Chemistry, Materials & Packaging
The latest developments in safe and sustainable chemicals, new materials, fuels, and more.
A Socially Sustainable Water Solution Could End Largest Mass Poisoning in History
Nearly 60 million people in Bangladesh and West Bengal, India have to rely on arsenic-contaminated groundwater for their basic needs. This has been described as the largest case of mass poisoning in human history.[1] Arsenic slowly builds up in the body and causes cancers, painful lesions and skin burns.
Sealed Air Introduces More-Sustainable Packing Peanuts
If you did much holiday shopping online this year, you likely had to deal with pesky, loose-fill peanut packaging that is tough on the environment and difficult to dispose of or recycle.Packaging manufacturers Sealed Air claim to have solved the “peanut problem” with a new loose fill product made of 95% non-food based renewable material.Sealed Air says the product, called PakNatural, provides the same cushioning protection as polystyrene packing peanuts without the static and environmental impact. And it has better humidity resistance than peanuts made of starch, which also have the downside of diverting food sources.
P&G, NRDC and FSC: The Debate Over Sustainable Tissue Continues
Earlier this year, P&G outlined a comprehensive framework for its leading brands to increase their positive impacts on society and the environment. But forest-conservation NGOs say they need less talk, more action when it comes to P&G's tissue products.
