Waste Management
New Plastic Can Be Recycled Repeatedly
Written by Peter, on May 15, 2018
Scientists at Colorado State University have discovered a plastic polymer which, unlike typical petroleum plastics, can be recycled repeatedly without losing its quality and without the use of toxic chemicals or intensive lab procedures. Read more »
Using Waste Plastic Bags to Double the Life of Lithium Sulfur Batteries
Written by Peter, on May 10, 2018
Engineers at Purdue University have found a way to increase the life of lithium-sulfur batteries which has the added benefit of being a way to recycle plastic bags. Read more »
Food Choices Can Squander Environmental Resources
Written by Peter, on March 28, 2018
It is often estimated that about a third of the food produced for human consumption globally is lost or wasted. But an even bigger waste, which is not included in this estimate, may be through dietary choices that result in the squandering of environmental resources. Read more »
Edible and Biodegradable Plastic from Seaweed
Written by Peter, on January 4, 2018
An Indonesian company, Evoware, has developed a method of producing biodegradable packaging from seaweed. Read more »
Coffee Cups Made from Coffee Waste
Written by Peter, on July 15, 2017
An Australian startup, Huskee, has developed reusable cups which are made from unwanted coffee bean husks. Read more »
Quickly Turning Food Waste into Fuel
Written by Peter, on June 28, 2017
Researchers at Cornell University have discovered this new process to generate energy from food waste that is much more efficient than previous methods. Read more »
Sponge Material Soaks Up and Releases Spilled Oil
Written by Peter, on March 7, 2017
Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois have developed a new material can absorb up to 90 times its own weight in spilled oil and then be squeezed out like a sponge and reused. Read more »
Drinking Beer Could Help Reduce Energy Storage Costs
Written by Peter, on October 11, 2016
Engineers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, have developed an innovative bio-manufacturing process that uses a biological organism cultivated in brewery wastewater to create the carbon-based materials needed to make energy storage cells. Read more »
Turning Plastics into Liquid Fuel
Written by Peter, on June 26, 2016
The widespread use of large volumes of plastics has created serious environmental issues. Polyethylene and polypropylene make up more than 60% of the total plastic content of municipal solid waste. These plastics originate primarily from fossil fuels.
Scientists in the United States and China have now developed a method of efficiently turning these plastics back into useful fuels and chemical feedstocks. Read more »
Water You Can Eat
Written by Peter, on September 5, 2015
The London-based Skipping Rocks Lab has developed an edible alternative to plastic water bottles. Americans alone use approximately 50 billion plastic water bottles each year. Only 23% of these are recycled leaving 38 billion to decompose – a process which can take centuries. The new form of packaging, called Ooho!, is described by its makers as […] Read more »
