plastic

Almería has been the great “plastic sea” of Europe for years. Now he wants to be another sea: that of solar panels

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During the First Andalusian Congress on Agriculture, Energy and Water held at the University of Almería, a path that begins to materialize today was already glimpsed. In that meeting, Professor Ángel Carreño He stressed that the use of photovoltaic plates In greenhouses, intensive agriculture could revolutionize. “With just 1% shadow with solar panels on the roof, the energy needs of a greenhouse could be covered,” he said. Seven years later, this forecast is specified in a pioneering project that aims to make a qualitative leap to the Almeria agricultural model: Dynamic Aquasave. From the plastic sea to the energy sea. The scenario of this innovation cannot be more unique. NASA confirms that the “plastic sea” Almeria is one of the few human constructions visible from space. According to the BBCunder its 32,000 hectares of white plastic, about four million tons of foods are produced every year to export them to Europe, generating about 5.1 billion dollars annually, which represents 40% of the GDP of the province. It is in this context where Dynamic Aquasave arises, with the promise that the plastic sea can be transformed into an energy sea, capable of producing not only food, but also electricity. How will it be? The University of Almería, together with Barre greenhouses, the Technalia Technology Center, the Uual-Anecoop Foundation and with CDTI financing, leads this project. The contract was signed in November 2024 and was ratified in February 2025 In the official act of the Department of Engineering of the UAL. The system consists of installing transparent or semi -transparent solar panels on the greenhouse cover, which are automatically oriented thanks to an algorithm. These panels fulfill a double function: they act as a dynamic shade to control excessive radiation and, at the same time, generate electricity. As He explained Professor Diego Luis Valera to Diario de Almería, “integrates, in the same system, photovoltaic generation and dynamic shadow governed by algorithms, something that does not exist in the market with the parameters required by a greenhouse adapted to the southeast of Spain.” The planned benefits are clear: up to 30% water savings, less needy need, a more stable microclimate, energy for self -consumption or sale and better working conditions within greenhouses. Forecasts The Dynamic Aquasave prototype will be installed at the Uual-Anecoop Foundation, where a greenhouse will also be enabled to compare yields. The experimentation phase is scheduled for the fall of 2025 and will last at least two agricultural campaigns. The project also has the collaboration of the University of Córdoba, which develops specific software and hardware for the control of the orientable panels. The combination of agricultural engineering, artificial intelligence and renewable energy makes it a unique proposal in the international scene. The digital layer. Dynamic Aquasave is not just solar energy. According to has detailed Valera to Diario de Almería, also seeks to provide the field of an artificial intelligence layer. With sensors and automatic learning algorithms, the system can predict dates and kilos of harvest before cutting, adjusting irrigation and nutrient supply in real time, and reducing the water and carbon footprint. In addition, the equipment works in passive microclimate systems: low -cost solutions that allow regulating temperature and humidity without spending energy, favoring biological pest control and reducing inputs. The project also supports international research and transfer networks, which seek that these innovations do not stay in laboratories, but arrive as soon as possible to real farms. Although the problems are not going to go. The European garden also drags criticism. Technology can relieve some challenges, but not solve them all. No algorithm can, by itself, reverse the overexploitation of aquifers or the social problems of the Almeria field. On the one hand, academic investigations cited by the British environment They remember that growth has been sustained thanks to the overexploitation of underground aquifers, some in deficit for more than two decades, and that 30,000 tons of plastic waste are generated every year. On the other hand, The newspaper El Salto The other face denounces: migrant workers living in precarious settlements, with low salaries and marathon days. Although Dynamic Aquasave represents a technological leap, but the Almeria model also needs to face its social and environmental side. A challenge beyond energy. Although We have already explained in Xataka As solar panels can be an improvement for crops, the challenge, however, goes beyond engineering. The key will be that the plastic sea not only becomes a sea of ​​solar panels, but an agricultural space that combines innovation with social justice and environmental sustainability. Only then, Almería may go from being a green miracle to become a world agriculture model of the future. Image | Kallerna and Unspash Xataka | How much electricity produces each country from the map with renewable energy, exposed in a graphic

