Tag: Recycling

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...

Rare components in batteries can be sustainably recovered. Recycling long-life materials such as PTFE still represents a challenge. But a research team in Japan has found a way to convert PTFE into reusable, organic fluorine compounds. The team exposed the material to a 5 Mega Gray dose of electron beams in a heated environment of 370°C. Treatment that caused...

Blood sugar levels can be tested using the magnetometer in smartphones. Permanent magnets, however, are needed for EVs and wind turbines. The rare earths they contain are particularly valuable. Now, a Northern Irish startup is using a patented method to recycle magnets sustainably. The magnets are crushed before being mined for base metals like iron, aluminium or copper using...

A thoughtful hiker turned citrus fruits into toilet paper. And, as a Sicilian founder has shown with her biodegradable yarn, oranges can play an additional role in the circular economy. Her juicy thought? Only 40% of the fruit gets used during the juicing process. The rest is rich in cellulose, which, thanks to the startup's patented process, can be...