Tag: Reuse

AI can find sustainable materials for the textile industry. A startup in England, meanwhile, is focusing on the circular economy and the power of nature to create non-toxic colouration technology. Plants owe their dazzling colour to crystals present in their cell walls, which reflect light differently depending on how they are arranged. The team extracts these crystals from the...

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...

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...

Some loudspeakers double as air purifiers. But what about analogue loudspeakers sitting gathering dust? Well, according to a Danish startup, it's time they received a new lease of life. The team's crowdfunded battery-powered box provides access to the digital world with a stereo port for two-wire audio cables. An in-built Bluetooth connection allows the box to be coupled with digital...

Wastewater has already been used to make beer. Now, a research team from the UK is focusing on how to make cow dung contribute to the circular economy. Cellulose fragments were extracted from dried manure using a salty liquid and an organic sulphur compound. Turning them into fibres was more complex and involved adapting a previously developed technology called...

Groundnut shells can help cultivate saplings sustainably. Now, a Japan-based research team has been investigating how cashew nuts can break down fatty tissue in the body. The nut itself grows in a shell, the shell in a kind of fleshy apple. The latter is rich in ascorbic acid, fibre and polyphenols, which have anti-inflammatory properties. An extract taken from...

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...