SIECT

Staten Island Environmental Communicators Team

[materialsscienceandengineering]

This breakthrough turns old tech into pure gold — No mercury, no cyanide, just light and salt

An interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has developed a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. Explained in the leading journal Nature Sustainability, the gold-extraction technique promises to reduce levels of toxic waste from mining and shows that high purity gold can be recovered from recycling valuable components in printed circuit boards in discarded computers. The project team, led by Matthew Flinders Professor Justin Chalker, applied this integrated method for high-yield gold extraction from many sources - even recovering trace gold found in scientific waste streams.

Read more.

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Where Does NYC’s Recycling Go and How Much Really Gets Reused, Anyway?

Sorting out answers at Staten Island’s giant paper pulp vat and the massive sifter in Brooklyn — including why seeing metal thrown in the tr

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Some creatures eat and transform microplastics into a much bigger threat

The research highlights how filter feeders alter the behavior and composition of microplastics, creating unforeseen risks.

https://search.app/cVgaUT36kHR53wQ5A

#microplastics #nanoplastics

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How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences – podcast https://www.yahoo.com/news/world-fell-love-plastic-without-105123337.html

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Plastic giants face lawsuit for misleading recycling claims

Four consumers allege that Exxon, Chevron and other corporations deceived the public about plastic recycling, inflating prices and worsening

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Scientists know our bodies are full of microplastics. What are they doing to us?

Plastic particles are found in our organs, blood and even semen. But do they stay in us forever? What damage are they doing? Here are six qu

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There's a Surprisingly Easy Way to Remove Microplastics From Drinking Water

You may already be doing it.

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How cork — the same material used to seal wine bottles — could save the planet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OenY-Pgp5M

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When science showed in the 1970s that gas stoves produced harmful indoor air pollution, the industry reached for tobacco’s PR playbook

The natural gas industry has spent years trying to undermine scientific findings about gas stoves and health. If this sounds familiar, that’

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Scientists make alarming new discovery about the behavior of microplastics: 'Even the smallest plastic fragments ...'

"It's like needing the right-sized ticket to board a train."

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It’s time to hold corporations accountable for the plastics crisis—and the bill could exceed $20 billion in the U.S. alone

A weakened treaty that prioritizes recycling and non-binding targets risks failing to address the astounding cost to human health.

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An Expert Explains The Real Dangers of Microplastics to Human Health

It's no secret: when we savour a delicious piece of fish or a platter of seafood, we're not just consuming valuable omega-3s and vitamin D.

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There's a Surprisingly Easy Way to Remove Microplastics From Drinking Water

Tiny fragments of microplastics are making their way deep inside our bodies in concerning quantities, significantly through our food and dri

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Visit a forest and look at the beautiful autumn leaves (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) or the beautiful spring buds and flowers (if you’re in the southern hemisphere)

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There's nothing like a forest bath!

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Better read this...

Scientists tested 3 popular bottled water brands for nanoplastics using new tech, and yikes

​The results were alarming—an average of 240,000 nanoplastics per 1 liter bottle—but what does it mean for our health?

[justalittlesolarpunk]

Solarpunk Sunday Suggestion

Visit a forest and look at the beautiful autumn leaves (if you’re in the northern hemisphere) or the beautiful spring buds and flowers (if you’re in the southern hemisphere)

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So it seems chemical ♻️ recycling of plastic isn't meeting capacity and has a huge energy cost. The plastics industry says this technology could help banish pollution. It’s ‘an illusion,’ critics say https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/30/climate/chemical-recycling-plastic-pollution-climate/index.html