TEDGlobal 2011
Mike Biddle: We can recycle plastic
Mike Biddle: Možemo reciklirati plastiku
Filmed:
Readability: 3.9
1,175,569 views
Reciklira se anje od 10% plastičnog smeća -- u odnosu na gotovo 90% metala -- zbog ogromnog kompliciranog problema pronalaženja i sortiranja različitih vrsta. Frustriran tim otpadom, Mike Biddle je razvio jeftin i nevjerojatno energetski učinkovit plan koji može, i reciklira sve vrste plastike.
Mike Biddle - Plastics recycler
Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop. Full bio
Discarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:15
I'm a garbage man.
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Ja sam smetlar.
00:18
And you might find it interesting that I became a garbage man,
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I možda će vam biti zanimljivo što sam postao smetlar
00:21
because I absolutely hate waste.
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jer ja zaista mrzim otpad.
00:23
I hope, within the next 10 minutes,
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Nadam se kako ću u idućih 10 minuta,
00:26
to change the way you think
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promijeniti način na koji razmišljate
00:28
about a lot of the stuff in your life.
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o mnogim stvarima u svojem životu.
00:30
And I'd like to start at the very beginning.
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Želio bih početi od samog početka.
00:32
Think back when you were just a kid.
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Sjetite se vremena kad ste bili samo dijete.
00:34
How did look at the stuff in your life?
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Kako ste gledali na stvari u svom životu?
00:36
Perhaps it was like these toddler rules:
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Možda kroz pravila djece:
00:40
It's my stuff if I saw it first.
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To su moje stvari ako sam ih vidio prvi.
00:43
The entire pile is my stuff if I'm building something.
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Ova cijela hrpa je moja ako nešto gradim.
00:47
The more stuff that's mine, the better.
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Što više stvari imam, to bolje.
00:50
And of course, it's your stuff if it's broken.
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I naravno, ako je polomljeno, tvoje je.
00:53
(Laughter)
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(Smijeh)
00:55
Well after spending about 20 years in the recycling industry,
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Nakon gotovo 20 godina provedenih u industriji recikliranja,
00:57
it's become pretty clear to me
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postalo mi je prilično jasno
00:59
that we don't necessarily leave these toddler rules behind
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kako ne napuštamo nužno ta dječja pravila
01:01
as we develop into adults.
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dok odrastamo.
01:03
And let me tell you why I have that perspective.
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Poslušajte zašto to mislim.
01:05
Because each and every day
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Zato što baš svaki dan
01:07
at our recycling plants around the world
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u našim reciklažnim postrojenjima diljem svijeta
01:09
we handle about one million pounds
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obrađujemo oko pola milijuna kilograma
01:12
of people's discarded stuff.
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stvari koje su ljudi odbacili.
01:14
Now a million pounds a day sounds like a lot of stuff,
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Pola milijuna kilograma na dan zvuči kao mnogo stvari,
01:16
but it's a tiny drop of the durable goods
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ali to je mala kap u moru trajnih dobara
01:19
that are disposed each and every year around the world --
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koje se odbacuju svake godine diljem svijeta --
01:21
well less than one percent.
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manje od jedan posto.
01:23
In fact, the United Nations estimates
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Zapravo, Ujedinjeni narodi procjenjuju
01:25
that there's about 85 billion pounds a year
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kako se 50 milijardi kilograma
01:27
of electronics waste
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elektroničkog otpada
01:29
that gets discarded around the world each and every year --
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odbacuje diljem svijeta svake godine --
01:31
and that's one of the most rapidly growing parts of our waste stream.
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a to je jedan od najbrže rastućih dijelova našeg otpadnog toka.
01:34
And if you throw in other durable goods like automobiles and so forth,
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A ako unutra ubacite druga trajna dobra poput automobila i slično,
01:37
that number well more than doubles.
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taj se broj i više nego udvostruči.
01:39
And of course, the more developed the country,
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I naravno, što je država razvijenija,
01:41
the bigger these mountains.
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to su veće te planine.
01:43
Now when you see these mountains,
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Kad vidite te planine,
01:45
most people think of garbage.
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većina ljudi pomišlja na smeće.
01:47
We see above-ground mines.
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Mi vidimo nadzemne rudnike.
01:49
And the reason we see mines is because there's a lot of valuable raw materials
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A razlog zašto vidimo rudnike jest činjenica da ima mnogo vrijednih sirovina
01:52
that went into making all of this stuff in the first place.
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koje su upotrijebljene za proizvodnju tih stvari.
