Page 70 - Plastics News July 2018

in the news

Bamboo sipper the new reusable Polystyrene recycling system

straw explored in France

he campaign for reusable straws can look at this hree French companies–Citeo, Total and Saint-
Tinnovation from the Andamans TGobain–along with the French Union of Fresh Dairy
If things go according to plan, you could be sipping Product Manufacturers (Syndifrais) are joining forces
your drink using a bamboo straw by next year. A to develop and build what they call an industrial-
scientist from the scale polystyrene (PS) recycling system in France.
Botanical Survey The consortium says it aims to validate the system’s
of India (BSI) in technical and cost feasibility within 18 months.The
the Andaman and four entities say the polystyrene consumer packaging
Nicobar Islands, chain must “actively seek a recycling solution that will
has come out enable the development of a circular economy for these
with a green products.” The effort, they say, will involve not only
alternative to collecting the packaging and finding technical means for
use-and-throw recycling it, but also identifying uses for the recycled-
plastic drinking content polystyrene. Syndifrais estimates some 110,000
straws, by metric tons of PS packaging is put on the market
tapping bamboo. each year in France. With the help of Citeo, France’s
The bamboo fresh dairy product manufacturers intend to develop
species Schizostachyum andamanicum, endemic to a system for the separation, sorting and preparation
the islands looks ideal for the purpose. Discovered of several hundred tons of post-consumer PS from
on the island about two decades ago, this bamboo is France's household recyclables sorting programs.
characterised by thin large hollow erect culm (stem) Syndifrais says it also will use the project’s technical
with long internodes. LalJi Singh, scientist and head findings to improve the design of packaging so it will be
of office at BSI’s Andaman and Nicobar Regional Centre easier to recycle. Total’s role will be to use the sorted
in Port Blair, said that in its natural form, the bamboo
species cannot be used as a straw but after observing
the plant’s appearance and structure, he found that
it was ideal to be turned into a drinking straw.Here’s
how its done. First, the sections of the culm between
the nodes are cut into small pieces, to the length of a
drinking straw. This can be done either by machine or
manually, and then the culm sheath and solid nodes
are removed. The work to make a bamboo straw at
Dhanikhari Experimental Garden-cum-Arboretum, at
the BSI Regional Centre has gone on since 2011. “After
I registered the invention with the patent office under and prepared polystyrene in its plastic production
the title Reusable Straw and Its Manufacturing, I took units in Carling, France, and Feluy, Belgium. PS scrap
5,000 sample straws and distributed it during the World from sources such as construction also can be used.
Environment Day Celebrations held in New Delhi earlier The end product will be expected to meet the same
this year,” Dr. Singh said. Not only is a bamboo straw specifications as virgin polystyrene. Total tested its PS
biodegradable, it can be reused for years. People can recycling technology in 2017 in preliminary industrial
keep one in their homes and use it multiple times like trials, with the objective to later scale up production.
tooth brushes, avoiding plastic straws. And the cost? Just A target has been set of 4,000 tons of output containing
50 paise per piece. Its longevity makes it cheaper than at least 20 percent recycled PS in 2019. Total says it
plastic.BSI Director Paramjit Singh said that the invention will also make available its “dedicated research and
is timely in the campaign against plastic pollution. development resources” for the project.

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