Donation: Nylon Scraps

A sure bet for keeping nylon scraps out of a landfill is to donate it to a local design school. It is guaranteed to get additional use. In fact, if it truly is art, it might never make it to a land fill at all. 

Zoë Bikini has been gracious enough to donate nylon scraps to our Grad Design department at the California College of the Arts. If our department finds it has no need for the material, it can be passed on to the next discipline, for example the fashion department. 

Thanks Zoë!

http://www.zoebikini.com/

Recycling Nylon?

I've contacted the Sierra Club and Earth911 for information regarding the recycling of knit nylon, neither one had any suggestions. When I contacted DuPont about their product Sorona, they claimed that knit nylon had to be separated from the lycra in order to place each plastic in their proper stream for recycling. If recycled as is, the plastics would contaminate each other and decrease the value of each other. It seems that the best thing to do is shred them and use them for filler in furniture or as insulation in walls.

Another suggestion was given, that knit nylon could be donated to SCRAP (Scroungers' Center for Reusable Art Parts. They do take printed cottons, upholstery, corduroy, muslin, canvas, denim, and fleece pieces larger than 12" x 12", but other knit fabrics must be no smaller than one yard. So, no help there either.

Still, SCRAP is a great source for materials. 

www.scrap-sf.org

Scrap House

Scrap House: Built for the 2005 World Environment Day
http://www.scraphouse.org/home

Bacteria: Polystyrene Foam

Another species of bacterium, Pseudomonas putida, naturally found in soil, has been modified in a bioreactor to consume styrene. Actually, they remove the pollutants and converts the styrene into the plastic polymer PHA (polyhydroyalkanoates). PHA can be used as a biodegradable plastic in the use of eating utensils, and have a wide range of industrial and commercial uses such as medical implants or scaffolds for tissue engineering. The process starts by heating up styrene foam and converting it into styrene oil and then feed to the bacteria. PHA is heat, grease, and oil resistant and biodegrades in soil and water. But, if it is sent to a landfill, it will most-likely fossilize under the compressed layers of garbage and dirt.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodegradable_plastics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioplastics

Alternative: Corn

Sorona is an alternative to petrochemicals by using corn sugar instead. It requires 40% less energy to produce than an equal amount petroleum-based Nylon. Also, producing Sorona reduces CO2 emissions up to 60% over an equal amount of petroleum-based Nylon. 

Sorona fibers begin accepting dye pigments below the boiling point of water, full depth of color is achieved at the boiling point compared to PET which is well above. The stress/strain ratio is much less compared to Nylon and PET, where the applied strain/total recovery ratio and the percent elongation/load g/den is much higher than Nylon and PET. 

All around it seems better, but what about the genetic manipulation of corn and the treatment of farmers? To learn more about that, see Rachel Silverberg's blog about corn at  www.cornbloat.wordpress.com.

Cold Drawing: Part 3

After the completion of spinning Nylon, the molecules are not aligned, making the Nylon yarn really thick. Cold drawing is the application of tension to allow the molecules to align, shrink the diameter, remove its elasticity, and increase its tensile strength. From the picture below, you can see the tension applied to the five wraps around the two pulleys that move in and out.

Spinning Nylon: Part 2

The diagram below shows DuPont's original process of spinning Nylon. The method seems more like an extrusion process rather than spinning. The molten Nylon is forced out of the stainless steel block through tiny holes and gravity carries the filaments down to a bobbin. This bobbin with the spooled Nylon will then go to the cold drawing process.

How Do You Make Nylon? Part 1

Making Nylon Salt

▪ Add 1 molal part of hexamethylene diamine [NH2(CH2)6NH2].
▪ Add 1 molal part of adipic acid [HOOC(CH2)4COOH].
▪ Stir in deionized water at 70 oC.
▪ Precipitate the nylon salt from solution.

