Material designed for Cradle to Cradle
I am looking for information on materials designed with Cradle to Cradle in mind. I'm hoping Reddit knows a few off the beaten trail sources.
Posted May 22, 2012, 2:27 AM UTC
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Not to purposefully derail, but recent developments in space industry might seriously undercut the sustainable/environmental movement.
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The application I'm thinking about is in the space industry.
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Avoid Lithium Aluminum then. It is not recyclable.
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Ah, ok. I think I can see what you would be getting at. Well, like that other guy mentioned they are primarily going to be polymers or polymer composites.
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Why say you about the natural degradation of polymers? Part of the trade off? It would seem that any critical part made of polymer would be on a tight maintenance schedule.
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The fact that polymers can degrade so easily is a product of the same chemical structure that makes them so recyclable. So it's a part of the trade off.
Considering that though, I would only ever make nonstructural portions of a space ship/station out of a polymer [or composite]. i.e. The walls and floor, but not the support beams and outer shell.
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I'm not sure if I fully understand your question, but BioSteel is the first thing that came to mind after reading your question and the link.
Basically materials that don't degrade from being recycled.