More and more voices think that keeping food in plastic is not a good idea

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A kitchen that boards has a drawer up to numerous tuppers with the tapas on the other hand. Although it is not the only place, we open the fridge and find even more stacked: some keep the leftovers of noon, others contain freshly taken food from their original container. Behind this daily life – so assumed that goes unnoticed – hides an uncomfortable question: are we storing our food well? The plastic under suspicion. Light, cheap, resistant: plastic became the great ally of modern cuisine. However, recent studies call their safety when they come into contact with food. A BBC report He explained That thousands of chemicals are part of their composition and that some can migrate to food, especially when they come into contact with fatty, acid or hot foods. The problem is not only the food we keep, but also the use we give: the microwave, the dishwasher or the rayons due to repeated use accelerate the release of compounds. And microplastics. To them is added another invisible problem. As Delish magazine has pointed outtuppers release microplastics, tiny particles that have already been found in blood, lungs and even human placenta. A health problem. The debate about tuppers is not a simple kitchen detail: what is at stake is hormonal health. Many of the compounds that migrate from food plastics are classified as endocrine disruptors, substances capable of altering the balance of our hormones. The best known case is bisphenol A (BPA), used for decades in rigid plastics and linked to fertility and development problems. The European Food Security Authority (EFSA) recently reviewed its safety and reduced tolerable intake at a level 20,000 times lower than the previous one. Something similar happens with phthalates, employees to give flexibility to plastic and also associated with hormonal and reproductive alterations, As the BBC has detailed. Plans b. However, trusting alternatives is not a guarantee either. The Guardian He has warned that compounds used as BPA substitutes – the so -called BPS and BPF – have similar effects on the body. AND, According to a study cited by The I Papermore than 3,600 chemicals of plastic containers present in humans have been identified, many of them barely studied. Therefore, some expert voices are overwhelming. Lisa Zimmerman, from Food Packaging Forum, summarized it like this For the same medium: “If you care about your health, you should throw your plastic tuppers and use glass or steel.” The stations also influence. Beyond chemicals, summer heat adds another threat: bacteria. In statements collected by El Confidencialdietitian Judit Carreira, from the Sant Pau Hospital, explained that high temperatures favor food poisoning. Its advice is clear: transport the taperes in thermal bags or portable refrigerators, avoid exposing them to the sun and, above all, separating raw cooked in the fridge to prevent cross contamination. “When you return from the supermarket, the meat and the raw fish should be removed from the container and stored in a clean taper,” He has insisted. He also remembered the four basic food security rules: clean, separate, cook and cool. So, throw all my tuppers? It is not about emptying the kitchen, but of changing habits. Various media They coincide In a series of recommendations: Avoid reheating in plastic: although the container indicates “suitable for microwave”, heat accelerates chemical migration. Reserve them only for cold or dry foods, never for oily, acid or hot meals. Replace them if they are scratched, deformed or with persistent smell. Opt for glass, steel or ceramics for hot meals or prolonged conservation. Now, not all alternatives are perfect. Ceramics, although it is considered safe if it is certified, can be a problem in cases of artisanal productions. The mail reported a few months ago The case of a family of Getxo (Vizcaya) poisoned with lead after drinking for years of an enameled ceramic jug bought in Andalusia. Lead, prohibited in pottery since the 60s, can cause abdominal pain, anemia or neurological alterations. An easier life, at risk. It is true that tuppers have made our lives easier, but they have also exposed us to a chemical soup not yet known. Science still investigates the cumulative effects, but there is consensus on something simple: heat, fat and plastic do not combine well. Perhaps the true luxury of modern cuisine is not accumulating containers of all sizes, but choosing containers that take care of our health. Image | Unspash Xataka | I have a decade teleworking and I have discovered the best productivity trick: plan a weekly meal menu

When a man removed the protective plastic to his monitor he realized that it was not the protective plastic