01:55
And it's becoming increasingly important
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Postaje sve važnije
01:57
that we figure out how to extract these raw materials
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da otkrijemo kako izvući te sirovine
02:00
from these extremely complicated waste streams.
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iz iznimno kompliciranih otpadnih tokova.
02:03
Because as we've heard all week at TED,
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Jer kao što smo slušali cijeli tjedan na TED-u,
02:05
the world's getting to be a smaller place with more people in it
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svijet postaje sve manje mjesto na kojem ima sve više ljudi
02:08
who want more and more stuff.
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koji žele sve više stvari.
02:10
And of course, they want the toys and the tools
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I naravno, oni žele igračke i alate
02:13
that many of us take for granted.
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koje mnogi od nas uzimaju zdravo za gotovo.
02:15
And what goes into making those toys and tools
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A što se koristi za proizvodnju tih igračaka i alata
02:18
that we use every single day?
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koje koristimo svaki dan?
02:20
It's mostly many types of plastics and many types of metals.
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Uglavnom su to razne vrste plastike i razne vrste metala.
02:23
And the metals, we typically get
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A metale najčešće dobivamo
02:26
from ore that we mine
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iz rude koju vadimo
02:28
in ever widening mines
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iz sve većih
02:30
and ever deepening mines around the world.
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i sve dubljih rudnika diljem svijeta.
02:32
And the plastics, we get from oil,
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A plastiku dobivamo od nafte,
02:35
which we go to more remote locations
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za koju odlazimo u sve udaljenije krajeve
02:37
and drill ever deeper wells to extract.
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i bušimo sve dublje kako bismo je izvukli.
02:40
And these practices have
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Ti postupci imaju
02:42
significant economic and environmental implications
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značajan utjecaj na gospodarstvo i okoliš,
02:45
that we're already starting to see today.
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koji se već sad počinje vidjeti.
02:48
The good news is we are starting to recover materials from our end-of-life stuff
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Dobra vijest je kako počinjemo dobivati materijale iz stvari kojima je istekao rok trajanja
02:51
and starting to recycle our end-of-life stuff,
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i počinjemo reciklirati stvari kojima je istekao rok trajanja,
02:53
particularly in regions of the world like here in Europe
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naročito u dijelovima svijeta kao što je Europa,
02:56
that have recycling policies in place
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gdje postoje zakoni o recikliranju
02:59
that require that this stuff be recycled
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koji zahtijevaju da se te stvari recikliraju
03:01
in a responsible manner.
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na odgovoran način.
03:03
Most of what's extracted from our end-of-life stuff,
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Većina onoga što se dobije od naših stvari kojima je istekao rok trajanja,
03:05
if it makes it to a recycler, are the metals.
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ukoliko dođe do osobe koja to reciklira, jesu metali.
03:08
To put that in perspective --
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Da stavim to u perspektivu --
03:10
and I'm using steel as a proxy here for metals,
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ovdje koristim čelik kao predstavnika svih metala,
03:12
because it's the most common metal --
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jer je to najčešći metal --
03:14
if your stuff makes it to a recycler,
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ako vaše stvari dođu do osobe koja reciklira,
03:16
probably over 90 percent of the metals
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vjerojatno će više od 90 posto metala
03:18
are going to be recovered and reused for another purpose.
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biti sačuvano i ponovno korišteno u neku drugu svrhu.
03:21
Plastics are a whole other story:
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Plastika je neka druga priča:
03:23
well less than 10 percent are recovered.
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sačuva se mnogo manje od 10 posto.
03:25
In fact, it's more like five percent.
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Zapravo, više je to oko pet posto.
03:27
Most of it's incinerated or landfilled.
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Većina se spaljuje ili odbacuje na odlagalište.
03:29
Now most people think that's because plastics are a throw-away material,
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Većina ljudi sada misli da je to zato što je plastika materijal koji bacate,
03:31
have very little value.
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koji ima malu vrijednost.
03:33
But actually, plastics are several times more valuable than steel.
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Ali zapravo, plastika je nekoliko puta vrednija od čelika.
03:36
And there's more plastics produced and consumed
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U svijetu se svake godine proizvodi i troši
03:38
around the world on a volume basis
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veći volumen plastike
03:40
every year than steel.
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nego čelika.
03:42
So why is such a plentiful and valuable material
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Pa zašto tako obilan i vrijedan materijal
03:45
not recovered at anywhere near the rate
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nije sačuvan ni u približnoj količini
03:47
of the less valuable material?
