Sunglasses made from castor bean oil

There are many firsts in the word of sustainable consumer products. Zeal Optics claims to have the first product line of 100% non-petroleum based eyeware frames. Now Zeal has taken it one step further with their E-llume lenses which use plant based bonding agent.

Zeal says "with optimum clarity, this lens is a proof that environmental initiatives are not a deterrent to an incredible optical experience." Furthermore, Zeals says their caster oil based frame resin, which is produced in Switzerland, is the perfect material "because it is [made from] an efficient, fast growing perennial that is easy to grow, withstands drought, and thrives on marginal lands. [Their resin] doesn't compete with food crops and it also significantly reduces the amount of CO2 released during manufacturing."

Read more about Zeal sunglasses at Treehugger here and here.

See more sustainable sunglasses at Treehugger

Read more about Zeal's technology at their website

Read more about castor oil plastic at the Royal Society of Chemistry

Movement to classify certain plastics as hazardous waste

A group of scientists has proposed a way to eliminate the negative health impacts of plastic: classify it as a hazardous material.

The team, writing in the journal Nature , says the model is the reclassification of CFCs in 1980's.  CFCs had been widely used as refrigerants and was the cause of a growing hole in the ozone layer. The 1989 Montreal Protocol reclassified CFCs as hazardous, leading to their ultimate phase out and replacement with safer chemicals. The team is targeting the 4 most potentially toxic (and difficult to recycle) types of plastics

On the short list are: polyvinylchloride, or PVC, used in making plastic pipes; polystyrene, often known as Styrofoam and used in cups and clam-shell food containers; polyurethane, used in making furniture and car seats; and polycarbonate, a hard plastic used in making baby bottles, electronics and appliances.

Once that is done, the authors say, governments might look at other types of plastic that are not made of particularly hazardous materials, but act like sponges absorbing toxic pollutants once unleashed in the oceans.

Read more in the LA Times

Download the original study at Nature 

Method Uses Ocean Plastic for Structural Packaging

Method has produced the first structural packaging made from plastic salvaged from ocean debris. The dish and hand soap bottle, which is a limited edition for Whole Foods, is intended to demonstrate that using recycled plastic is "the most viable solution to our plastic pollution problem".  The plastic was collected by from the beaches of Hawaii and recycled into high quality plastic similar to HDPE. The grey color is the recycled plastic's natural state.

Method partnered with Envision Plastics to develop a new recycling process to make the bottles. The process allows rigid, opaque plastics recovered from the ocean to be cleaned, blended and then remanufactured into high-quality recycled plastic of the same quality as virgin high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic

Read more at Sustainable Brands

Learn more about Envision Plastics

Read more about the problems of ocean pollution at Method

What's in my Product: Recycled Plastic

So what really goes into the products we are designing and manufacturing? Today's edition of what's in my product looks at recyled plastic. Here is a great video of the transformation from soda bottle to polyester fabric. Hat tip to hipstomp and Core77.com

For more info check out our friends at Core77.

Recycled Plastics Supply Chain Contaminated by E-waste, Study Says

E-waste is severly affecting the overseas supply chain. This recent study of Indian recycled plastics details some of the toxins that are getting into the recycled plastics market from recycled consumer electronics.

...Toxics Link in collaboration with Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and Swiss Plastics Association is releasing an extensive study on plastic recycling across the city to measure one such widely used toxic chemical, brominated flame retardant (BFR) especially present in electronic products.

18 (41%) samples out of 44 samples collected from the recycling and moulding units were found positive for BFR and heavy metals like lead and cadmium. The observed concentration of BFR varied from 18.9ppm to 126.3ppm. Field study and lab research suggest that there is dispersion and dilution of these additives during recycling process.

BFRs in consumer products pose serious exposure risk particularly at the time of disposal. Although most plastics today, are recyclable, the recycled products become more hazardous than the virgin products. The study reveals that cross contamination by BFRs move into the environment and recycled products through recycling operations. Recycled plastic pellets used to manufacture new products contain these BFRs. There is a huge market for the products made of the recycled pellets that are used by low cost manufacturers...

Read more of the study at Toxics Link

Read a sumary in The Asian Age

Learn more about the problems of e-waste issues and global policy-making at the Basel Action Network