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Remaking the protective plastics of new devices is all A category within the ASMR. Stretching the film to reveal the completely new and bright surfaces gives a taste, except when what we remove is not a protective plastic and we end up loading the device. It is just what happened to this Reddit user with his new monitor. What happened. User tells Messaywaffle123. He had just bought a new 4K monitor and everything was going well until he realized that he was still wearing what he thought was the protective plastic. “It worked perfectly for five minutes before curiosity seized me,” he says in a post that has more than 700 comments. At least the monitor was second -hand and it only cost him $ 100. What is that layer. As you can imagine, that layer should not be removed since it is actually the polarizing filter and is part of the panel. The LCD screens They have several polarizing filters that are responsible for filtering the light to show the images. In this case he only removed a corner of the outer layer and, from what is seen in the images, he hit it again. The marks of stretching the plastic are noticed, but the screen is still seen. If I had completely eliminated it, the screen would look white as can be seen in This video where we see an LCD screen without the polarizing filter. It can be replaced. If the same thing happened to this user and you have removed the polarizing layer unintentionally, You can buy one and try to replace it manually. This is what many users recommend in Reddit’s thread responses, although most admits that it is not a simple task since it is very easy for bubbles or dust to remain. Other cases. It is not the first what happens And not only in monitors, similar things have also happened On TVsoften because when the real protective plastic removal, it was carried behind the lower layer. There have been more cases. We recently saw how Nintendo warned buyers of the new Switch 2 that were removing the protective layer. It was not really a polarizing filter, but a layer to prevent the screen from breaking into pieces if it suffered an impact. Samsung also happened with the first fold: Some users removed the plastic from the interior screen, leaving it unusable. Image | Reddit In Xataka | In 2011 someone published in Reddit “A858”. Fourteen years and thousands of messages later, the mystery is still disound

The secret is in the plastic

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With a simple adChina unleashed an unprecedented form of commercial war, one in which there were no tariffs or tariffs, but by manipulating a strategic resource that the West never knew how to diversify in time. In a few weeks, the scarcity threat of these Rare Earth Materials and Icans has caused paralysis alerts in sectors that move the economies of the world. The entire planet desperately seeks what Beijing dominates with iron fist. And everything starts with plastic. The strategic origins. As we said, the partial suspension of rare earth exports by China has put on alert to governments around the world, but for the Beijing leadership These raw materials have been a priority issue during Almost half a century. Unlike other powers that began to assess their use in a later way, China’s interest in rare earth elements dates back to the late 1970s, when the country tried to overcome the structural deficiencies inherited from the inherited Maoist industrial model. Under the leadership of Deng Xiaopingwhich happened to Mao Zedong In 1978, China became aware of the strategic value of these elements not only for their industrial utility, but also for its Military and Technological Potential. While Mao prioritized the amount of iron and steel, without paying too much attention to its quality, Deng promoted a more technical and focused modernization. His executing arm was Fang Yia trusted technocrat who assumed as a viceprimer minister and head of the State Commission of Science and Technology, from where reorganized the strategy National towards a more sophisticated exploitation of mineral resources. A decisive advantage. The turning point occurred in the Baotou cityin interior Mongolia, where the greater site Iron mineral from China, key to war production under Mao. Fang and his team of scientists took A critical decision: Also take advantage of the important rare earth concentrations contained in the site. There abounded light elements such as hill, useful for manufacturing ductile iron and glass, and the Lantano, essential in oil refining. In addition, there were medium reservations Samarioused in heat -resistant magnets necessary for supersonic aircraft and missiles engines. By 1978, while relations with the United States improved, Fang already publicly articulated The cross value of rare earths in industries that went from ceramics and steel to electronics and defense. That same year he brought Chinese engineers to Visit factories by Lockheed Martin and McDonnell Douglas in the United States, a trip that would mark the convergence of industrial ambition and technological learning. A chemical revolution. And here comes one of the keys to this domain. The real advance came when Chinese engineers managed to develop a Separation technique Much cheaper chemistry than used in the United States or the USSR. While the West depended on complex facilities in stainless steel and expensive nitric acid, China opted for Use plastic materials and hydrochloric acid, much cheaper. The use of plastic is not trivial. This innovation, together with lax environmental standards, allowed China to flood the market with Rare earth at low costcausing the progressive closure of refineries in the West. In fact, the process of deindustrialization outside of China consolidated the Asian monopoly. At the same time, Chinese geologists discovered that the country housed approximately the Half of global reserves Known of rare earths, including exceptional deposits of heavy rare earths in the country’s center-south, keys for magnet technologies in electric vehicles, medical equipment and other critical applications. An consummated domain. I remembered The New York Times That, in the 90s and 2000s, Chinese engineers perfected the refining of heavy rare earths, raising China to an almost total domain position in this segment. The famous phrase De Deng Xiaoping in 1992 (“Middle East has oil, China has rare earths”) synthesizes the strategic vision that had already materialized. This policy was not random: Deng and Fang formed the next generation of leaders to continue with this approach. One of them was Wen Jiabaogeologist specialized in rare earths, formed during the turbulent years of the Cultural Revolution. Wen, who amounted to VicePrimer Minister in 1998 and Prime Minister in 2003, declared during a visit to Europe in 2010 that almost nothing related to rare earth occurred Without his speech direct. This continuity in the political elite guaranteed that the exploitation, refined and control of the global rare earth market became central pillars of the Economic and Geopolitics Strategy from China. The economic offensive. Thus we arrive at the current moment. He counted The Financial Times That, until now, Chinese economic sanctions had been notoriously inaccurate, based on diffuse boycots or administrative blockages that rarely reached their political objectives. Neither South Korea withdrew his antimile shield after commercial reprisals, nor Australia changed his foreign policy when China stopped buying his wine. Even sanctions against US defense companies were more a symbolic gesture than A coercive tool real. But the new measures on rare earths mark A turning point: They are specific, measurable and directly affect key industrial sectors. The threat is no longer abstract; translates into factories on the edge of closureblocked supply chains and western governments forced to reconsider their commercial positions. Everything is calibrated. The effectiveness of this offensive lies in the improvement of the Chinese normative arsenal. Beijing has developed a legal framework that not only restricts exports, but requires foreign companies to avoid the use of Chinese minerals in products for industry American defense. This extraterritorial clause has been designed with intelligence: instead of direct confrontation, it seeks to generate pressure between third countries, pushing them to act as diplomatic intermediaries that urged Washington to soften their commercial policies. The simultaneous fall of exports to Japan, South Korea and India shows that China is willing to Accept economic costs limited to reinforce their strategic position and dilute the direct confrontation narrative. West is late. Thus, the most revealing is not The maneuver China itself, but the Lack of preparation of the West. From the first cut of exports to Japan in 2011, governments and industries knew that … Read more

