Biochar as a sustainable alternative to carbon black in agricultural mulch films.

Examples of biochar as an alternative to traditional plastic fillers, like carbon black, are numerous and growing. However, in the agricultural mulch film application, both the polymer and its fillers are pushed to their mechanical limit to obtain an effective product, using the least amount of plastic. Through a combined techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA), this study characterizes the use of carbon-negative biochar as an opacity filler in mulch film applications.

Isolation, Whole-Genome Sequencing, and Annotation of Two Antibiotic-Producing and -Resistant Bacteria, Enterobacter roggenkampii RIT 834 and Acinetobacter pittii RIT 835, from Disposable Masks Collected from the Environment.

We report the whole-genome sequence and annotation of two antibiotic-resistant bacteria, Enterobacter roggenkampii RIT 834 and Acinetobacter pittii RIT 835, isolated from disposed masks. We found that these strains are resistant to five of seven commonly used antibiotics and that they produce bactericidal compounds against Escherichia coli.