Man Invents Machine To Convert Plastic Into Oil

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

As discussed in my book, we waste tons of plastics that pollute our soil, the rivers, lakes and oceans. The problem is that those plastics now enter the food chain (enjoy your fish!) but also use oil. See here two slides of my book presentation, talking about plastics in a dead albatross and more.


But some people show the way – there are solutions, not only to waste less but to recycle.
In an efficient and safe effort to save us from the ill-effects of plastic waste, Akinori Ito has developed a machine which converts plastic back into oil.
See the clip in Japanese with English subtitles.
http://www.flixxy.com/convert-plastic-to-oil.htm
The machine produced in various sizes, for both industrial and home uses, can easily transform a kilogram of plastic waste into a liter of oil, using about 1 kWh of electricity but without emitting CO2 in the process. The machine uses a temperature controlling electric heater instead of flames, processing anything from polyethylene or polystyrene to polypropylene (numbers 2-4).  Comment: 1 kg of plastic produces one liter of oil, which costs $1.50. This process uses only about 1 kWh of electricity, which costs less than 20 cents! (as mentioned on flixxy)

Rotaract Beijing to help in the upcoming Rotary Ball

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 3 June we had our Beijing Rotaract planning meeting, in the usual Brussels Restaurant in Sanlitun. A rather big turnout, see the pics. Always new faces from a variety of different countries. One of the several items discussed is how Rotaract will be assisting the Rotary Club of Beijing for the big event of the year: The Ball, on 15 June in The Four Seasons, see the former post:
https://blog.strategy4china.com/?p=4584


Tables for the Ball are nearly all gone and few seats remain.
Rotaract has got two tables and its volunteers will help with the Photo booth and selling raffle tickets.
I am the Rotary Liaison with Rotaract.

Urbanization in the Italian Embassy

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On 30 May I joined once more the annual seminar in the Italian Embassy, organized by Progetto CMR, Massimo ROJ Architects.
The topic was (again) urbanization, something that gets a lot of attention as China is continuing a massive urbanization program involving hundreds of people moving into cities in the next years.


The Theme: “Less Ego more Eco, towards shared sustainability”.
Moderator was Massimo Bagnasco, Chair of the Construction Working Group of the EUCCC. Opening speeches by H.E. Alberto Bradanini, Italian Ambassador, Xu Bo, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Government, Laurent Javaudin, First Secretary of the EU Delegation, and others. See the pictures.
Then a “Round Table Discussion with several specialists. Among them, Oliver von Sachs, the managing director of Euro Sino Invest, the company behind the EU-China Urbanization project in Shenyang.
All rounded up with Prosecco and nice snacks.

Georgia University again in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Again giving a 90 minutes seminar to a group from Georgia University, Terry College of Business. This time 14 undergraduates, led by Marisa D. Ulrich.

Different setting: the venue was Penta Hotel on Chongwenmen, a bit hard to spot as it is attached to a large shopping mall. Confusing hotel as finding the lobby – and the group needed several calls. But the conference room was good and the projector excellent.
Good audience, good questions.

Thai people complaining about Chinese visitors

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Chinese media are full with articles looking into the bad habits of Chinese tourists abroad and much soul searching. For me, that is no surprise. They are behaving the same way as they do at home. Little or no respect for anything.
On social network sites and local forums, locals from Chiang Mai (Thailand) posted evidence of what they say are offensive acts by Chinese tourists:

A tendency to not flush the toilet.
Flouting traffic laws when driving, riding a bicycle, or parking their car.
Being loud – even in five-star hotels.
Littering, spitting, queue-jumping.
Allowing children to defecate in public pools.
Terrible English-language skills that lead to difficulties in communication.

That sounds oh so familiar! You don’t have to go to Thailand for this. Every day in Beijing. And, of being loud, Chinese people need to buy better mobiles or get their ears fixed: they shout when talking on the phone so anybody in a radius of 50 m can hear it. Worst are people from the South or even Hong Kong.
One reason why sometimes I avoid the crowds in China, unless I go there to watch the crowds rather than the venue.