Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Paper from Recycled Plastic

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Mar 16 2009 (IPS) - Researchers at the Federal University of São Carlos (230 kilometers from São Paulo) have created a synthetic paper, made from recycled plastic, that is useful for products that need resistance and durability, such as sign banners, packaging material and school books. Developed in experiments over six years, production is based on discarded household plastics — not raw material.

“We use polypropylene and polyethylene, used on the massive scale in making containers for shampoo, yogurt, margarine, kitchen containers, etc.,” one of the researchers, Oswaldo Danella Junior, explained to Tierramérica.

In addition to its economic advantages, because it consumes less energy and raw materials, it has great economic benefits because the process uses material that would otherwise end up in garbage dumps, said Danella.

The paper, now undergoing manufacturing tests, can be used with any kind of ink, from industrial pigments to common ballpoint pens.