ocean plastic: green chemistry and circular economy solutions

www.neuworldplas-cs.comOctober19,2016 1

Julie Noblitt, NeuWorld Plastics SJSU GreenTalk - October 19, 2016

Ocean Plastic: Green Chemistry and Circular Economy Solutions

October19,2016 www.neuworldplas-cs.com 2

94% of life on earth is aquatic


It’s not really planet earth. It’s planet ocean.

October19,2016 www.neuworldplas-cs.com

Discarded plastic: 8 million metric tons/yr

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HIDDEN AGENDA How can engineers use the concepts of the circular economy and green chemistry to make a difference and make a living in the era of the Anthropocene?

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BorninParisGrewupinNortheast

U.S.

MajoredinAsianStudies

WorkedinPublishing

CareerPivot-MBA Entrepreneur

October19,2016 www.neuworldplas-cs.com

Introduction Julie Noblitt

What is plastic?

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• Plastic: A Toxic Love Story

• Fast-paced • Packed with info

19th Century – No Plastic


First Plastic: Celluloid



1920s - “Bakelite”

The advent of flexible plastics


Five Dominant Types

1.  Polyethylene – milk jugs, frisbees, grocery bags, artificial hips

2.  Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) – shower curtains, house siding, water pipes

3.  Polypropylene – molded chairs, food containers


4.  Polystyrene – combs, hangers, disposable cups, styrofoam

5. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – soda bottles, clothing, carpet


Those five make up about 75 percent of the roughly one hundred billion pounds of plastic produced and sold annually in the United States.


Plastics constitute the nation’s 3rd largest manufacturing industry, behind only cars and steel.


Where Does It Come From?


Top of Supply Chain


“Nurdles” •  ~28K pounds of them

per hour per plant •  4% of the global supplies

of oil and gas is used as plastic feedstock

•  Another 4% is used to manufacture them



www.nasdaq.com/markets/crude-oil.aspx

Where does it all go?



“It's day 26 and I'm now wearing 73 pounds of trash.”

Rob Greenfield October 2016

www.neuworldplas-cs.comOctober19,2016

Single-use plastics Never degrade

High volume Low value 23

The high price of convenience



Wait, isn’t it being recycled?


Nope, not really. Most of it ends up as litter.


Enough plastic & concrete to create an new geologic era

So what? It’s messy, but does it really hurt

anything?



“Humans are just a

little plastic now.”

Washington Post (1972)


Pthalates make plastics soft & flexible Endocrine disruptor Found in food packaging, shower curtains, teething rings


Midway albatross with 588 individual pieces of plastic in its stomach.


Fish larvae mistake microplastic for something nutritious and gorge themselves on it.


I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.

-Angela Davis


Momentum! This problem requires us to think both big and small

What I Do - Small Things –  Decline single-use plastics - “No straw, please.” –  Reuse anything I can, as many times as I can. –  Make, don’t buy, when possible. –  Consider packaging when I buy. –  Bring my own water bottle and coffee mug. –  Microwave in glass, not plastic.



What about you?

My favorite idea #1 “Circular Economy”


My favorite idea #2


“Green Chemistry”

John Warner, Ph.D.


1.  Waste prevention 2.  Atom economy 3.  Less hazardous chemical synthesis 4.  Designing safer chemicals 5.  Safer solvents and auxiliaries 6.  Design for energy efficiency 7.  Use of renewable feedstocks 8.  Reduce derivatives 9.  Catalysis 10. Design for degradation 11. Real-time pollution prevention 12. Safer chemistry for accident prevention

Trends & Solutions


Trend: Big companies buying sustainable brands


Emerging Solutions: Bioplastics


Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA)

Plant-based plastics


Prevention & Remediation


Collection at scale


Boyan Slat

Future?

•  Mining plastic from sea and land. •  All plastic ever produced is still with us. •  It’s too valuable to throw away. •  Triple bottom line value if it can be done

at scale.


What are your ideas? How will you convey them?


“We need big thinkers thinking big. If you had to choose any time in the course of human history to be alive, you’d choose this one.”


Julie Noblitt, Founder/CEO [email protected]

650-269-4959


ocean plastic: green chemistry and circular economy solutions

Environment