Making Nylon Polymer

▪ Evaporate nylon salt solution to ~80% salt. Drop (feed) solution into autoclave.
▪ Add acetic acid (stabilizer) and TiO2 (delusterant) if needed.
▪ Set autoclave controls to 295 oC and 250 psi.
▪ At 250 oC instantaneous polymerization occurs resulting in a polymer of 15,000 to 18,000 desired molecular weight.
▪ Automatically the H2O is bled off to 0 psi over a 30 minute period.
▪ Hold autoclave at 0 psi for 30 minutes to "settle" molten polymer.
▪ Extrude (cast) nylon [as ribbon] over a roll sprayed with water.
▪ Cut nylon ribbon into chips.
▪ Blend batch with five other batches to obtain average uniformity (molecular weight).

What is recyclable?

1. PET (PETE), Polyethylene terephthalate: 2-liter soda bottles, cooking oil bottles, peanut butter jars

2. HDPE, High-density polyethylene: Milk jugs and detergent bottles

3. PVC, polyvinyl chloride: pipe, outdoor furniture, siding, flooring, shower curtains, clamshell packaging

4. LDPE, Low-density polyethylene: dry-cleaning bags, produce bags, trash can liners, food storage containers

5. PP, Polypropylene: bottle caps, drinking straws, yogurt containers

6. PS, Polystyrene: packing peanuts, cups, plastic tableware, meat trays, take-out food clamshell containers

7. OTHER: Any plastic other than 1 - 6, Tupperware and Nalgene bottles 

No specific number for Nylon!

Side Note: Chemical Testing

Do we need more chemicals? Why can't we just do away with and purge ourselves of existing ones? Instead, we're designing new products to provide ailment for the side effects of existing chemicals. Worst of all, we're testing these new toxic chemicals on animals that do not have the same anatomy and biochemistry as humans. Known chemicals with corrosive effects are no longer used in the Draize test, but shouldn't humans know by now, that anything other than what nature provides is harmful.

The Draize Test is a controversial toxicity test that correlates with the cosmetic industry. The test uses albino rabbits to test irritants by dripping chemicals into the eye, rubbing toxins on bare skin, inhalation of toxins through a mask or a chamber, and intravenously feed through a tube in the stomach. Albino rabbits are chosen because of their lack of tear flow to cleanse the eye and the lack of pigment makes it easier to view the negative effects of the chemical. The Draizer Test last from 3 to 21 days or the life span of the animal [PETA]. The rabbits are euthanized by decapitation or cervical dislocation (snapping of the neck). A few sources claim that up to 5,000 animals are used per chemical, and an animal can only be experimented on once before being euthanized. With pesticides, the number goes up to 12,000. 

For more information on the Draize Test please view this video on the PETA website. 

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=biosearch&Player=qt

Introduction: Nylon

As Designers, we need to be aware of all environmental impacts, before and after the life cycle of a product. Forty years after the invention of nylon, Japanese scientists discovered a strain of Flavobacterium capable of digesting certain byproducts of nylon 6 in a pond containing waste water from a factory producing nylon. Nylonase is the enzyme used to digest the man made molecules. Nylon is not a natural element, and did not exist before 1935. So there is no need for any creature in nature to survive of off it. Through mutation, it seems that these bacteria have evolved to help man rid the earth of toxic waste and our problem of an overflow of garbage. But, should man speed up evolution?

Currently, Nylon is the second most used synthetic fiber in the United States. From toothbrushes, parachutes, tents, and the most popular, women's "nylon stockings." Patented by DuPont in 1935, Nylon became the "synthetic silk" the United States needed to supplement the breaking trade relations with Japan for silk. Nylon is created by combining the chemicals amine, hexamehylene diamine, and adipic acid through the polymerizing process, also know as condensation reaction. A condensation process is the joining of individual molecules and forming water as a byproduct. The inventor of nylon, Wallace Hume Carothers (born April 27, 1896, died April 29, 19370) realized that the water byproduct was weakening the fibers, so by distilling and removing the water, it strengthened the fibers. Hence the waste water in ponds.

This blog is the result of a corresponding project focusing on the life cycle of a product. The product contains 80% nylon, which led me to research the manufacturing process of nylon. It was shocking to learn of a mutation in bacteria thriving on a man made byproduct. Even more shocking is that this mutation happened between 1935 and 1975. Is this an answer to help clean up earth? If scientists speed up the evolution of other bacteria to consume other types of toxic waste, will we witness other, more deadly side effects? As a Designer, how do I cope with this dilemma?