Aug 9, 2018
Production of biodegradable plastics
One of the biggest chemical industries in Japan, Kaneka has the ability to produce vegetable-based plastics and they announced to increase its production five times more than their current. Recently, the Starbucks decided to abolish the usage of plastic straw. Since the issue of plastic waste is drawing worldwide attention, Kaneka anticipates that the demand for vegetable-based plastics will increase.
Their products named PHBH are kind of biodegradable plastic, which made from vegetable oils and can biodegrade by microbial action. In the condition of 30° seawater, it will change into water and carbon dioxide within six months. It certified from international certification authority last year, as the first among such products in Japan.
Nowadays, they export their products mainly to European countries. There have been demands of vegetable-based plastics as materials of plastic bags, used in equipment to compost vegetable waste. As the demands are increasing, they decided to increase the production. They will invest around two hundred thousand yen in Takasago plant so that they can strengthen their annual production ability until five thousand tons before next December. They predict the PHBH will be used also as utensils such as straws in the future, and then they will increase the production to 20 thousand tons.
The usage of biodegradable plastics has not become popular yet, because of the high cost and low durability. However, the issue of plastic wastes is becoming a serious problem, because it causes seawater pollution. In May of this year, the European Commission proposed the regulation to ban selling plastic straw. The Starbucks will also abolish the usage of straws. They will substitute to the lids that make easy to drink by mouth directly, straws made from paper or biodegradable plastic.
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL875JV0L87PLFA008.html?iref=comtop_list_biz_n01
Their products named PHBH are kind of biodegradable plastic, which made from vegetable oils and can biodegrade by microbial action. In the condition of 30° seawater, it will change into water and carbon dioxide within six months. It certified from international certification authority last year, as the first among such products in Japan.
Nowadays, they export their products mainly to European countries. There have been demands of vegetable-based plastics as materials of plastic bags, used in equipment to compost vegetable waste. As the demands are increasing, they decided to increase the production. They will invest around two hundred thousand yen in Takasago plant so that they can strengthen their annual production ability until five thousand tons before next December. They predict the PHBH will be used also as utensils such as straws in the future, and then they will increase the production to 20 thousand tons.
The usage of biodegradable plastics has not become popular yet, because of the high cost and low durability. However, the issue of plastic wastes is becoming a serious problem, because it causes seawater pollution. In May of this year, the European Commission proposed the regulation to ban selling plastic straw. The Starbucks will also abolish the usage of straws. They will substitute to the lids that make easy to drink by mouth directly, straws made from paper or biodegradable plastic.
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL875JV0L87PLFA008.html?iref=comtop_list_biz_n01
Aug 8, 2018
Rusted weapons under school grounds
Nearly 2,900 weapons were found under an elementary school in Nishi-Tokyo district, Tokyo, Japan. They found guns, swords and grenades which are normally used for military training and they found them while digging a new site for the administration building. Although there was no danger of an explosion, troops from the Japanese Self-Defense Forces came and collected them. On July 27th of this year, when construction workers started digging in the south part of the school grounds, quite a few amounts of weapons were discovered. As of August 3rd, about 1,400 guns, 1,200 swords, eight grenades, 302 bullets have been found, and all of which were rusted. Since the school was closed during that time, no children were present. The construction work to relocate the building was postponed.
The school was established in 1873. The buildings that remain today were built in 1925. At a nearby site, there have been plants by one of the biggest domestic weapon industries "Nakajima Airplane", there have also been many plants related to the military.The soil, where guns were buried, had a different color compared to other parts of the soil. Those weapons seem to belong to the former Imperial Japanese Army. A chief manager of the board of education of Nishi-Tokyo district said, "There is a possibility that they were buried there during the postwar period, however, it's not clear who buried them. We should study the reason as to why such a large amount of weapons were buried on the school property".
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL8656MNL86UTIL02V.html?iref=comtop_list_edu_n01
The school was established in 1873. The buildings that remain today were built in 1925. At a nearby site, there have been plants by one of the biggest domestic weapon industries "Nakajima Airplane", there have also been many plants related to the military.The soil, where guns were buried, had a different color compared to other parts of the soil. Those weapons seem to belong to the former Imperial Japanese Army. A chief manager of the board of education of Nishi-Tokyo district said, "There is a possibility that they were buried there during the postwar period, however, it's not clear who buried them. We should study the reason as to why such a large amount of weapons were buried on the school property".
https://www.asahi.com/articles/ASL8656MNL86UTIL02V.html?iref=comtop_list_edu_n01
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