Remembering Poly Styrene, British musician, singer-songwriter, and frontwoman for the punk rock band X-Ray Spex. She died of metastatic breast cancer on 25 April 2011, at the age of 53

Styrofoam house under construction in Texas, 1982.

Polystyrene is a widespread plastic that is essentially not recyclable when mixed with other materials and is not biodegradable. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a German research team has introduced a biohybrid catalyst that oxidizes polystyrene microparticles to facilitate their subsequent degradation. The catalyst consists of a specially constructed "anchor peptide" that adheres to polystyrene surfaces and a cobalt complex that oxidizes polystyrene. Polystyrene -- alone or in combination with other polymers -- has many applications, from yogurt containers to instrument housings. In its foam form, mainly known under the trademarked name Styrofoam, it is, for example, used for insulation and packaging. A big disadvantage of polystyrene is its poor biodegradability, which leads to environmental pollution. When clean and not mixed with other materials, polystyrene is recyclable, but not when it is contaminated, or combined with other materials. In municipal recycling programs, mixed polystyrene plastic waste and degradation products, such as polystyrene nano- and microparticles, are difficult to process. The problem lies in the fact that polystyrene is water-repellent and nonpolar and thus cannot react with common polar reactants.

Read more.

Packing material, disposable cutlery, CD cases: Polystyrene is among the most common forms of plastic, but recycling it isn't easy and the vast majority ends up in landfills or finds its way to the oceans where it threatens marine life.

Scientists at Australia's University of Queensland have now discovered that superworms—the larvae of Zophobas morio darkling beetles—are eager to dine on the substance, and their gut enzymes could hold the key to higher recycling rates.

Chris Rinke, who led a study that was published in the journal Microbial Genomics on Thursday, told AFP previous reports had shown that tiny waxworms and mealworms (which are also beetle larvae) had a good track record when it came to eating plastic, "so we hypothesized that the much larger superworms can eat even more."

Superworms grow up to two inches (five centimeters) and are bred as a food source for reptiles and birds, or even for humans in countries such as Thailand and Mexico.

Rinke and his team fed superworms different diets over a three week period, with some given polystyrene foam, commonly known as styrofoam, some bran, and others not fed at all.

"We confirmed that superworms can survive on a sole polystyrene diet, and even gain a small amount of weight—compared to a starvation control group—which suggests that the worms can gain energy from eating polystyrene," he said.

Continue Reading.

Lovely jubbly

this is very niche but I must speak on it - some of the worst people go on Grand Designs. A few that come to mind are: 

1) a man who built his house entirely out of polystyrene,

2) the countless people who find beautiful, picturesque locations to build on, then get surprised when the actual building process destroys so much of the surrounding nature because it’s so inaccessible and impractical,

3) a couple who bought an abandoned building because they loved its history (was a hat factory, printer, then a well-known squatters community who livened the area)... then turned it into a huge 2-part, $2million+ “family home” and then wondered if those past squatters ever walk past and like what they’ve done with the place... like yeah I’m sure the people who painted anarchist graffiti art on the walls you so desperately tried to preserve “for the culture” love the gross demonstration of wealth you’ve contributed to such a gentrified area, beautiful. 

4) a couple who built their house entirely - and i mean entirely, desks and all - from concrete so it looked like a bunker. Didn’t even have rugs. 0 Colour. Had a weird sliding wall to hide the kitchen because they “didn’t want to think of domestic duties” or smthn when not using it...

I could probably write a lengthy essay using case studies from Grand Designs about the intersection of character default and bad taste.

Fruit bowl (left) / ustralian native arrangement (right) by Trevor Smith

c. 2021

Trevor smith is a south Australian textile artist that was taught how to crochet by his mother Jean in the ‘60s. With further training in sculpture, he went back to crochet after participating in a regional arts Victoria project back in ‘09

Now complete constructions with confidence!

Meet Styrene’s Polystyrene Sheets! Lightweight, durable, and versatile, they ensure seamless installation and superior insulation.

Choose Styrene’s Polystyrene Sheets today

Polystyrene (Styrofoam) has been turned into a valuable chemical found in seaweed by exposing it to sunlight.

Broken down, it produces DPM (diphenylmethane,) a molecule in the aquatic plant used in drug development, polymer manufacturing, and even fragrances and other cosmetics.

Polystyrene is the indestructible plastic is found in everything from takeaway containers to TV packaging.

It’s rarely recycled due to costly and complex processes required, as well as the difficulty of collecting it.

Now scientists have broken it down using a simple and inexpensive technique that combines UV (ultraviolet) rays and a chemical catalyst.

Market incentive is baked into the process, since the market price for DPM is 10-times higher than other materials currently made from polystyrene. Other valuable chemicals produced included benzophenone, used for clear coatings in the printing and film industry, and 4-oxo-4-phenyl-butyric acid.

Alright here's the 33rd long dog I have spotted on the episode called "Flat Pack" on Bluey. If anyone wants to have a look. https://instagram.com/p/CAyZ_fXpsOi/

Recovering valuable chemical building blocks from polystyrene waste

Polystyrene, the main material in plastic tableware and insulating materials, is a widely used polymer but is currently difficult to recycle. Reporting in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a team of U.S. researchers has now developed a thermochemical approach, making it possible to recover valuable chemicals from polystyrene waste in a simple two-step process. This new approach could enable the recycling of insulating and packaging materials for a truly circular plastics economy. The newly developed "Degradation Upcycling" (Deg-Up for short) makes it possible to produce a wide array of highly valuable aromatic chemicals to be produced from polystyrene waste, as Guoliang Liu and co-authors from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, U.S. explain. The process involves a two-step cascade: in a first step, polystyrene is broken down to give benzene as main degradation product, and in a second step this benzene product is chemically modified in the same reactor. The process gives rise to benzene derivatives, covering many important substances for the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals industries.

Read more.

Poly Styrene (X-Ray Spex, Punk in London, Wolfgang Büld, 1977) #polystyrene #xrayspex #punk #london #punkinlondon #wolfgangbüld #mariannejoanelliottsaid #uk #rock #newwave #riotgrrrl #feminism #punkfeminism #girlpower #hastingspier #sexpistols #punkrock #loralogic https://www.instagram.com/p/CkI6s-ctsoz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

China Quick-Fix: Corner padding. Polystyrene packaging and tape. Xiamen