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Rainwater harvesting comes of age across the (dry) land
Bill Becken Waste Management & EnvironmentalThere are those in vehement denial of the research and data indicating that water resources across the planet are growing increasingly scarce. For others, it's abundantly clear: Climate change, overdevelopment and population growth are leading to severe shortages of potable water.
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Emerging bioplastic feedstock, material and application trends
Don Rosato EngineeringNew biomaterial technology trends that emphasize sustainability are advancing rapidly across the bioplastics supply chain. Let's take a look at some emerging bioplastic feedstock, material and application highlights from among other sources, the recent 2018 European Biopolymer Summit and World Bio Markets conferences.
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Study: Largest cities need evaporated water to survive
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalColorado State University has published a new study that shows exactly how urban centers are able to substantiate some of the water for their populations. As it turns out, the water comes from the areas directly surrounding such cities — the very places that most of these population centers draw their people, the rural countryside.
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Plastics industry pushes for more recycling infrastructure
R.V. Scheide Waste Management & EnvironmentalSomething must be done to stem the flow of plastic waste into landfills, waterways and oceans, and members of the plastics industry are working closely with recycling advocates and other stakeholders to ensure funding for recycling projects is included in the infrastructure spending bills currently being considered by Congress.
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Europe reviews F-Gas success
Andrew Gaved ManufacturingThe last time I wrote to you, I was full of tales of the pain being felt by the cooling industry in Europe as the F-Gas regulations started to squeeze the market for higher-GWP refrigerants via its combination of restrictions on supply and bans on use. Now I can tell you that the European Commission has confirmed that such pain is precisely what it had in mind to drive the European industry towards better solutions for the environment.
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Study: Education can change behaviors that lead to ocean pollution
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalAny beach in the world can tell you a devastating story, showing just how much of an effect humankind has had on the world and the environment. Strewn with plastic bottles, light bulbs, flip-flops, scraps of fishing net and timber, the scene is the same because of the nomadic trash.
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Where is LEED having the most impact in the US?
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsThe U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) recently released its annual list of the Top 10 States for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the world's most widely used green building rating system. The list ranks states in terms of certified square feet per resident in the previous year, and it highlights the latest developments throughout the U.S. that are making significant strides in sustainable design, construction and transformation.
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Emerging plastic packaging trends and technologies
Don Rosato EngineeringThe Packaging Conference — just held Feb. 5-7 in Orlando — is an annual event with a strong new business and emerging technology focus in the plastics packaging industry. Solution-based plastic barrier packaging technologies are being developed in an environment of increasing global legislation directives and regulatory trends.
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Researchers: ‘Immediate action’ needed to hit global temperature…
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe Universities of Southampton and Liverpool, and the Australian National University in Canberra are offering new research that suggests that if "immediate action" is not taken, Earth's global average temperature could rise 1.5 degrees C above the period before the Industrial Revolution within the next 17 to 18 years, and 2 degrees C in 35 to 41 years if the carbon emission rate remains at its present-day value.
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Efficiency of buildings increase, with a focus on facility managers
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsIn 2010, the U.S. building sector generated 45 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions in the country — that's right, nearly half of all carbon emissions came from the places Americans live, shop and work in every day. Much of this is because of the fact that residential and commercial buildings use 75 percent of all electricity produced in the U.S., for lighting, pumping, heating and cooling.
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