We have a problem with plastic recycling. Japanese scientists have created one who self -destructs in the sea

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In summer, more than once we have been scared thinking that a plastic was, in reality, a jellyfish. Far from that triviality, a major problem is hidden. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)more than eleven million metric tons of plastics end up in the oceans every year. Although a new wave of change is brewing in Japan with plastics that get rid of. Short. A group of researchers from the Riken Center for the science of emerging matter and the University of Tokyo has developed a plastic capable of degrading completely in salt water in a matter of hours, As explained in a press release. The demonstration. The team has shown how a small piece of the new material disappeared in a container with marine water after being agitated for about an hour. Although no marketing plan has yet been detailed, the project leader, Takuzo Aida, He has affirmed Reuters That research has aroused great interest, even from the packaging sector. A deep problem. The urgency of this advance is framed in an increasingly serious environmental crisis. According to UNEPplastic pollution could be tripled by 2040, reaching up to 37 million metric tons annual in the oceans. Therefore, the investigation has not wanted to limit itself in the visible, but also in the microplastics that are infiltrated in all the ecosystems of the planet. Long journey. According to They have explained Scientists, this new material is the result of more than thirty years of research in supramolecular polymers. Unlike traditional plastics, which remain united by very resistant covalent bonds, they use weakest and most reversible links. This allows the material to maintain its resistance, but decompose rapidly under the appropriate conditions. The point. To achieve this, they needed a “passage key” that was in salt. Technically, They have detailed Reuters that the combination of hexametafostato sodium (a food additive) and ions of Guanidinio (employees in fertilizers) formed saline bridges that provided stability to the material. However, by immersing themselves in salt water, these bridges are broken and, within a few hours, there is no trace of the plastic. The resulting material is resistant, colorless, igniphed and not toxic. It can even waterproof with a hydrophobic coating, without losing your ability to break down if your surface is scratched or drilled. Although it has its limitations. As The project manager has indicated to Reuterswhen decomposing, plastic releases nitrogen and phosphorus, elements that can be reused by microorganisms or plants. However, if they accumulate in a uncontrolled way, they could alter coastal ecosystems, favoring phenomena such as algae flowers. To avoid this, the researchers propose a controlled recycling system in seawater treatment plants, which would allow to recover the materials and reuse them in new supramolecular plastics. Biodegradable, but enough? The novelty of Japanese plastic contrasts with the limitations of other called biodegradable plastics. According to the researchersmaterials such as polylactic acid (PL), although they degrade on land under industrial conditions, persist in the ocean, where they fail to break down and end up forming microplastics. Other more recent alternatives, such as certain recyclable plastics developed in Europe, offer greater durability and recyclabilitybut they still face similar challenges: slow degradation in the marine environment and dependence on specific management systems. One step further. That moment could be closer than it seems. Meanwhile, jellyfish will continue to be jellyfish. But at least, the plastic that imitates them could begin to disappear. Image | Unspash Xataka | We thought we had found a safe and sustainable alternative to oil derived. We have to keep looking

