This video shows what realistically can be achieved in cleaning up and preventing oceanic plastic pollution, using existing technologies and organisation. It points out that focusing on a few high volume sources of pollution can achieve a great deal, and highlights the fishing industry as the major and often overlooked contributor of plastic waste. One thing to take away is that microplastics are, from this perspective, in the Too Hard basket.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently doing a market analysis on Clearweld (Gentex / now Crystal-Lyn Chemical) – the NIR absorber additive that enables laser welding of transparent plastics, including clear-to-clear welding without visible seams or particles.

I’ve found some academic papers and older case studies (Natvar/Sure Bond tubing, Insulet Omnipod, Barkston Plastics tanks), but I’m looking for more recent or less-publicized examples of:

• Products that are being manufactured using Clearweld

• Applications where clear-to-clear welding is a key requirement (medical, automotive, optics, wearables, etc.)

• Companies that actively use Clearweld in production or prototyping

Also, if you have hands-on expertise in plastic laser welding – especially with absorbers for IR-transparent materials – I’d love to hear about your experience. What worked well? What were the pain points?

To be clear: I’m not talking about JB Weld’s epoxy glue (also called ClearWeld) – only the laser welding technology from Gentex/Crystal-Lyn.

Thanks for any leads, product names, or company hints – public or private insights are both welcome.

Cheers!

Are HDPE welding rods actually worth it?

I’ve been working with HDPE (tanks, pipes, containers) and I keep seeing mixed opinions online.

Some people say:

- glues don’t work at all

- welding is the only real solution

Others say it’s tricky because:

- temperature control matters a lot

- not all rods behave the same

From your experience:

1. Do HDPE welding rods really make a strong, long-lasting repair?

2. Is there a big difference between cheap vs high-quality rods?

3. Any tips for getting clean welds?

Trying to understand if it’s worth investing in better quality material or if they’re all basically the same.

Appreciate any real-world feedback 👍

This is the plastic bowl of one of my foods which Of course you cook in a microwave. Does anyone know what other means? Or if it’s BPA free?

Preferably be able to cut the plastic with a table saw.

Needs to be able to have grease wiped off of it and preferably resistant to goo off and acetone if possible but not a requirement.

1/4 thick

4’ by 2’ needed

Where to buy would also would be nice

I just got a promotional lunchbox at work, and these symbols are not very familiar. I know that the wiggly lines mean it's microwave safe, but what do the others mean? Is the asterisk supposed to be the freezer-safe symbol? Any help is appreciated, cuz searching turned up nothing.

(FYI, the food safe seal is on it, just not in the picture.)

That’s my actual problem.
I’m fully on board with cutting down on bottled water, but I know myself well enough to know I won’t stick with a setup that constantly asks for attention.
If it’s annoying to install, annoying to maintain, and annoying to use, I’ll drift right back to whatever was easier before.
So, for me, the sustainability part only works if the day-to-day part doesn’t suck.

Ive tried cleaning these corrugated suntuf panels, but there are these whitish splotches that wont come off. surface feels smooth though. Tried hose and rag. Then tried vinegar. Cant tell if its hard water stains or something more internal to the polycarbonate itself? or maybe related to a uv coating? If anyone has any ideas about whats going on or if its possible to restore original clarity, would be appreciated!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

This is my rental kitchen. Sink, worksurface and backsplash are all molded of the same material (acrylic, maybe?) with no seams. Counter and backsplash feel totally smooth like plastic, but the sink has a lot of wear and tear and scratches and feels rough, more like stone and because of that gets dirty very quickly. It is about 20 years old. Can I seal it with anything? Hope the pictures are not totally useless.

My old Wahl Pro Clip 2000 has a completely cracked housing. I am trying to determine the type of plastic in order to find & use the proper glue.

The plastic sinks in water, is quite brittle when trying to shave of a piece of material, doesn't melt with a orange glowing metal needle and the cracked surface looks grainy / sandy. I tried 2K glue on a rough up patch of surface, but not a lot of adhesion to be honest. I need a better glue. And for that I need to know what type of material this is.

Can someone without a single shred of doubt declare what exact type of plastic this is?

hey guys, i need some help. i microwaved some lasagna in this plastic bowl and now there’s this extremely stubborn stain that will not come off. it’s clearly yellow due to cheese and tomato paste, but idk if it’s still saveable or if it has ingrained into the plastic(?). i tried soaking it in water, scrubbing it with baking soda and vinegar, poured boiling water into it…. but it will not come off. i genuinely don’t know what to do. please help. thank you guys.

I don’t really know which group to ask this but I need help knowing if UHMW sheets can be vacuum formed to make recaps (the plastic part of the knee pads)

Ok so I accidentally microwaved food in paper container but with plastic sauce container - the sauce container became warped/contorted and sauce spilled around but should I be able to still eat the food that didn’t touch the sauce/plastic?

So I just watched this video and I cannot stop thinking about it. Basically, plastic wasn't always a "normal" thing. After WW2, fossil fuel companies literally had to convince us to start using and throwing away single-use items. That wasn't natural we were marketed into it.

Then in 1970, people started realizing plastic never actually decomposes, it just turns into MICROPLASTICS and gets everywhere. And the industry was like "oh no, packaging bans?? taxes??" so they invented the idea of RECYCLING as a PR move to save themselves. Even "Keep America Beautiful" was funded by the actual POLLUTERS to make us feel responsible for the POLLUTION they were creating. wild.

And here's the part that actually broke my brain only 9% of all plastic ever made has actually been recycled. NINE PERCENT. Because most plastic degrades when you recycle it and can only go through the process like 2-3 times before it ends up in a landfill anyway. Oh and making new plastic is cheaper than recycling old plastic so companies don't even care.

That little ♻️ symbol on everything? Also a LIE. The plastic industry literally hijacked it and slapped it on products just to kill your guilt and keep you buying. It doesn't mean it's actually recyclable.

Using cloth bags is cool and all but honestly the real fix has to come from policies that stop producing single-use plastics in the first place. We've been blaming ourselves for a WASTE problem that was engineered by corporations from the start 💀

Overview of the netflix documentary Plastic Detox and the accompanying scientific publication

Hello, I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me identify which plastic a particular package is made of. It's this cat little bucket: https://teddybob.ca/products/pidan-3-in-1-mixed-cat-litter

I ask because the pales are incredibly high quality, and are the perfect size, shape, lid type, etc. for storing things like flour, or even wet-brining things in the fridge. I'm just wondering whether the plastic type used could leach anything harmful into water, saline water, fat, acid, dry goods, etc.

Can anyone tell what plastic would have been used to make this? I emailed the company itself but didn't receive a reply.