Nanocellulosics in Transient Technology.

Envisage a world where discarded electrical/electronic devices and single-use consumables can dematerialize and lapse into the environment after the end-of-useful life without constituting health and environmental burdens. As available resources are consumed and human activities build up wastes, there is an urgency for the consolidation of efforts and strategies in meeting current materials needs while assuaging the concomitant negative impacts of conventional materials exploration, usage, and disposal. Hence, the emerging field of transient technology (Green Technology), rooted in eco-design and closing the material loop toward a friendlier and sustainable materials system, holds enormous possibilities for assuaging current challenges in materials usage and disposability.

Plastic Pollution: A Perspective on Matters Arising: Challenges and Opportunities.

Plastic pollution is a persistent challenge worldwide with the first reports evidencing its impact on the living and nonliving components of the environment dating back more than half a century. The rising concerns regarding the immediate and long-term consequences of plastic matter entrainment into foods and water cannot be overemphasized in light of our pursuit of sustainability (in terms of food, water, environment, and our health). Hence, some schools of thought recommend the revisitation and continuous assessment of the plastic economy, while some call for the outright ban of plastic materials, demonstrating that plastic pollution requires, more than ever, renewed, innovative, and effective approaches for a holistic solution.

Nanocellulosics: Benign, Sustainable, and Ubiquitous Biomaterials for Water Remediation.

Water is critical for all lives to thrive. Access to potable and safe water has been argued to rank top among the prerequisites for defining the standard of living of a nation. However, there is a global decline in water quality due to human activities and other factors that severely impact freshwater resources such as saltwater intrusion and natural disasters.

Plastics in municipal drinking water and wastewater treatment plant effluents: challenges and opportunities for South Africa-a review.

Pervasive plastic wastes, pollution and detrimental environmental ethics are a serious threat in South Africa. Compared with global trends, most studies undertaken on plastic pollutions in water bodies across South Africa have generally been limited to marine and coastal waters. A literature review, for the last 40 years, demonstrated the scanty studies on the economic, social, health and cost implications of plastic entrainment into fresh water (sources of drinking water) and wastewater systems in South Africa.