We have a problem with the future of cement and excess plastic. Someone has come up with the most obvious

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Mortar is easy. We have been doing thousands of years and, although we have refined the formula so that it is not the same as They used 10,000 years ago in Jericho or in the construction of First pyramids of Egyptthe recipe is simple. A part of cement (or an binder in antiquity), one of water and three of sand. With that, we have a mixture that carries millennia serving perfectly. But, although we have been polishing the formula with best materialsthe mortar has several problems, and the researchers at the University of Newcastle have proposed solve them. As? With an ecological mortar that adds plastic to the dough. Sand at the point of view. The use of sand is Key for mortar production. Also for concrete, this being a material that we have been trying to withdraw thanks to alternatives They appear from time to time. And the reason to use sand is a problem is because We are exhausting reservations World Cups of this material. In addition, make mortar, cement and concrete It is very polluting. HE esteem That the cement industry is responsible for approximately 5% of CO₂ global emissions and, this being a fundamental component of the mortar and concrete, the more we reduce its use, the better. Extracting sand can also cause ecological damage In rivers and beaches, as well as health risks due to particle inhalation, for example. Ecological mortar. It is there where research to create green concrete or the one we mention from the University of Newcastle comes into play. In his studyThe team details how thanks to Aergel Silica and recycled plastic they have created a new mortar that manages to be respectful of the environment. The team developed different mixtures by adding more or less substitute for the sand and found that the most effective is the one with 7% of silica aerogels and 3% of PET plastic. White is the silica aerogel. THE GRAY THE PET Plastic Rescue plastic. But … effective in what? Well, curiously, this new mortar comes to solve several problems of conventional sand. The first thing that highlights is that the new mixture of mortar is able to reduce the loss of heat from a structure by up to 55% if compared to the conventional mortar. This helps both to cool a stay in summer and to retain heat in cold months. This occurs because conventional mortar is a bad thermal insulator, allowing heat to escape easily. But not only this: the new mortar is also lighter than the conventional one, which implies a lower cost in transport by associated fuel savings. Thermal conductivity tests of this ecological mortar. We need to try it in the real world … 2×1. Apart from contributing to a construction more efficient at the energy level, this plastic -based mortar Solve another problem directly. PET plastic particles used come from crushed plastic waste (bottles, mainly), so the massive use in mortar can help reduce that contamination of plastics that brings us head. Tests are missing. The team explains that they have achieved British standards for the construction of this new mortar and are already working on the following big step: finding collaborators as a construction company to request financing and build a house with the ecological mortar. It is what will allow them to obtain the direct evidence of that potential energy savings, something that until they put into practice in a large -scale real environment, it remains only in the theory. But well, while we wait to see if they get that opportunity, the truth is that it is striking how researchers from the whole globe are committed to Jubilate cement, mortar and concrete. Another thing is that the new more ecological alternatives are able to compete in costs, which is what would ultimately convince those who raise the buildings. Images | Newcastle University, Scientedirect In Xataka | In Europe, recycled plastic is worth more than the new and the culprit is a known old man: the councils directive

15 years ago, a forest engineer decided to grow sponges in Galicia. The war against plastic has ended up giving him right

