Plastic from baby bottles, CDs and eyeglass lenses is tougher to recycle than soda bottles so it often end up in landfills leaching toxic chemicals instead of being transformed into something new. But a discovery by scientists at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose is giving this type of hard plastic, called polycarbonates, a new life in a safer form. On Monday, IBM Research said that scientists from the Almaden lab found a way to transform polycarbonates into a stronger type of plastic that doesn't leach BPA, a chemical that has sparked health concerns in recent years. The researchers added a fluoride reactant, a base that was similar to baking powder, and heat to old CDs to create a new plastic that's strong enough that it doesn't decompose in a way that leaches BPA. http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_30063684/ibm-research-scientists-san-jose-find-new-way
