TED-Ed Weekend
Ashton Cofer: A plan to recycle the unrecyclable
Filmed:
Readability: 4.9
1,379,778 views
From packing peanuts to disposable coffee cups, each year the US alone produces some two billion pounds of Styrofoam -- none of which can be recycled. Frustrated by this waste of resources and landfill space, Ashton Cofer and his science fair teammates developed a heating treatment to break down used Styrofoam into something useful. Learn more out their original design.
Ashton Cofer - Youth inventor
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. Full bio
Ashton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
It was just an ordinary Saturday.
0
873
2423
00:15
My dad was outside mowing the lawn,
1
3320
2216
00:17
my mom was upstairs folding laundry,
2
5560
2256
00:19
my sister was in her room doing homework
3
7840
2136
00:22
and I was in the basement
playing video games.
playing video games.
4
10000
2360
00:25
And as I came upstairs
to get something to drink,
to get something to drink,
5
13080
2336
00:27
I looked out the window
6
15440
1216
00:28
and realized that there was something
that I was supposed to be doing,
that I was supposed to be doing,
7
16680
3296
00:32
and this is what I saw.
8
20000
1200
00:35
No, this wasn't
my family's dinner on fire.
my family's dinner on fire.
9
23880
3096
00:39
This was my science project.
10
27000
2640
00:42
Flames were pouring out,
11
30240
1456
00:43
smoke was in the air
12
31720
1216
00:44
and it looked like our wooden deck
was about to catch fire.
was about to catch fire.
13
32960
3216
00:48
I immediately started yelling.
14
36200
1816
00:50
My mom was freaking out,
15
38040
1496
00:51
my dad ran around to put out the fire
16
39560
2096
00:53
and of course my sister
started recording a Snapchat video.
started recording a Snapchat video.
17
41680
4136
00:57
(Laughter)
18
45840
1896
00:59
This was just the beginning
of my team's science project.
of my team's science project.
19
47760
3200
01:03
My team is composed of me
and three other students
and three other students
20
51480
2656
01:06
who are here in the audience today.
21
54160
1680
01:08
We competed in FIRST LEGO League
22
56280
2016
01:10
which is an international
LEGO robotics competition for kids,
LEGO robotics competition for kids,
23
58320
3536
01:13
and in addition to a robotics game,
24
61880
1856
01:15
we also worked
on a separate science project,
on a separate science project,
25
63760
2376
01:18
and this was the project
that we were working on.
that we were working on.
26
66160
2696
01:20
So the idea for this project all started
27
68880
1976
01:22
when a few months earlier,
28
70880
1256
01:24
a couple of my teammates
took a trip to Central America
took a trip to Central America
29
72160
2816
01:27
and saw beaches littered with Styrofoam,
30
75000
2496
01:29
or expanded polystyrene foam.
31
77520
1960
01:32
And when they came back
and told us about it,
and told us about it,
32
80040
2136
01:34
we really started thinking about the ways
in which we see Styrofoam every day.
in which we see Styrofoam every day.
33
82200
3696
01:37
Get a new flat-screen TV?
34
85920
1616
01:39
You end up with a block of Styrofoam
bigger than the TV itself.
bigger than the TV itself.
35
87560
2960
01:43
Drink a cup of coffee?
36
91080
1456
01:44
Well, those Styrofoam coffee cups
are sure going to add up.
are sure going to add up.
37
92560
3176
01:47
And where do all these items go
after their one-time use?
after their one-time use?
38
95760
3376
01:51
Since there aren't any good
existing solutions for used Styrofoam,
existing solutions for used Styrofoam,
39
99160
3416
01:54
almost all of them
end up right in the landfill,
end up right in the landfill,
40
102600
2536
01:57
or the oceans and beaches,
41
105160
1336
01:58
taking over 500 years to degrade.
42
106520
2696
02:01
And in fact, every year, the US alone
43
109240
2216
02:03
produces over two billion
pounds of Styrofoam,
pounds of Styrofoam,
44
111480
2656
02:06
filling up a staggering
25 percent of landfills.
25 percent of landfills.
45
114160
3176
02:09
So why do we have these ghost
accumulations of Styrofoam waste?
accumulations of Styrofoam waste?
46
117360
3080
02:13
Why can't we just recycle them
like many plastics?
like many plastics?
47
121040
2800
02:16
Well, simply put, recycled
polystyrene is too expensive
polystyrene is too expensive
48
124400
3416
02:19
and potentially contaminated,
49
127840
1576
02:21
so there is very little market demand
for Styrofoam that has to be recycled.
for Styrofoam that has to be recycled.
50
129440
4216
02:25
And as a result, Styrofoam
is considered a nonrenewable material,
is considered a nonrenewable material,
51
133680
3536
02:29
because it is neither feasible
nor viable to recycle polystyrene.
nor viable to recycle polystyrene.
52
137240
3760
02:33
And in fact, many cities across the US
53
141600
2576
02:36
have even passed ordinances
54
144200
1416
02:37
that simply ban the production
of many products containing polystyrene,
of many products containing polystyrene,
55
145640
3616
02:41
which includes disposable utensils,
56
149280
2056
02:43
packing peanuts, takeout containers
57
151360
2176
02:45
and even plastic beach toys,
58
153560
2136
02:47
all products that are very useful
in today's society.
in today's society.
59
155720
2976
02:50
And now France
has become the first country
has become the first country
60
158720
2176
02:52
to completely ban all plastic utensils,
61
160920
2256
02:55
cups and plates.
62
163200
1600
02:57
But what if we could keep using Styrofoam
63
165280
2416
02:59
and keep benefiting
from its cheap, lightweight, insulating
from its cheap, lightweight, insulating
64
167720
3736
03:03
and excellent packing ability,
65
171480
1736
03:05
while not having to suffer
from the repercussions
from the repercussions
66
173240
2336
03:07
of having to dispose of it?