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kao što je to slučaj s manje vrijednim materijalom?
03:49
Well it's predominantly because
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To je najviše zbog toga što je
03:51
metals are very easy to recycle
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metale vrlo lako reciklirati
03:53
from other materials and from one another.
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i odvojiti od drugih materijala i jedan od drugoga.
03:55
They have very different densities.
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Imaju vrlo različite gustoće.
03:57
They have different electrical and magnetic properties.
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Imaju različita električna i magnetska svojstva.
03:59
And they even have different colors.
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Čak su različitih boja.
04:01
So it's very easy for either humans or machines
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Stoga je ljudima ili strojevima vrlo lako
04:04
to separate these metals
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razdvojiti te metale
04:06
from one another and from other materials.
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jedan od drugoga ili od drugih materijala.
04:08
Plastics have overlapping densities over a very narrow range.
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Sva plastika ima sličnu gustoću u vrlo uskom spektru.
04:12
They have either identical or very similar
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Imaju ili identična ili veoma slična
04:14
electrical and magnetic properties.
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električna i magnetska svojstva.
04:16
And any plastic can be any color,
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I svaka plastika može biti bilo koje boje,
04:18
as you probably well know.
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kao što vjerojatno dobro znate.
04:20
So the traditional ways of separating materials
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Tradicionalni načini odvajanja materijala
04:22
just simply don't work for plastics.
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jednostavno ne funkcioniraju kod plastike.
04:26
Another consequence of metals being so easy to recycle by humans
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Još jedna posljedica činjenice da ljudi vrlo lako mogu reciklirati metale
04:29
is that a lot of our stuff from the developed world --
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jest ta da mnogo naših stvari iz razvijenog svijeta --
04:32
and sadly to say, particularly from the United States,
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i žalosno je to reći, naročito iz Sjedinjenih Država,
04:35
where we don't have any recycling policies in place like here in Europe --
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gdje nemamo zakone o recikliranju poput onih u Europi --
04:38
finds its way to developing countries
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dospije u zemlje u razvoju
04:40
for low-cost recycling.
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kako bi ih reciklirali o niskom trošku.
04:43
People, for as little as a dollar a day, pick through our stuff.
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Ljudi, za svega dolar na dan, čeprkaju po našim stvarima.
04:46
They extract what they can, which is mostly the metals --
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Izvuku ono što mogu, što su većinom metali --
04:48
circuit boards and so forth --
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dijelovi sklopova i slično --
04:50
and they leave behind mostly what they can't recover,
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a ostave uglavnom ono što ne mogu izvući,
04:52
which is, again, mostly the plastics.
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što je, ponovno, uglavnom plastika.
04:55
Or they burn the plastics to get to the metals
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Ili spaljuju plastiku kako bi došli do metala
04:58
in burn houses like you see here.
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u spalionicama kao što vidite ovdje.
05:00
And they extract the metals by hand.
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I izvlače metale rukama.
05:04
Now while this may be the low-economic-cost solution,
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Iako je to možda rješenje s niskim ekonomskim troškom,
05:07
this is certainly not the low-environmental
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to definitivno nije rješenje pogodno za okoliš
05:09
or human health-and-safety solution.
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ni za ljudsko zdravlje i sigurnost.
05:12
I call this environmental arbitrage.
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Zovem to arbitražom okoliša.
05:15
And it's not fair, it's not safe
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To nije pravedno, i nije sigurno
05:18
and it's not sustainable.
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i nije održivo.
05:21
Now because the plastics are so plentiful --
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Budući da je plastika toliko obilna --
05:23
and by the way,
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i usput rečeno,
05:25
those other methods don't lead to the recovery of plastics, obviously --
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te druge metode ne vode do ponovnog dobivanja plastike, očito --
05:27
but people do try to recover the plastics.
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ali ljudi pokušavaju ponovno dobiti plastiku.
05:29
This is just one example.
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Ovo je samo jedan primjer.
05:31
This is a photo I took standing on the rooftops
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Ovo je fotografija koju sam uslikao stojeći na krovovima
05:33
of one of the largest slums in the world in Mumbai, India.
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jednog od najvećih slamova u Mumbaiju u Indiji.
05:36
They store the plastics on the roofs.
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Ondje spremaju plastiku na krovove.
05:38
They bring them below those roofs into small workshops like these,
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Donose je pod te krovove u male radionice poput ovih
05:41
and people try very hard to separate the plastics,
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a ljudi marljivo rade na odvajanju plastike,
05:44
by color, by shape, by feel,
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po boji, po obliku, po dodiru,
05:46
by any technique they can.
