Day: August 29, 2011

Fact sheet for Australian Product Stewardship Act of 2011

Download the fact sheet.

The Product Stewardship Act 2011 will help reduce waste and prevent harmful materials from ending up in landfill by increasing recycling and the recovery of valuable materials from products.

All levels of government, industry and the community have a shared responsibility for the impacts of the products we manufacture, consume and dispose of in the course of going about our daily lives. Not only is there an ever‐increasing array of products for us to choose from, many of these also have a short product life, making them a significant and growing component of the waste stream.

Whether they contain substances that may be harmful to the environment, or valuable materials that can be reclaimed and re‐used, there is good reason to ensure that we handle these products in a safe and environmentally responsible way…

Product stewardship is a key commitment under the Australian Government’s long‐term National Waste Policy to avoid and reduce the amount of waste generated and increase the amount of resources recovered from end‐of‐life products.

More information on the Product Stewardship Act 2011 and the National Television and Computer Product Stewardship Scheme can be found on the department’s website at:
www.environment.gov.au/wastepolicy
www.environment.gov.au/ewaste.

 

 

Expert encourages firms to embrace producer responsibility

Read the full story in Plastics News.

Extended producer responsibility may be as many as five to 10 years from becoming a reality in the United States, if it even occurs by then.

But manufacturers, retailers and brand owners in the U.S. should look to embrace EPR now as it can benefit them with more recycled materials and a stronger sustainability footprint because it would improve the nation’s current ineffective recycling infrastructure, says Scott Cassel, executive director and founder of the Product Stewardship Institute Inc.

60-watt LED bulb to break $15 mark, Lighting Science says

Read the full post at CNET.

Lighting Science Group and Dixon Technologies India today touted an LED light bulb equivalent to a 60-watt incandescent that they say will hit store shelves with a price below $15.

The omnidirectional LED bulb, in the traditional A19 shape of household incandescent light bulbs, will become available in India by the end of the year and worldwide, including in the U.S., early in 2012, the companies said. It’s the first in an expected series of products, including streetlights and industrial fixtures, that Lighting Science and Dixon plan to jointly manufacture and distribute.

Biochar and Energy from Trees Research (BETR) Project

Download the project summary.

Much of the past and current wealth from regional Australia has been based on the removal of our original native vegetation and replacing it with crops and improved pastures. This has created great agricultural and pastoral industries, but also greatly altered our rural landscapes, contributing to erosion, salinity and loss of wildlife. We have spent a lot of time over the last two decades of Landcare fixing these symptoms of over-clearing, but there is still a long way to go. A major barrier to doing more is that restoring native vegetation is expensive and it reduces the potential to derive an income from the land involved.

What would happen if a diversity of native vegetation were to become a profit centre? That is exactly what this project is working on, new opportunities to tap into emerging markets based on the services provided by native vegetation – what we have called ’Bio-4’ – Biodiversity, Bioenergy, Biosequestration and Biochar.

Biochar reduces the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals

Jin Hee Park, Girish Kumar Choppala, Nanthi Sirangie Bolan, Jae Woo Chung and Thammared Chuasavathi (2011). “Biochar reduces the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals.” Plant and Soil, online before print. DOI: 10.1007/s11104-011-0948-y.

Abstract:

Background and aims  

Biochar has attracted research interest due to its ability to increase the soil carbon pool and improve crop productivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the metal immobilizing impact of chicken manure- and green waste-derived biochars, and their effectiveness in promoting plant growth.

Methods  

The immobilization and phytoavailability of Cd, Cu and Pb was examined using naturally contaminated shooting range and spiked soils. Biochar samples prepared from chicken manure and green waste were used as soil amendments.

