Book Review: Poisoned Profits - The Toxic Assault on Our Children

For those who thought the blog forgot its Weekly News Roundup, I was actually considering not doing it this week as I wasn't able to compile them last week. Fortunately, my Google Reader came to the rescue!Here are last week's... For those who thought the blog forgot its Weekly News Roundup, I was actually considering not doing it this week as I wasn't able to compile them last week. Fortunately, my Google Reader came to the rescue!Here are last week's news in no particular order. I will put a separate post about the DOE's biomass grant announced last week. More money for Metabolix Bioplastic developer Metabolix has completed its public offering of 3,450,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $9.00 per share for gross proceeds of $31 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes. Recycled plastic bridges Axion International Holdings completed its $957,000 contract for the construction of two railroad bridges designed from nearly 100% recycled plastics. The US Army has commissioned each of these bridges to be built at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Carpet fiber eco-certified Invista said it is the first company to obtain Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) certification for its carpet fibers under a new, expanded standard by third-party certification company Scientific Certification Systems (SCS). Biomass fuel plant approved renewaFUEL LLC plans to construct and operate its next-generation biomass fuel production facility at the Telkite Technology Park near Marquette, Michigan. The plant will produce 150,000 tons/year of high-energy, low-emission biofuel cubes, a composite of collected wood and agricultural feedstocks supplied from local farmers and loggers for the facility. GE's biggest wind service deal GE and E.ON Climate & Renewables North America signed a 7-year operation and maintenance agreement covering EC&R's complete fleet of 529 GE wind turbines installed in the United States. The O&M deal is one of the largest wind services agreements ever signed by GE. And in ICIS news (requires subscription): Bioplastics' share of auto sector to increase, a consultant with BeOne Hamburg reported. French chemical maker Arkema forecast that 10% of its sales will come from renewable resources. Producing biodiesel from sugarcane is less than five years away from becoming commercially viable, as illustrated by two US companies. addthis_pub = 'greenchicgeek';

It looks like chemical companies are in full swing promoting numerous green projects and products. We recently posted news from Dow Chemical, Honeywell, Clariant, Eastman, Teijin, Arkema... and now here's from BASF. The company is formally launching on Wednesday its... It looks like chemical companies are in full swing promoting numerous green projects and products. We recently posted news from Dow Chemical, Honeywell, Clariant, Eastman, Teijin, Arkema... and now here's from BASF. The company is formally launching on Wednesday its new zero-emission Acrodur® acrylic thermosets for automotive applications. The new acrylics are thermally cross-linkable, said to be free of formaldehyde and other emissions, and offer new routes to innovative composite materials. With the product, natural-based fibers such as wood, flax, hemp or sisal can be resinated in different ways for used in the production of shaped panels for automobile interiors. Kettering University, which released the news, said that the green acrylic can provide a great variety of other natural and man-made fibers of the nonwoven industry or even granulated materials, which can be bonded with the new binder system. Last week, BASF also launched its new biodegradable plastic Ecovio® FS for coating paper and for shrink films manufacturing.The company claims that initial production tests for the bioplastic at customers' facilities have been successful, and that sample material is already available.BASF plans to commercialize the product at large in the first quarter of 2010. Ecovio FS is made from combined PLA (polylactic acid) and BASF's Ecoflex, a petroleum-based (aliphatically aromatic copolyester) biodegradable plastic. The company said the use of the new Ecoflex FS raises the proportion of bio-based material in Ecovio FS Shrink Film to 66% and that of Ecovio FS Paper to a full 75%. Another use for BASF's biodegradable packaging is for the company's new Interceptor® insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The eco-friendly bags (I'm not sure if this bag is made from BASF's Ecoflex technology) for the mosquito nets will reportedly solve the disposal issue which is pressing in many African countries. BASF will distribute thousands of Interceptor nets in the new eco-friendly bags in the next few months to evaluate consumer acceptance in select African countries. For pharmaceutical applications, BASF said its new Kollicoat IR tablet coating system makes colored tablet coating production more efficient; enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to cut their energy bills and reducing CO2 emissions in the production process; and the coating does not require additional plasticizer use. Kollicoat IR is a graft copolymer composed of polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol. In a "not-so-green" news however, BASF recently announced that it is closing its fuel cell site in Frankfurt, Germany, and will concentrate its production of high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) in Somerset, New Jersey, USA. Operational activities at the Frankfurt fuel cell plant will stop on December 31, 2009, and the site will close sometime next year. The restructuring will result in the loss of 43 positions in Frankfurt. addthis_pub = 'greenchicgeek';

Here's a video from Eastman Chemical promoting its Tritan copolyester for BPA-free baby bottles under the Weil Brand. Eastman said the bottles are also designed as anti-colic because of its unique venting system. Another interesting news from Eastman is that... Here's a video from Eastman Chemical promoting its Tritan copolyester for BPA-free baby bottles under the Weil Brand. Eastman said the bottles are also designed as anti-colic because of its unique venting system. Another interesting news from Eastman is that it recently expanded its bulk storage capacity in the European Union (EU) for its non-phthalate plasticizers Eastman™ 168 and Eastman™ DBT. The company said demand for non-phthalate plasticizers in Europe has been increasing, and that customers need the reliability and quick availability of large quantities of local supply. addthis_pub = 'greenchicgeek';