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pomoću svakojakih tehnika.
05:48
And sometimes they'll resort to what's known as the "burn and sniff" technique
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A ponekad će pribjeći tehnici "spali i pomiriši"
05:50
where they'll burn the plastic and smell the fumes
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gdje će spaliti plastiku i udisati pare
05:52
to try to determine the type of plastic.
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kako bi odredili vrstu plastike.
05:55
None of these techniques result in any amount of recycling
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Ni jednom od tih tehnika ne ostvaruje se značajna količina recikliranja
05:58
in any significant way.
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ni na kakav značajan način.
06:00
And by the way,
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I usput rečeno,
06:02
please don't try this technique at home.
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molim vas, nemojte isprobavati ovu tehniku kod kuće.
06:04
So what are we to do about this space-age material,
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Dakle, što ćemo napraviti s tim svemirskim materijalom,
06:07
at least what we used to call a space-aged material, these plastics?
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barem smo ga tako običavali zvati, svemirski materijal, ta plastika?
06:10
Well I certainly believe that it's far too valuable and far too abundant
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Svakako smatram da je prevrijedna i preobilna
06:13
to keep putting back in the ground
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da bismo je i dalje zakopavali
06:15
or certainly send up in smoke.
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ili pretvarali u dim.
06:17
So about 20 years ago, I literally started in my garage tinkering around,
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Stoga sam prije 20 godina počeo počeo nešto petljati u svojoj garaži,
06:20
trying to figure out how to separate
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pokušavao sam otkriti kako odvojiti
06:22
these very similar materials from each other,
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te veoma slične materijale jedan od drugog
06:24
and eventually enlisted a lot of my friends,
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i naposljetku sam angažirao mnogo svojih prijatelja
06:27
in the mining world actually, and in the plastics world,
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koji se zapravo bave rudarstvom, i plastikom,
06:30
and we started going around to mining laboratories around the world.
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i počeli smo obilaziti rudarske laboratorije diljem svijeta.
06:33
Because after all, we're doing above-ground mining.
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Jer naposljetku, mi se bavimo nadzemnim rudarenjem.
06:36
And we eventually broke the code.
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Na kraju smo razbili kod.
06:38
This is the last frontier of recycling.
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Ovo je posljednja granica recikliranja.
06:40
It's the last major material
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To je posljednji veliki materijal
06:42
to be recovered in any significant amount on the Earth.
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koji ćemo dobiti u značajnoj količini na Zemlji.
06:44
And we finally figured out how to do it.
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Napokon smo otkrili kako to učiniti.
06:46
And in the process, we started recreating
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U procesu, počeli smo ponovno stvarati
06:48
how the plastics industry makes plastics.
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plastiku kako je industrija plastike proizvodi.
06:50
The traditional way to make plastics
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Tradicionalan način proizvodnje plastike
06:52
is with oil or petrochemicals.
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jest od nafte ili petrokemikalija
06:54
You breakdown the molecules, you recombine them in very specific ways,
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Rastavite molekule, ponovno ih spojite na specifičan način,
06:57
to make all the wonderful plastics that we enjoy each and every day.
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kako biste dobili svu divnu plastiku u kojoj uživamo svaki dan.
07:00
We said, there's got to be a more sustainable way to make plastics.
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Rekli smo, mora postojati održiviji način proizvodnje plastike.
07:03
And not just sustainable from an environmental standpoint,
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I ne samo održiv s ekološkog gledišta,
07:06
sustainable from an economic standpoint as well.
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već održiv i s ekonomskog gledišta.
07:09
Well a good place to start is with waste.
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Dobro mjesto za početak jest otpad.
07:11
It certainly doesn't cost as much as oil,
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Svakako je jeftiniji od nafte
07:13
and it's plentiful,
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i ima ga u izobilju,
07:15
as I hope that you've been able to see from the photographs.
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kao što ste mogli vidjeti na fotografijama.
07:17
And because we're not breaking down the plastic into molecules
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Budući da ne rastavljamo plastiku na molekule
07:19
and recombining them,
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i ponovno ih spajamo,
07:21
we're using a mining approach to extract the materials.
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koristimo rudarski pristup kako bismo izvukli materijale.
07:24
We have significantly lower capital costs
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Imamo značajno niže kapitalne troškove
07:26
in our plant equipment.
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za našu tvorničku opremu.
