Tag: Packaging

Mobile and solar-powered beds can provide speedy relief to babies with jaundice. During outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Ebola or Polio, however, many doses of vaccines are required locally. To help with logistics and storage, a research team from MIT has developed a mobile printer to produce vaccination patches. They can be stored at room temperature for months....

Paper made from banana plants protect potatoes from pathogens. An important development for a Swedish design studio, which has produced a curved juice bottle made from a potato starch-based material. It dissolves in water after use and can also be eaten or composted. Thanks to a double-sided, biodegradable coating, the bottle can withstand liquid contents. Once empty, the material...

Farm stubble, sawdust, and corn flakes are valuable resources for packaging material. Now, a Ukrainian startup is turning to nature’s other gifts to help lower CO2 emissions. Why fell 17 trees to make a ton of paper when you could use 2.3 tons of fallen leaves instead? After being collected from parks, sidewalks and residential developments, the leaves are...

Mobile mushroom farms help save on delivery channels and packaging. Now, to reduce the millions of disposable cups used daily, a startup from Melbourne has developed a tasty alternative to conventional takeaway tea and coffee. Their edible cups are reminiscent of ice-cream cones. They are made from local oats, grain and rye plus coconut oil, sugar and salt. Once...

Potatoes can flourish thanks to waste from banana plants. Now, a research team based at North Carolina State University has turned its attention to leftovers of a different kind. In recent pilot studies they have been experimenting with sawdust in order to substitute Styrofoam packaging material. Out of finely ground wood scrap and residues from agricultural products, they created...

These spoons double as snacks after use. Now a startup from Hamburg is working on sustainable single-use packaging. Key to their initiative: agricultural waste such as wheat straw, tomato stems, vine stocks or hemp residue. All scraps are sourced locally, helping to promote climate neutrality. Using a patented chafing procedure, the waste is chopped into individual fibres. These retain...