Tag: Recycling

Coffee grounds are a versatile thing: used in everything from sustainable concrete to glasses frames, even offering natural oils for cosmetics. But as a cocoa alternative? It might sound far-fetched, but that’s exactly what a USA-based startup is trying to achieve. The logic is simple enough: from a taste perspective there are similarities between coffee and cocoa. First the...

Waste wood isn’t just suitable as a sustainable polystyrene substitute. Now, a Finnish research team has created an alternative to petroleum-based resin using sawdust and straw. The presence of petroleum-based bonding agents makes it tricky to recycle composites, which are used for wind turbines, boats and RVs. The team extracted cellulose and hemicellulose from the waste wood, successfully developing...

No one needs kidney stones. Nevertheless, a mineral present in animals’ urinary calculus is helping to make construction materials from sawdust fire resistant. A research team in Switzerland mixed sawdust and struvite (a crystalline ammonium magnesium phosphate), adding an enzyme extracted from watermelon seeds for stickiness. The mixture was then pressed for two days into chipboards. Tests showed that...

Spirit production provides furniture in Scotland. And as another Scottish startup discovered, whisky by-products can also help reduce overfishing. The team uses distillery waste water to manufacture Omega-3s. Wild fish are known to be a rich source of the fatty acids, but they actually acquire them by eating algae. The team used the waste from whisky distillation (including barley)...

Rapidly-spreading algae can be repurposed as building material. Now, an Austrian startup is using waste from construction to store CO2 safely and create new materials at the same time. First the scrap material is analysed. Whether rubble or slag from iron or steel production, ash from incinerator plants or cement waste. Based on a sample, a patented process determines...

A biodegradable battery made from paper already exists. Meanwhile, a Glasgow-based research team is working on sustainable circuit boards. Zinc traces measuring 5 microns wide were first electroplated onto a carrier; next the team transferred the electric circuit onto materials like bioplastic and paper (they even tried chocolate but it was too unstable). Tested in tactile sensors, temperature sensors...

Lights on fishing nets reduce unwanted bycatch. But, once discarded, fishing nets endanger sea life. Enter a British startup, which aims to reuse old nets and reduce marine pollution. With the help of small investors, the English founder has developed a patented machine in a shipping container, which can shred and clean up to 20kg of old nylon nets...

Chickpeas are a readymade replacement for coffee. Coffee grounds, meanwhile, can be used for sustainable building projects. A Warsaw-based startup identified the waste product’s potential for the circular economy and developed a patented technology to extract valuable resources from it. Initial attempts a few years ago were certainly helpful. The team’s latest system is set up so that coffee-industry...