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June 2011
What does biodegradability mean to you?
From Merriam-Webster.com:: capable of being broken down especially into innocuous products by the action of living things (as microorganisms)
There is a rapidly-increasing number of types of biodegradable products made today. Items range from food products to clothing to dishes and utensils to toilet seats. Golf tees and golf balls, furniture. And now sport-safety glasses. It has been estimated that over 46 million pairs of safety glasses are used yearly in the U.S. That represents a lot of plastic just for one type of product.
Chase Ergonomics developed the world's first safety glasses made specifically to biodegrade in a landfill environment. They pass the same safety glass standard as our non-biodegradable glasses, they last just as long in use, and are just as stylish.
How does it work?
There is a small percentage of specially-formulated material added to the polycarbonate plastic just before the glasses are molded. This does not affect their performance – in fact they pass the most current safety glass standard ANSI Z87.1-2010, which they pass easily. Their appearance is unchanged and the lenses are crystal clear, for safe wear whether day and night.
Our safety glasses will outlast you and probably several generations beyond you if they are taken care of and never damaged, so no worries about them degrading on your dresser at home, your workshop tool bench, or on your face.
But when our glasses are disposed of in biologically-active landfills, microorganisms thriving ten feet down in the depths of waste material will be attracted to the additive, eating their way through the polycarbonate in the process. The byproducts of this biodegradation include stable humus, methane gas, CO2, and other naturally-occuring gases. Methane gas is harvested at many U.S. landfills for energy generation, providing a level of resource recovery from discarded products.
A recent study on biodegradability of discarded solid waste (Levis and Barlaz, May 2011) put forth that improving products' biodegradability is increasing the rate of CO2 released into the atmosphere. Certainly faster-degrading materials release their CO2 load more quickly than "non-biodegradable" materials. Many non-biodegradable materials in landfills will likely be around for many decades or even hundreds of years, decomposing over the long term, but occupying land area. Development of new landfill sites is becoming more difficult amid concerns of groundwater pollution, odor and blowing trash, among other things.
Our safety glasses fall into a middle ground on these issues. With enhanced biodegradability characteristics, their time in a landfill will be reduced dramatically from what it is for products made of untreated plastics. However, because the plastic is tougher polycarbonate and much thicker than normal "biodegradable" plastics, our safety glasses will take longer to biodegrade than what some consider a "reasonably short period of time." This means years rather than months in a landfill.
It has been argued that landfills are dead zones where nothing biodegrades. Techniques have been developed and employed, however, that foster degradation of landfilled materials and include processes for remediation of biogas – a key indicator of biodegradation.
A major factor in the biodegradability of landfilled waste materials is moisture availability. Higher levels of moisture along with higher temperatures make for more ideal conditions to foster microorganisms. The southeastern U.S. generally has the highest-moisture landfills in the country. Biodegradation of not only our products but all landfill materials will occur more quickly in those areas.
Our safety glasses are in ongoing, long-term, independent lab testing for biodegradability, according to ASTM D5511 - 11 Standard Test Method for Determining Anaerobic Biodegradation of Plastic Materials Under High-Solids Anaerobic-Digestion Conditions. As of the 210th day in the test (May 2011), our glasses showed 15.1% biodegradation. It may be a while before our glasses are completely gone, but as noted earlier this may be of more benefit to the environment than a much more rapid degradation.
There are many considerations when buying safety glasses for work or recreational uses. Reduced time in landfills can now be included in the decision tree.
Body Glove Bio™ and Decade Bio™ Safety Glasses Now Available
Reduce Your Footprint
May 10, 2011
Utilizing recently developed materials and processes, Chase Ergonomics has created safety glasses which are designed to biodegrade over time when completely buried in a landfill. Our polycarbonate safety glasses have been found to biodegrade an average of 15.1% over the first 210 days under conditions that simulate a biologically active landfill,* using ASTM D5511-11.**
An additive for plastics, developed by scientists in New Mexico, attracts microbes to the modified materials, where the process of biodegradation occurs over a span of time that is expected to be dramatically shorter than the life expectancy of untreated plastics. Normally these plastics would remain largely intact for up to one thousand years and still not break down to organic material.
These first-ever Decade Bio™ and Body Glove Bio™ safety glasses are the new must-have in safety PPE and are available from many of our distributors. Please check out where you can find them here.
*Actual biodegradation rates vary in landfills according to moisture level. Present tests at ~45% solids content are representative of wetter landfills, such as in the Pacific Northwest and southeastern US.
**ASTM D5511-11 specifies: "This test method may also resemble some conditions in biologically active landfills where the gas generated is recovered and biogas production is even actively promoted."
Gpact II Update
Dilatant, rebound-suppressing gel finds its way into new sport shoes
December 28, 2010
Our clients include shoe designers and manufacturers who are constantly testing and researching new, more effective materials to protect the feet and legs of their customers - particularly young athletes. In response to their quest for ideal shock-absorbing materials in skateboarder shoes, we have developed Gpact II, the next big thing in shoe technology.
Gpact II dramatically reduces rebound and subsequent multiple shock to the heels of skate jumpers. Gpact II is flexible and conforms to the shape of the heel, but stiffens instantly on impact, dissipating the shock impact traveling into the foot.
You can read more about the dilatant properties of Gpact II here and watch a sample ball-drop video here.
