Old Paint – New Use

Science Daily, March 27, 2007 reported in Recycling: Scientists Blend Paint into Plastics, that engineers at Rutgers, developed a process to blend old – left over latex paint with common plastic to make a product that was as good and in some cases superior to other plastics.

Tom Nosker, professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Rutgers noted in the article that “unwanted paint has become the largest component of household hazardous waste – some 68 million gallons annually. And this doesn’t even account for large quantities of paint that commercial painters and retailers dispose because of incorrect tints and inventory miscalculations.”

The Rutgers engineers found that when the paint is mixed with a plastic like that used in Plexiglas, plastic windows and lenses the resulting product was more flexible and tougher but kept the same stiffness and strength – and of course it was the color of the paint used.

To see the full article, click here.

***************
Notyak! You don't have to become a yak herder to do something good for the environment. http://www.notyak.com/
***************
Add this blog to your Google Home Page or Google Reader.