Driving down highways, you will see a lot of litter. Much of it is fast food packaging or other disposable paper. Education does not seem to be the answer as we have been told not to litter for years yet it still piles up. More meals are being eaten on the road or sidewalk as our lives become faster. What I believe we need is a paper that degrades quickly when exposed to the sun's UV rays.
It would seem that the addition of titanium dioxide in its anatase form to the pulp would break down the organic compounds into a powder. The speed of the degridation would probably be controlled by the amount of TiO2 added.
To keep the photocatalyst reaction from starting too soon the items would have to be kept out of direct sunlight.
It would not have to be a full breakdown of the item, just enough to produce tiny holes as paper seems to degrade from the edges of the piece to the centre. This basic idea is being used to make self cleaning windows and buildings.
Uses <ul><li>Take out food packaging <li>Bus or event tickets <li>Flyers & pamphlets <li>Disposable Diapers <li>ATM receipts</ul>
I agree
No opinion
I disagree
Add your comment
This would work for cigeratte butts too.
I like this idea. You get my vote
Add to my list condoms & women's products.
Sounds good but does the titanium dioxide break down into some inert form? Can you a build up of too much of it in any one area?
Frankly, these are questions that do need to be answered.
TiO2 is actually inert. It is a photocatalyst so in itself it is not harmful as far as I know (of course we may find out 20 years down the line that there is problems). The concentration of TiO2 to paper would be very small so it would take a lot to build up in one area. Wikipedia says it is "employed as a pigment to provide whiteness and opacity to products such as paints, coatings, plastics, papers, inks, foods, and most toothpastes. In cosmetic and skin care products, titanium dioxide is used both as a pigment and a thickener, and in almost every sunblock with a physical blocker" so it is already in use as an everyday product.
I am no chemist or environmental scientist but I truly think this is worth looking into.
I wonder if the various coatings used on paper (wax and foil for foodservice, clay for newspapers, glosses for higher quality color) will interfere with the process. Otherwise, this would be ideal for those paper items which need not endure for decades, such as flyers and other dated announcements.
I like the idea, turning paper products into fertilizer.
I was looking at the side of the highway and I noticed a little paper, but most of what I saw was foil-clad packaging and plastics. Are there chemical agents that produce similar results on aluminum and plastics?
But then again, would we not be better to run a machine down the side of the road, collect the wastes, and recycle them?
There is a solid waste company in Michigan that picks up everyone's garbage for free, as long as the customers separate their trash for recycling. They make their money by selling the recycled materials.
Uh, guys, paper already degrades. People put newspaper under flowerbeds all the time. What you want is to curb litter in the first place, because it's an asthetic and health problem for the couple of months it takes to break down. The stuff is already biodegradable.
Also, modern plastics are biodegradable and decay under sunlight/in the elements. Only old stuff hangs around for forever.
thats a great idea!i don't know anything about cheistry, but what if they invented a spray that degrades paper, plastic or other stuff, that would b cool
I really like the idea, yes paper is biodegradable over a period of time, but this would evidently massively assist the process for little extra cost.
The majority of waste is created from alternate materials, but a lot more packaging could use this paper, by doing so, it in turn, could assist contributing company's reputation/sales.
The idea is a very good one and should definately be implemented, we need to work a way around some other packaging like alluminium and plastics, maybe impose an additional fee for companies that persist in using them?
Are you sure that TiO2 will catalyse the breakdown of paper? TiO2 is used as a pigment in inks and paints which are hydrocarbon based and thus organic. The TiO2 doesn't seem to accelerate their breakdown. I suspect TiO2 will only accelerate the breakdown of organics that are prone to oxidation to begin with. Paper is mostly cellulose, and rather resistant to oxidation. UV light does degrade paper, but TiO2 reflects UV and may therefore actually protect the paper from UV degradation.
Nonetheless, paper could be made to breakdown faster with the right additives or changes in basic materials.
You are correct saying that TiO2 is used in paint and for that matter many things to make them white including toothpaste and paper. However titanium dioxide occurs in four forms: Rutile, Anatase (or octahedrite), Brookite and Titanium dioxide II.
It is the rutile form which has very high refractive index which is prized for its ability to whiten and as an opacifier.
The form I am talking about is the anatase form which is used as a photocatylist.
Think of your car's catalytic converter. It uses platinum (Pt) and palladium (Pd) combined with heat to convert hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water and to nitrogen and water the Pt & Pd participate in the process, however they are neither reactants nor products. Photocatylists are simular but use light (in this case UV supplied by the sun)to change oxygen to a form which is highly reactive to organic compounds.
The amount of oxygen we are talking about is minute and it does not stay in this form long before it converts back(up to 72 minutes in lab conditions but as little as nanoseconds in nature) so we would not be polluting the world.
A fairly straight forward story on how this works when applied to glass as self cleaning glass is at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3770353.stm.
I know what a catalyst is. The thing is, most catalysts only work well for catalysing certain reactions. Are you sure that TiO2 will catalyse the breakdown of paper? More importantly, will it work as well as the alternatives? I don't know what the alternatives are, but I'm sure there are many. It might be a good idea to combine your TiO2 with something else that will improve its performance. What I mean is, you could use a specially selected compound as the adhesive that binds the paper together that is especially suseptible to TiO2 as a catalyst. Of course, there's also the question of cost.
I added the explanation of a catalyst for the general public.
It catalyses the transformation of oxygen to a more corrosive form. Oxygen in itself is very corrosive (by oxidizing) it will not break down the paper, the "super" oxygen will.
I do not know if TiO2 is the best thing for the job. I put out the idea so someone who may know might be inspired to see if it works as well as I think it will.
Would you really want this idea to turn into reality? I forsee the slogen of the new product: litter, it doesn't matter anymore... :( Wouldn't it encourage people to throw away the wrappers? "Don't worry darling, the photocatalyst reaction will do the trick". And i doubt that it would be too healthy for the environment... if the catalyst actually works on paper (contains cellulose) it would definetly work with plants too (made of, and producing the cellulose), so even if the litter problem is solved this way, it brings up another (and maybe bigger) problem, if you throw away it anywhere. If not, that's great, but then you don't need the extra chemical reagent.
An interesting idea. Assuming that TiO2 actually works on paper, I suspect it may be most effective in desert areas, where there is very bright sunlight and natural biodegradation takes longer. Around here, except in the height of summer uncoated paper abandoned in the environment becomes indistinguishable from leaf litter within a couple of weeks, and breaks down totally in a couple of months.
Another approach may be inclusion of a higher starch content in the paper. It has recently become common here for large public gatherings with food to be provided with utensils made of compressed, baked starch reinforced with a little cellulose. It is tough enough to use in wet foods for the duration of a meal, and can even make a decent enough knife for anything short of steak. However once thoroughly soaked and put in compost, it breaks down within a couple of days.
But actually, litter is not that big a deal around here anymore. You complain that education doesn't work. Around here (a semi-rural, semi-suburban area), a combination of education and stiff penalties (on-the-spot fines) worked quite well. There is very little road side litter, and most of what there is consists of empty beer cans illegally consumed in, and illegally discarded from, motor vehicles by, ahem, rebellious youth. These cans are usually quickly collected by thrifty folk for sale to the recycling centre.