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In the mid -90s, Juan Carlos Mascato finished studying forest sciences in Hamburg and enrolled in a company in the area. He was lucky: of all the things that company could have needed, he needed someone to speak Spanish, someone to send to Paraguay. It was then that he met the Lugfa and began his crusade against the plastic. Today is the largest producer in Europe in the sponges and natural scourers. And all from a small town in Pontevedra. What is the LUFFA? The LUFFAS are a genus of plants slightly related to pumpkins, cucumbers and melons. In fact, in Southeast Asia is a Very popular food as long as they are collected soon. Otherwise it becomes too fibrous to be consumed. So fibrous that, duly processed, they can be used as exfoliating sponges. For centuries, this type of vegetables (or some of its variants) were widely used and were among the crops of any orchard that would be precious. But the irruption of plastic from the 40s sent them to the drawer of history. Until now what THE WAR OF THE PLASTICS They have returned them to the first line. And what does the European Luffa giant do in Caldas de Reis? It is an excellent question. As Silvia Rodríguez explained in the countrythe clearest reason is that the Mascato family (of German mother, but Father Gallego) had a farm available in a town with a very particular climate that made it a good candidate to try subtropical crops: Caldas. Chance does not end there, of course. Because the processing of the LUFFA includes a fermentation phase in which the hot springs of the Gallego municipality fit as a ring to the finger. No one is a prophet in their land … And in this case it doesn’t happen either. Because the truth is that Iberian vegetable sponges It is little known here in the country. Of the 200,000 sponges that manufacture a year, only 10% stay in Spain. The rest goes to countries such as Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Norwegian or East next … Right now, the company works on an online marketing project in Germany and expanding its productive infrastructure to the US. What sponges can teach us. Because although the story is already very interesting, there is something that really crucial: that for decades we have despised many traditional solutions simply because they were. And that is a mistake. This was made clear in 2015 Karolinska Institute of Stockholm when granted your youyou The Nobel Prize in Medicine. Many interpreted him as a prize for traditional Chinese medicine, but it was not accurate: your feat was incredible. Since 1965, your youyou It was analyzing thoroughly Each and every one of the remedies that the millenary Chinese civilization had been selecting. And, indeed, most pure superstition, pseudoscience and placebo. However, he found the Artemisininea revolutionary treatment against malaria. Rethink the past. This is an example of the book that if we approach us with an open (but rigorous) look at the technological history of humanity, we can find really creative solutions to the problems of our day to day. In the middle of a world invaded by plastics, natural sponges are an excellent example. Image | Jan Helbrant | Tony Buser In Xataka | How an idea can model societies with hundreds of millions of people almost 1000 years later: Schultz’s hypothesis

We have a new type of plastic, with the durability of traditional plastics and what is more important: recyclable

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During most of human existence, finding or producing food with which to sustain our population. Agrarian development millennia have allowed us to reach the point where humanity does not have to face the problem of lack of livelihood, but we have reached a point where the problem is at the other end of the chain: the problem of the waste. A new plastic. To solve it, or at least to relieve it, a team of researchers has created a new type of plastic. According to its developers, the new material is of great durability but can also be easily recycled. Recyclable alternative. This new plastic is presented as an alternative to conventional thermosye plastics. These materials stand out for their durability and are widespread in the industry: we can see them in many objects, from wheels to balls to play bowling. The characteristic that makes these plastics so resistant is their structure in which the reticulated polymers. In his secret is his disadvantage and this structure makes them impossible to recycle them, Explain the team responsible for the new plastic material. Double polymerization. The process of creating the new plastic part of the dihydrofurano (DHF), a circular monomer with double bond that can be created from biological materials, The team points out. From this monomer two polymerization processes begin, the second process being the result in a reticulated polymer. In the first process the circular structures of the DHF are cut and then link them to each other, creating a flexible and soft polymer in addition to recyclable and degradable in acid, explains the equipment. This process is part of the intact monomer In the second polymerization, these circular monomers do not open and then intertwine, but thanks to their double bond they join between them and next to the polymer resulting from the first process, everything without changing their circular structure to a linear. This second stage is what hardens the final material. A more sustainable process. The resulting polymer is recyclable using heat and can be degraded naturally in the environment. In addition, the resulting material can be altered through variables in the process such as time using the reaction or number of catalysts used, which leaves a wide range of possible materials result of the same reaction. Altering the light in the process, for example we can choose between a more difficult or more flexible resulting plastic. “The whole process, since the creation of reuse, is more ecological than with current materials,” explained in a press release Reagan Dreiling, a member of the team that developed the new material. The researcher and the rest of the team presented the details of the development of the new material In an article In the magazine Nature. In Xataka | The European waste industry has been lying for years: in 2018 everything jumped through the air and we have not yet recovered Image | Sigmund

The US has decided to leave paper straws because everyone hates them. The problem is the alternative: plastic

