The Plasticene Era

Kamilo Beach, Hawaii

In a recent interview webcast on the Green Builder, Marcus Eriksen of the Alagalita Marine Research Foundation presents some very compelling information about the serious nature of the 5 marine gyres of plastic debris. And this is not entirely out of sight, as the start reality of plastic pollution hits us when we visit our favorite island beaches, which serve as filters for this waterborn plastic. The research shows that a third of the small nightfeeder fish have plastic in their innards, which transfers right up the foodchain to larger fish. As plastics absorb organic compounds (like DDT), these toxins end up in the fish we put on our dinner tables. This is a real problem which affects us all.

Ron Jones, of Green Builder Media poses the question of what our construction industry can do to help address this plastic waste problem. This isn’t an easy answer, and doesn’t fit tidily into any of the LEED categories. Plastics are pervasive and can be very beneficial, for example in the many uses in the medical world. The very fact that plastics don’t break down and last forever is a good thing in that application.

The solutions will come from an awareness and thinking. The first green step is typically “reduce” or avoidance. For example, while reusable shopping bags seem to be quite the rage at the grocery store, I seldom see people bring in their own totes to Home Depot. I wonder how that plays out in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles County and Edmunds, WA – where plastic bags have been banned?

Peter Lewis and the "Byfusion" blocks

The next step is to recycle and purchase recycled products, such as TREX. There are some new products being developed, such as the New Zealand guy which is recycling plastic from landfills, or the EcoMat developed in the U.K. . However, there are some pretty common obstacles for large scaled operations. Most building products are governed by standards and testing for quality control, which means the raw materials need to have consistent and predictable content. While that can be done if you use scrap plastics pre-consumer (used to be called post-industrial ), anything that comes out of a public rubbish bin is of mixed plastic types and contaminated. So though these plastics dumpster divers get a round of applause, we can’t offload our problem to this sole solution.

Plastics to Oil Conversion

Another tack has been to dip into the landfills materials for “biomass” to be converted to fuel. There are a few research groups and entrepreneurs, such as Natural State Research , Agilyx and even a Waste Plastic Technology Blog. Check out the Penn State research for a plastic pellet burner for energy recovery, which could offer a real localized solution. Of course, in any of these cases – the formula for economic success is that the cost of the energy generated (fuel or heat) minus the cost of processing leaves enough of a margin to offer an attractive price for the recycled plastic. If there is a lucrative market, the recycling industry can provide – and micro businesses developed which collect plastics from beaches and other areas. This is especially important to help developing nations clean up their landscape while providing a necessary fuel source.

Awareness is the first step, and decisions based on the knowledge of the problem. Solutions are many: clean jobsites, keeping plastics (or any debris) from being picked up by the wind or water, using plastic only where it is appropriate and minimizing waste or re-using pieces on the next site. As Dr. Eriksen states, we live in the Throw-Away Society of the Plasticene Era, but I am encouraged that we are entering a new awareness of the relative role of humankind within the world’s ecosystem. Perhaps this millennium will the emergence of the Symbiotic Era.

Thanks for Thinking.