Tag: Plastic

Sustainable food can be conjured out of thin air. Now a Hamburg-based startup has used CO2 to manufacture oil alternatives. CO2 is placed in a bioreactor with different bacteria and converted into oil. Using yeast makes the oil suitable for cosmetic or cleaning products; oxyhydrogen bacteria, meanwhile, means it can be used for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), lubricant or...

Malleable metal tyres are a revelation. Now a startup from London has developed a patent-pending system which aims to prevent tyre wear from entering the environment. The microplastic pollutants are produced when vehicles accelerate and brake. Using electrostatics and airflow, particles charged from friction with the road are diverted to containers beneath the rear bumper. Captured pollution can be...

Magnetic nanoparticles can extract lithium from industrial wastewater. And a research team in Princeton has developed a material which can remove salt and microplastics with at least 98% efficiency. Inspiration came in the form of a sandwich. First, the team mixed bread dough with carbon, varying the recipe by reducing the number of ingredients each time, until eventually only...

New machines can filter miniscule smog particles from the air; an attachment catches lead in tap water. Now a Bristol-based startup is aiming to remove microplastics from washing machines before the artificial fibres wind up in the ocean. All that’s required is an easy-to-use attachment which can be placed on top of the washing machine, connected to the waste...