Recycling symbols: keys and curiosities

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If you have no idea what those symbols you see on bottles and packaging are, and you are curious to know, you are in the right place. The “Möbius circle” and the “green dot” have a history and a meaning that is good t o know, and that can clear up doubts even with that brother-in-law who believes that he knows everything and does not recycle. If there is any place where the circular economy is taken to its maximum extreme, it is the International Space Station. Not a drop of water or a cubic centimeter of air can be wasted. There, 350 kilometers above our heads, waste is a precious commodity. astronauts-recycle Each astronaut consumes about 3.5 liters of water per day. To supply a crew of four members, 18 tons of water must be lifted per year.



The Möbius strip It is a symbol that we have already talked about on our blog . Mathematics and recycling are closer than you thought. The three arrows Australia Phone Number List that form a triangle, and which mean that the product or packaging is made with materials that can be recyclable, are based on a Möbius strip.  This means too much space in the ship, fuel and there is a risk of being short of supplies if something unforeseen arises. Recovering and purifying the water already used is the best option. In 2010, NASA implemented a purification system that recycles 93% of the water consumed. It uses wastewater from brushing teeth, hands, and the water that astronauts lose when exhaling, sweating, and urinating. In the Russian segment it uses a similar system implemented a few years earlier.



This geometric shape, which consists of a surface with a single face and a single edge, was discovered in 1858 by the German mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius (1790 – 1868) and Johann Benedict Listing (1808 – 1882). And what does it have to do with recycling? To do this we have to go back to 1970, when World Earth Day began to be celebrated.  With this system they recycle about 6 tons of water per year. To design the water recovery system, scientists were inspired by the mechanism invented by the French Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry Paul Sabatier at the beginning of the 20th century. The system produces water and methane from carbon dioxide (from respiration) and hydrogen (obtained from the oxygen generation system).