Tag: Sustainability

Supply and demand of biological waste is becoming more transparent. Meanwhile, in order to promote the funding of sustainable projects, a Portuguese startup has launched a platform for private individuals and organisations. Both can invest in projects and receive interest of up to 9% each year. In turn, projects by profit-oriented or charitable organisations must adhere to the UN’s...

Coffee grounds make for stronger cement. Other types of waste are increasingly popular too. (Using wine residue?) a Toronto-based startup is extracting nanocrystals from chitin, which is found in crab, shrimp and lobster shells. With a formula containing just 1% of chitin nanocrystal, the team has created a sustainable packaging film. A single-layer solution without chemical glue, it can...

Thanks to a personal initiative, Inuktitut is being kept alive. Indigenous peoples are enormously knowledgeable and innovative, but one of the hurdles for their founders is securing funding. Now, a Canadian TV show launched by an Indigenous woman is putting Indigenous entrepreneurs on the map. Any new company can apply so long as its business model prioritises sustainability, saves...

Smart buoys are preventing ships from colliding with whales. Normally, container ships and tankers are directed to reach their destinations as quickly as possible. In the harbour, however, they're at anchor for a long time. Enter a British startup aiming to bring all those involved together on its independent platform in order to reduce CO2 emissions promptly. Using pre-specified...

Records from sugarcane are good for the environment. Chocolate, meanwhile, is good for our mood - even if too much sugar is unhealthy. But who said sugar was necessary to make chocolate? A Zurich-based research team dried the fibre-rich innermost layer of the cocoa hull - called the endocarp - and ground it to powder. Next the pulp from...

Used, starch-based juice bottles dissolve in water. If only recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs) from plastic and glass fibre were as easy. Enter a US-based research team which has manufactured a PCB prototype using cutting-edge sustainable polymers known as vitrimers. When exposed to mild heat, their molecular compounds loosen so that tears or holes can be repaired. The team...

Old furniture can find a new home. And, thanks to a London-based startup, children’s cuddly toys needn’t end up in the trash either. The concept is simple enough: kids inevitably move on, but old toys can still bring joy to someone new. Tired teddies and stuffed animals are donated to the female founder’s startup directly in the post. There...

In future, circuit boards for PCs could be made from mushrooms. Now, an EU-financed research team is attempting something even more daring. They are building components for mobile machines from edible materials. People in remote places could be given drones for dessert while other drones deliver vaccinations to endangered animals. Work is already underway to create a sprayable sensor...