07:28
We have enormous energy savings.
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Imamo ogromne uštede energije.
07:30
I don't know how many other projects on the planet right now
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Ne znam koliko drugih projekata na planetu u ovom trenutku
07:32
can save 80 to 90 percent of the energy
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može uštedjeti 80 do 90 posto energije
07:35
compared to making something the traditional way.
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u usporedbi s proizvodnjom nečega na tradicionalan način.
07:37
And instead of plopping down several hundred million dollars
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I umjesto traćenja nekoliko stotina milijuna dolara
07:39
to build a chemical plant
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za izgradnju kemijske tvornice
07:41
that will only make one type of plastic for its entire life,
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koja će cijelo vrijeme proizvoditi samo jednu vrstu plastike,
07:44
our plants can make any type of plastic we feed them.
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naše tvornice mogu proizvesti bilo koju vrstu plastike koju unesemo.
07:47
And we make a drop-in replacement
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A radimo i zamjenu za tu plastiku,
07:49
for that plastic that's made from petrochemicals.
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izrađenu od petrokemikalija.
07:51
Our customers get to enjoy
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Naši klijenti uživaju
07:53
huge CO2 savings.
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u velikim uštedama CO2.
07:55
They get to close the loop with their products.
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Svojim proizvodima mogu zatvoriti krug.
07:57
And they get to make more sustainable products.
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I mogu proizvoditi održivije proizvode.
07:59
In the short time period I have,
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U ovom kratkom vremenskom okviru koji imam,
08:01
I want to show you a little bit of a sense about how we do this.
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želim vam ukratko dočarati kako mi to radimo.
08:04
It starts with metal recyclers who shred our stuff into very small bits.
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Sve počinje s recikliranjem metala, koji se isjecka na sićušne komadiće.
08:07
They recover the metals
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Metali se izvuku,
08:09
and leave behind what's called shredder residue -- it's their waste --
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a iza njih ostaje takozvani ostatak sjeckanja -- to je njihov otpad --
08:11
a very complex mixture of materials,
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vrlo složena mješavina materijala,
08:13
but predominantly plastics.
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ali uglavnom plastika.
08:15
We take out the things that aren't plastics,
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Izvadimo stvari koje nisu plastika,
08:17
such as the metals they missed, carpeting, foam, rubber,
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poput metala koje nisu uhvatili, podnih obloga, pjene, gume,
08:20
wood, glass, paper, you name it.
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drva, stakla, papira, što god.
08:23
Even an occasional dead animal, unfortunately.
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Čak i poneku neku mrtvu životinju, nažalost.
08:25
And it goes in the first part of our process here, which is more like traditional recycling.
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To odlazi u prvi dio našeg procesa, koji je sličan tradicionalnom recikliranju.
08:28
We're sieving the material, we're using magnets,
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Sijemo materijal, koristimo magnete,
08:30
we're using air classification.
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koristimo klasifikaciju zraka.
08:32
It looks like the Willy Wonka factory at this point.
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U ovoj fazi izgleda kao tvornica Willyja Wonke.
08:34
At the end of this process, we have a mixed plastic composite:
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Na kraju ovog procesa imamo kompozit miješane plastike:
08:37
many different types of plastics
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mnogo različitih vrsta platike
08:39
and many different grades of plastics.
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i mnogo različitih razreda plastike.
08:41
This goes into the more sophisticated part of our process,
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To odlazi u sofisticiraniji dio našeg procesa,
08:43
and the really hard work, multi-step separation process begins.
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i doista težak posao, složen proces odvajanja počinje.
08:47
We grind the plastic down to about the size of your small fingernail.
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Meljemo plastiku do veličine vašeg malog nokta.
08:50
We use a very highly automated process
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Koristimo visokoautomatizirani proces
08:52
to sort those plastics,
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sortiranja te plastike,
08:54
not only by type, but by grade.
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ne samo po vrsti, već i po razredu.
08:56
And out the end of that part of the process
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I na kraju tog dijela procesa
08:58
come little flakes of plastic:
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dolaze male pahuljice plastike:
09:00
one type, one grade.
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jedna vrsta, jedan razred.
09:02
We then use optical sorting to color sort this material.
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Zatim koristimo optičko sortiranje kako bismo sortirali materijal po boji.
09:05
We blend it in 50,000-lb. blending silos.
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Izmiješamo ih u silosima od 23.000 kilograma.