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Between him merchandising Maga with whom he dressed his bankrupt 2020 attempt For returning to the White House, Donald Trump included a much less resulting piece than his famous red caps, but endowed with the same political burden: plastic straws. The cannulas carried their last name in capital letters, were sold in packages of $ 15 and were, in the words of the Republican leader, the alternative to the “Liberal straws” of paper. They did not serve to win those elections, but to raise thousands of dollars. Now, back at the White House, He has decided that the whole government also begins to use plastic cannulas instead of biodegradables. And as happened in 2020, with it he launches a message that goes beyond the straws. What happened? Donald Trump doesn’t want more straws. Rather, he doesn’t want more paper straws. That’s why He has just signed An executive order with which he reverses the efforts of the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who advanced right in the opposite direction. The Democrat aspired that federal institutions be disregarding plastic cannulas throughout The next few yearsfirst taking them out of their activities in 2027 and then suppressing them until they reduce them to zero in 2035. Why’s that? Simple. Because Trump doesn’t like them. He made it clear already during his failed electoral campaign of 2020 and has stressed again these days, in a resounding way and without half inks, faithful to his style. “These things do not work, I have had them many times, and sometimes they break, they explode. If something is hot, they do not last long, a matter of minutes, sometimes second. It is something ridiculous,” He settled. The republican argument does not end there. Trump has insisted that the attached straws that have been promoting as the ecological alternative to the traditional plastic are dissolved for years “disgustingly” in the mouth and even questions that its use is positive. For both consumers and the environment. Its decree in fact that they incorporate chemicals that “can entail risks to human health”, their production is more expensive than the conventional alternative and also generate waste. “Paper strases are sometimes involved individually in plastic, which undermines the environmental argument in favor of its use,” emphasize. Goodbye to biodegradable straws? Not quite. Trump’s decision is relevant and there are those who have seen in it A declaration of intentionssomething that goes far beyond the simple cannulas. The Executive Order declares that “US’s policy is to put an end to the use of paper straws”, but at the moment its scope is limited: it focuses on the federal administration, putting an end to The Biden era policy that sought that the federal government gradually eliminate the purchase of plastics from a single use. The regulatory framework around the straws is really something more complex. There are cities and states, including California, Oregon, New Jersey or Seattle, in Washington’s own territory, endowed with regulations that limit the use of plastic cannulas or prioritize biodegradable options. Trump’s goal is clear, in any case. Before journalists, he shared transparently what his bet is: “We will return to plastic straws.” Do paper straws work? Trump ensures that its use leads to “ridiculous” situations and even that they are “disgusting” in certain cases. Those are personal, subjective appreciations. What can be affirmed objectively is that science has demonstrated that biodegradable cannulas are far from being perfect and – beyond that they may or may not be softened while using some problems related to their materials. In 2023 a group of researchers published A study in which they exposed their conclusions after analyzing 39 brands of straws of different materials, from plastic or paper to glass, steel and bamboo. And his conclusion was that the biodegradable cardboard were the ones that contained the highest volume of PFAS. That is a problem because these synthetic substances are harmful to humans and the environment. Of a total of 20 paper cannulas brands, 18 showed PFAS. Why is it a problem? It He expressed clearly Two years ago at SMC Marieta Fernández, a professor at the University of Granada, precisely following that study. “The majority of paper analyzed (90%) contained pfas. They were also detected in 80% of bamboo, 75% of plastic and 40% of glass. The steel analyzed, “summarized the academic. Fernández recalls that PFAS are commonly used for non -stick purposes and to improve the resistance of water, heat or spots, so “it is not surprising” to find them in the cannulas. The problem, abundantis that their presence in paper and bamboo straws would question that they are really “biodegradable.” And what is so or even more serious: it question that they are really “suitable for human consumption” products. Better plastic? Paper strases may not be perfect, but those of plastic are also very far from being, no matter how much Trump likes them, confessed lover of sugary and gas sodas. As Remember Fernándezthe study of 2023 also detected PFAS in the plastic units. And while its percentage was lower than in cardboard versions, the result remained elevated: chemicals were detected in 75% of the samples. His big problem is nevertheless another: the impact they have on the environment. The data does not always coincide, but they usually show a worrying scenario. There are estimates that speak that in the US they are used a day 175 million of disposable straws, Straws Turtle Island Restoraction Newtory raises the data to More than 390 million And another calculation –so cited as disputed– points out that in the country each day more than 500 million of cannulas. And what does that mean? Let any of those figures or Another estimatethe truth is that we talk about a quantity of huge straws: hundreds of thousands daily, in the best case, which take only a few minutes to become garbage. The big question is … What to do with them when they are discarded? Do they all end up in the … Read more

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