhaka seen the last of them? <font class='UCASE'>Pinaki Roy</font> on the ban s efficacy
The convoluted laws of the country fail to tackle the menace caused by the exponentially growing and powerful plastic industry in India
Spoilt milk Nestle Lanka, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of a multinational food firm, has had to send back a consignment of radioactive milk powder imported from Poland. In November 1993, Sri Lankan
Industrialisation has brought prosperity. And increasing amount of wastes, especially plastics. The answer: burn it. But there is a problem: dioxin, one of the most carcinogenic chemicals known to humankind. Japan reels under it
SORTING out similar types of plastics from waste may now be possible through a system based on the different ways various plastics reflect a near-infrared light (Environmental Science and Technology,
British scientists at the Zeneca a multinational seed company, claim that they are on the verge of developing a "natural biodegradable plastic" from rapeseed (canola) oil. Tony Fentem, the project
Of your waste, the government needs to tell the plastic industry. Other countries have done so. At times, to developing nations detriment. India needs to learn and adapt
A Cambodian court convicted two Taiwan men in absentia over the dumping of about 3,000 tonnes of mercury-tainted waste last year. The court in the southern port city of Sihanoukville sentenced
An immolation bid by a Bhopal resident leads to closure of polluting factories
Plastics are a major environmental problem because they are not biodegradable. One exception is polyhydroxybutyrate-hydroxyvalerate (PHB-V), but manufacturing it is expensive and its use is
ADDING the genes of broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower to those of rapeseed could yield an oil that can be used to make superstrong plastics. Presently, rape-seed oil yields only 66 per cent erucic
The mounting problem of non-biodegradable plastic waste seems to have caught the Sri Lankan government's attention. The country's cabinet has given its nod to a series of proposals put forward by the
Waste can fuel savings in cement plants
A FORMER British hairdresser, Maurice Ward, who traded his shears in the early 1970s for an executive desk at a plastic-recycling firm that he set up, says he has invented a fireproof plastic
IN THE near future, plastic won't be an environmental pejorative. The Japan Corn Starch Co Ltd, in collaboration with US business firm Grand River Technologies of Michigan, will produce a fully
Incinerating unrecyclable waste plastic is environmentally the most benign way of disposing of it, new experiments show (New Scientist, Vol 143, No 1932). Europe's Association of Plastic
For those concerned about the plastic age in which we live, this eco assessment study is a must read. But do not go by the report s name, for its purpose seems to be to give a befitting reply to all campaigners who keep crying that plastics are bad
A waste recycling plant in Bottrop, Germany, has developed a technology to convert assorted plastic wastes into oil. The synthetic waste -- plastic bags, yoghurt cartons and computer casings -- is
Biodegradable plastic car parts can be made from miscanthus grass
One of the main causes of pollution in South Africa is plastic packaging, says a recent study. The Water Research Commission and the Cape Metropolitan Council conducted a four-year study into the