14 DAY TRIAL // Plastic waste is nasty business, killing nature whenever it accumulates too much. It's no wonder that many cities demand citizens that they sort plastic waste separately.
Now, a group of young entrepreneurs from Mexico (the Cronology company, located in Ecatepec, a municipality in Mexico State, just north from Mexico City) have come up with a way to eliminate PET bottles from the plastic waste problem.
What is it, you may ask? Why, turning the bottles into something else of course! Specifically, converting them into mineral paper.
Producing one ton of normal paper has an environmental impact of 100 years and needs 20 trees, as well as 56,000 liters of water per ton of paper produced.
The new method from Cronology takes 235 kg (518 lb) of pellets, or PET beads obtained from recycled plastic bottles, and combines them with calcium carbonate and stone, thus producing a ton of mineral paper without hitting the environment where it hurts.
Bottles are crushed together with calcium carbon, and the resulting pellets are subjected to a casting process at over 100° C (212° F), then finally rolled into large sheets of paper.
This paper is waterproof but will eventually degrade if exposed to light, in about six months.
The only problem is that ink gels can't be used on it, because they contain alcohol which doesn't agree with the paper.