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.

The Problem with "Smart Textiles"

Although hybrid materials can be alluring to work with, they often come with sustainability challenges- namely problems with recyclability. This article, from the New York Times, details the problems with embeded electronics and also illustrates the disconnect between material innovation and end of life considerations... Wouldn't it be nice if the engineers inventing new materials also planned for their demise.

The growing practice of weaving electronics into the fiber of clothing could add to the already monumental challenge of e-waste disposal. Some fifty million tons of electronic waste already accumulate annually in “soaring mountains” of refuse, the United Nations says....“Smart” textiles have electronics in the very weave of their fabric, enabling clothing to respond in various ways to the environment and to function as electronic devices, like mobile phones or heart-rate monitors.

With their social and commercial promise, e-textiles, also known as smart textiles, are the focus of intense laboratory development and testing. Few laboratories, however, have designed prototypes with an eye toward safe disposal once the products have reached the end of their life cycle...A mass consumer market for e-textiles without an integrated understanding of safe disposal methods raises serious questions about the depletion of resources and effects on human human health, Mr. Köhler suggests...

Read more at the New York Times

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Learn more about e-waste