Results  

Application of biochar significantly reduced NH4NO3 extractable Cd, Cu and Pb concentrations of soils, indicating the immobilization of these metals. Chicken manure-derived biochar increased plant dry biomass by 353 and 572% for shoot and root, respectively with 1% of biochar addition. This might be attributed to reduced toxicity of metals and increased availability of nutrients such as P and K. Both biochars significantly reduced Cd, Cu and Pb accumulation by Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), and the reduction increased with increasing amount of biochar application except Cu concentration. Metal sequential fractionation data indicated that biochar treatments substantially modified the partitioning of Cd, Cu and Pb from the easily exchangeable phase to less bioavailable organic bound fraction.

Conclusions  

The results clearly showed that biochar application was effective in metal immobilization, thereby reducing the bioavailability and phytotoxicity of heavy metals.

The Benefits of Biochar

Read the full story in Biorefining Magazine.

Logistics have proven to be a challenge for the biorefining industry. In many cases, bulky feedstocks can be difficult and prohibitively expensive to transport and store. One solution that’s been discussed for years is distributed collection and preprocessing locations modeled after the network of grain elevators that dot the landscape of rural America. Rather than storing grain, however, locations that serve as drop-off points for biomass feedstocks would feature pyrolysis systems to process those feedstocks into bio-oil that could more easily be transported to biorefineries for conversion into biobased fuels and chemicals. Biochar produced as a byproduct of the pyrolysis process could then be used to help rehabilitate degraded soils.

A research project as South Dakota State University is focused on determining the specific impact that various types of biochar can have on degraded soils. The project, which was recently awarded a five-year $1 million grant through the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, is being led by SDSU professor Tom Schumacher. Together with a team of colleagues, Schumacher will produce biochar and bio-oil via a microwave fast pyrolysis process. The resulting biochar will be introduced to degraded soils in the university greenhouse for evaluation. The team will test biochar resulting from three different feedstocks: corn stover, switchgrass and woody biomass.

Could we use sewage to power our cars?

Read the full post at SmartPlanet.

We’re pretty good about recycling our trash: our soda cans, paper, and plastic, can all be re-purposed and reused down the road. But what if we could make use of another kind of waste: our sewage?

A Southern California waste treatment plant is doing just that. The Department of Transportation recently commissioned the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen energy station, using biogas to produce electricity, heat, and hydrogen. It’s location? The Orange County Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment plant, in Fountain Valley, C.A.

University of Washington leads nation’s 118 greenest schools

Read the full post at SmartPlanet.

If your teenager is about to be a senior and has any sort of green sensibilities, you might want to direct him or her to the fifth annual “Coolest Schools” ranking of the nation’s greenest and most sustainable colleges and universities by the Sierra Club. But be prepared: he or she might have to head west or north to fulfill that aspect of their college wish-list criteria.

Marcellus Shale fail – estimates of natural gas reserves were inflated

Read the full post at SmartPlanet.

A new report by the United States Geological Survey has found that reserves of recoverable natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation fall dramatically short of previous estimates, raising questions about the energy industry’s influence over government.

The findings are likely to rebalance the equation on recoverable gas versus cost, the availability of water, and other environmental issues. The USGS estimates that there is 84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas available for extraction, conflicting sharply with the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) figure of 410 trillion cubic feet.

Electric vehicle powers house

Watch the video at Smart Planet.

Nissan Motor has developed a system that enables its Leaf to provide household electricity. The company says the product will help reduce demand on the power grid during peak periods and provide backup electricity in the event of a power outage. The same system can also charge the EV.

A smart, swapping site for kids clothes, toys, books

Watch the video at Smart Planet.

Say goodbye to thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets. Thred UP, a new online swapping platform, allows parents to swap kids clothing, toys, and books using the Internet and U.S. mail service. SmartPlanet talks to the company’s founder, James Reinhart, about the service and why he decided to create a business targeting the way kids items are bought and sold.

Los Angeles Times advertising supplement on sustainable packaging

The August 13th edition of the LA Times included an insert that focused on sustainable packaging. It includes interviews with William McDonough and Bob Lilienfeld (Use Less Stuff Report).