In the article “Duo Plastic Waste Into A Concrete Idea” written by (Priscilla Goy, 11 July 2016) Scientists discovered a sustainable solution to transform tiny cylinder of carbon atoms from plastic waste to carbon nanotubes. Company BLUEREN made a revolutionary invention for plastic waste to be recycled, by transforming plastic waste to carbon material for concrete and replaced use of cement. In 2001 plastic recycling was not practiced. From 2014, 9 per cent out of 869 kilo tonnes of plastic waste were recycled, the remaining 91 per cent were not. Co-founder Wong Chui Ling said that there have been studies on converting plastic waste into carbon nanotubes but they are not feasible. Their aim is to commercialise the technology that has been available. BlueRen’s method gives a 10 per cent yield conversion and if used in concrete, cement use could cut by 30 per cent.
The plastic waste that are recycled into CNT has perform an important role in Singapore by tackling the solution regarding to the amount of plastic waste generated. In addition, it helps Singapore’s buildings to be sustainable.
Mentioned in the article by (Priscilla Goy,2016), in year 2001 to 2014, only small percent of the 890,000 tonnes of waste are recycled. This means the 91% are either disposed in the landfill, incinerated, or disposed unnecessarily. Plastics are known to be biodegradable. From the research article “Carbon Neutral Earth”, (September 27,2017) mentioned for a plastic bottle to biodegrade its approximately 400 years. Considering the amount of time, our landfill will soon be out of space and government will have to reclaim lands to solve the solution. When plastics are left on a landfill a long period of time, methane gas and carbon dioxide will be produce and this contribute negative impact to our environment. Or if plastics are disposed in the wrong method on land or in the ocean, it will cause choking to our drainage systems which creates flooding and soil erosion or even death of marine animals such as tangling. Therefore, it is a must to practice recycle and reuse to avoid addition cost of production or increasing the quantities of plastic waste in Singapore.
In the view of Singapore, in the article” Bigger Rubbish Dump Grows Bigger” (ST, July 12) gives a rough estimation of about 200,000 of waste being disposed in Pulau Semakau every year. With the continuous rate of waste dumped, the island soon will be out of space by 2035. Minister Balakrishnan strongly urge Singaporeans to practice recycling. Although government has plans of further reclaim lands for landfilling but these are just temporary solutions and the money can be invests for better use. Thanks to BlueRen, it becomes an opportunity to recycle more plastic waste from their technology to tackle mass amount of unrecycled plastics.
Co founder, Wong mentioned there are many methods in converting plastic waste to CNT, but as compared to BlueRen’s technology, they are not feasible.
According to research article on” The Disadvantage Of Recycling Plastic” (Dennis Hartman, 2017) states that plastic recycling can cause negative impacts on environment such that during heat reactions to melt plastics will produce carbon emissions that contributes to global warming. In addition, considering the cost of converting plastic wastes to CNT with tradition method, they are costly and creates carbon footprint to environment.
Referring to the article by “This Grey Powder Was A Plastic, Now A Valuable Material” by (Sabina-Leah Fernandez), she states that BlueRen currently achieved a viable solution to recycling of plastic waste issue. The procedures are simpler yet effective. During its process, there are minimal to zero carbon foot print or other form of toxic pollutants released as compare against the tradition method. On the other hand, the mixed cements of CNT used for making concrete has decrease by a percentage of 30. Which means cements for constructing of buildings or other infrastructures will achieved an effective cost savings for building materials. Besides the mentioned benefit, life span of concrete with the CNT cements are able to lengthen lifespans' of buildings. This shows that the buildings' structures will able to maintain good conditions, properly sustained and eventually reduces extra time and cost incurred for maintenance by building owners.
Another benefit to be address is the integrating of CNT as additives into the cements. The cements then received enhancement, fully compounded with compressive and high tensile strength and increased of ductility. These cements will be ideally effective to make concretes for constructions purposes. In the sum of all the benefits mentioned above, building owners who are going through the BCA Green mark assessments are able to score points under the sustainable construction requirements whereby owners have met the standard in fitting to the criteria of using recycled materials and adopting into the buildings. Singapore construction companies are also able to reduce the needs to import cements from our neighbouring countries where they can directly make purchase of CNT cements in Singapore or BlueRen are able to sell its product overseas to increase its sales and revenues for the company.
In conclusion, the advantages and benefits from BlueRen technology has shown more positive impacts than negatives. These positive impacts show several benefits from sustaining buildings in Singapore to construction companies and sales/profits. With future research and commitment of BlueRen, I foresee optimistic outcomes to solve current and future problems to plastic waste issue in Singapore.
References:
http://www.carbonneutralearth.com/why_recycle_plastic.php
http://www.tabla.com.sg/jrsrc/080716full/epage008/TA20160708-TAB-008-00.html
https://sciencing.com/disadvantages-recycled-plastics-7254476.html
https://www.theedgesingapore.com/article/materials-scientist-turns-entrepreneur-carbon-nanotube-maker-blueren
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