09:08
We push that material to extruders where we melt it,
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Taj materijal odlazi u ekstrudere, gdje ga topimo,
09:11
push it through small die holes,
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gurnemo kroz male rupe za bojanje,
09:13
make spaghetti-like plastic strands.
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izradimo plastične niti nalik na špagete.
09:15
And we chop those strands
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I nasjeckamo te niti
09:17
into what are called pellets.
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u ono što zovemo kuglice (pellets).
09:19
And this becomes the currency of the plastics industry.
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A to postaje valuta u industriji plastike.
09:23
This is the same material
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To je jednaki materijal
09:26
that you would get from oil.
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koji biste dobili od nafte.
09:28
And today,
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A danas,
09:30
we're producing it from your old stuff,
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proizvodimo ga od vaših starih stvari,
09:33
and it's going right back into your new stuff.
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i od njega se izravno izrađuju vaše nove stvari.
09:36
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
09:45
So now, instead of your stuff ending up
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Stoga sada, umjesto da vaše stvari završe
09:47
on a hillside in a developing country
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na brežuljku u nekoj zemlji u razvoju
09:49
or literally going up in smoke,
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ili doslovno idu u dim,
09:51
you can find your old stuff
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možete pronaći svoje stare stvari
09:53
back on top of your desk in new products,
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na svojem stolu u novim proizvodima,
09:56
in your office,
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u svojem uredu,
09:58
or back at work in your home.
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ili na poslu u svojoj kući.
10:00
And these are just a few examples
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A to su samo neki od primjera
10:02
of companies that are buying our plastic,
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tvrtki koje kupuju našu plastiku,
10:04
replacing virgin plastic,
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zamjenjuju izvornu plastiku,
10:06
to make their new products.
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kako bi napravili nove proizvode.
10:08
So I hope I've changed the way you look at
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Nadam se da sam promijenio način na koji gledate
10:10
at least some of the stuff in your life.
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barem na neke od stvari u svojem životu.
10:12
We took our clues from mother nature.
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Slijedili smo primjer majke prirode.
10:14
Mother nature wastes very little,
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Majka priroda proizvodi jako malo otpada,
10:16
reuses practically everything.
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ponovno koristi praktički sve.
10:18
And I hope that you stop looking at yourself as a consumer --
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Nadam se da ćete prestati gledati na sebe kao na potrošače --
10:21
that's a label I've always hated my entire life --
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to je oznaka koju mrzim cijelog svog života --
10:24
and think of yourself as just using resources in one form,
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i razmišljate o sebi kao nekome tko koristi resurse u jednom obliku,
10:28
until they can be transformed to another form
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sve dok ne budu transformirani u drugi oblik
10:30
for another use later in time.
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za druge svrhe u nekom drugom vremenu.
10:32
And finally, I hope you agree with me
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I na kraju, nadam se da se slažete sa mnom
10:35
to change that last toddler rule just a little bit
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da samo malo promijenimo posljednje dječje pravilo u:
10:38
to: "If it's broken, it's my stuff."
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"Ako je potrgano, to su moje stvari".
10:41
Thank you for your time.
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Hvala vam na vašem vremenu.
10:43
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mike Biddle - Plastics recyclerDiscarded plastic, too often, ends up buried or burned, not recycled (it's just too complicated). But Mike Biddle has found a way to close the loop.
Why you should listen
Throwing water bottles into the recycling bin doesn’t begin to address the massive quantity of postconsumer plastic that ends up in landfills and the ocean. Because it’s so difficult to separate the various kinds of plastics – up to 20 kinds per product – that make up our computers, cell phones, cars and home appliances, only a small fraction of plastics from complex waste streams are recycled, while the rest is tossed. In 1992, Mike Biddle, a plastics engineer, set out to find a solution. He set up a lab in his garage in Pittsburg, California, and began experimenting with complex-plastics recycling, borrowing ideas from such industries as mining and grain processing.
Since then, Biddle has developed a patented 30-step plastics recycling system that includes magnetically extracting metals, shredding the plastics, sorting them by polymer type and producing graded pellets to be reused in industry – a process that takes less than a tenth of the energy required to make virgin plastic from crude oil. Today, the company he cofounded, MBA Polymers, has plants in China and Austria, and plans to build more in Europe, where electronics-waste regulation (which doesn’t yet have an equivalent in the US) already ensures a stream of materials to exploit – a process Biddle calls “above-ground mining.”
He says: "I consider myself an environmentalist. I hate to see plastics wasted. I hate to see any natural resource – even human time – wasted.”
Mike Biddle | Speaker | TED.com