67
175600
1320
03:09
What if we could turn it into
something else that's actually useful?
something else that's actually useful?
68
177320
3496
03:12
What if we could make
the impossible possible?
the impossible possible?
69
180840
2560
03:16
My team hypothesized that we could use
the carbon that's already in Styrofoam
the carbon that's already in Styrofoam
70
184400
4576
03:21
to create activated carbon,
71
189000
1696
03:22
which is used in almost
every water filter today.
every water filter today.
72
190720
2360
03:25
And activated carbon works
by using very small micropores
by using very small micropores
73
193480
3616
03:29
to filter out contaminants
from water or even air.
from water or even air.
74
197120
2960
03:32
So we started out
by doing a variety of heating tests,
by doing a variety of heating tests,
75
200840
3176
03:36
and unfortunately, we had many failures.
76
204040
3080
03:39
Literally, nothing worked.
77
207640
2536
03:42
Besides my dad's grill catching on fire,
78
210200
2256
03:44
most of our samples
vaporized into nothing,
vaporized into nothing,
79
212480
2656
03:47
or exploded inside expensive furnaces,
80
215160
2416
03:49
leaving a horribly sticky mess.
81
217600
2240
03:52
In fact, we were so saddened
by our failures that we almost gave up.
by our failures that we almost gave up.
82
220440
3600
03:57
So why did we keep trying
83
225360
1336
03:58
when all the adults
said it was impossible?
said it was impossible?
84
226720
2376
04:01
Well, maybe it's because we're kids.
We don't know any better.
We don't know any better.
85
229120
2920
04:04
But the truth is, we kept trying
because we thought it was still possible.
because we thought it was still possible.
86
232779
3477
04:08
We knew that if we were successful,
87
236280
1696
04:10
we would be helping the environment
and making the world a better place.
and making the world a better place.
88
238000
3416
04:13
So we kept trying
89
241440
1656
04:15
and failing
90
243120
1736
04:16
and trying
91
244880
1656
04:18
and failing.
92
246560
1576
04:20
We were so ready to give up.
93
248160
1640
04:22
But then it happened.
94
250640
1576
04:24
With the right temperatures,
times and chemicals,
times and chemicals,
95
252240
2696
04:26
we finally got that successful test result
96
254960
2256
04:29
showing us that we had created
activated carbon from Styrofoam waste.
activated carbon from Styrofoam waste.
97
257240
3815
04:33
And at that moment,
the thing that had been impossible
the thing that had been impossible
98
261079
2577
04:35
all of a sudden wasn't.
99
263680
1240
04:37
It showed us that although we had
many failures at the beginning,
many failures at the beginning,
100
265480
3056
04:40
we were able to persevere through them
to get the test results that we wanted.
to get the test results that we wanted.
101
268560
3696
04:44
And moreover, not only were we able
to create activated carbon
to create activated carbon
102
272280
2936
04:47
for purifying water,
103
275240
1256
04:48
but we were also able
to reduce Styrofoam waste,
to reduce Styrofoam waste,
104
276520
2456
04:51
solving two global problems
with just one solution.
with just one solution.
105
279000
2760
04:54
So from then on, we were inspired
to take our project further,
to take our project further,
106
282320
2936
04:57
performing more tests
to make it more effective
to make it more effective
107
285280
2216
04:59
and testing it in real world situations.
108
287520
2336
05:01
We then proceeded to receive funding
109
289880
1736
05:03
from the NSTA's eCYBERMISSION
STEM-in-Action program
STEM-in-Action program
110
291640
2976
05:06
sponsored by the US Army,
111
294640
1736
05:08
as well as FIRST Global Innovation Awards
112
296400
2376
05:10
sponsored by XPRIZE.
113
298800
1280
05:12
And we were also honored
114
300640
1256
05:13
with the Scientific American
Innovator Award
Innovator Award
115
301920
2776
05:16
from Google Science Fair.
116
304720
1240
05:18
And using these funds, we plan
to file a full patent on our process
to file a full patent on our process
117
306480
3456
05:21
and to continue to work on our project.
118
309960
1880
05:24
So yes, although we started
with catching my dad's grill on fire
with catching my dad's grill on fire
119
312440
4176
05:28
and failing so many times
that we almost quit,
that we almost quit,
120
316640
2496
05:31
it was well worth it
when we look back at it now.
when we look back at it now.
121
319160
2536
05:33
We took a problem
that many people said was impossible
that many people said was impossible
122
321720
2816
05:36
and we made it possible,
123
324560
1496
05:38
and we persevered when it looked
like nothing that we did would work.
like nothing that we did would work.
124
326080
3256
05:41
We learned that you can't have success
125
329360
2096
05:43
without a little,
126
331480
1496
05:45
or a lot, of failure.
127
333000
1760
05:47
So in the future, don't be afraid
if your grill goes up in flames,
if your grill goes up in flames,
128
335440
3616
05:51
because you never know
when your idea might just catch fire.
when your idea might just catch fire.
129
339080
3880
05:55
Thank you.
130
343800
1216
05:57
(Applause)
131
345040
3480
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ashton Cofer - Youth inventorAshton Cofer and his FIRST Robotics team won the Google Science Fair for developing a process to convert Styrofoam waste into activated carbon for purifying water.
Why you should listen
Ashton Cofer has several patents pending, including a method to convert polystyrene foam waste into activated carbon for purifying water. He and his teammates recently won the 2016 Google Science Fair’s Scientific American Innovator Award. Ashton has a passion for science and technology, and in addition to inventing, he also competed in FIRST LEGO League robotics and teaches robotics workshops to local area youth in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
Ashton Cofer | Speaker | TED.com