The latest developments in safe and sustainable chemicals, new materials, fuels, and more.
With private and municipal composting programs becoming more mainstream, as well as more companies turning to more sustainable packaging designs, composting is now easier than ever. The next step in the crusade to reduce waste? The Sustainable Packing Coalition (SPC)’s launch of the new How2Compost label program.
The packaging industry in the U.S.
All over the world, new ideas are changing mankind’s relationship with food. From the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to the “ugly food movement,” ideas big and small are making an impact. To uncover such stories, Tetra Pak® has launched a new digital platform called Groundwork.
The issue of hazardous chemicals isn’t new in consumer products; the Romans knew lead was harmful over 2000 years ago. Scheele’s Green, a copper-arsenic-based pigment, was one of the first colourfast greens used for textiles in the early 1860s. However, as the picture below demonstrates, it didn't take long for the toxic effects of this pigment to become known. Something has to be going wrong if hundreds of years ago we knew arsenic and lead were hazardous, and today, we still have to communicate this to the value chain.
Recycling and refining high-quality lead has commenced in Nevada, and will soon reach commercial-scale production. Aqua Metals has used its patent-pending ‘AquaRefining’ technology, which the company is calling “the only clean lead recycling method.” Unlike smelting, AquaRefining uses a water-based, room-temperature process to produce lead. Aqua Metals says the process is “fundamentally non-polluting,” and has verified verified that the lead produced in the AquaRefining module is over 99.99 percent pure. The company expects its AquaRefining systems to allow the lead-acid battery industry to simultaneously reduce negative environmental impacts and increase production to meet rapidly growing demand.
Walmart hopes to reignite the passion around sustainable packaging with vendors, store buyers, packaging suppliers and consumers with three new, clear goals: Optimize Design; Source Sustainably; and Support Recycling. The priorities were unveiled along with the company’s new “Sustainable Packaging Playbook” at the Walmart Sustainable Packaging Summit this week.
Disney is inspiring fans to think outside the toy box and help protect the planet in celebration of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Moana.” Inspired by the Disney Store’s new Classic Moana doll box, which can be turned into a boat inspired by the character’s journey, the non-profit Destination Imagination launched a photo challenge to encourage children and their parents to create inventions out of recycled materials found in their ho
Newly formed groups in Europe and Canada are working to deliver a circular economy for packaging materials: PlasticsEurope has created a Plastics Packaging Circular Economy Group to maximize resource efficiency across the plastics value chain; and Ontario’s Circular Economy Innovation Lab is hosting a series of workshops as part of a Printed Paper and Packaging Rapid Lab.
The Dow Chemical Company has announced that it has committed $2.8 million over the next two years to drive solutions that address global marine debris and litter. The company made the announcement on Friday, September 16th, at the inaugural Our Ocean Conference in Washington, D.C., hosted by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The latest textile innovations include a new TENCEL® made from cotton fabric waste, recently picked up by Patagonia, and a research breakthrough that could lead to ‘tarantula blue’ textiles.
The hunt is on for potentially ground-breaking scientific research in food security and green chemistry. Entries and nominations are now open for the second global Olam Prize for Innovation in Food Security (Olam Prize) and the 2017 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards.
We could finally be entering an age where medical and research testing on laboratory animals for human safety is no longer necessary. A team of scientists and engineers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is developing an alternative called the Isolation Chip (iCHIP). Formally known as the in-vitro Chip-based Human Investigational Platform (still iCHIP), it can replicate the central nervous system (brain), peripheral nervous system, the blood-brain barrier and the heart – the basic four biological systems required for life.
Add sewage sludge and seaweed to the list of raw materials that have potential for circular economy solutions: Toyota is experimenting with converting human waste into hydrogen to fuel its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car; and Wageningen Food & Biobased Research has been exploring seaweed’s potential for a range of products including fuels, bioplastics and animal feed, as well as opportunities for symbiosis for seaweed cultivation and byproduct use.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition and The Recycling Partnership have teamed up to increase recovery of quality recyclables in the U.S. through a new initiative called ASTRX – Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling. The partners will work closely with a number of other industry groups to fully capture the perspective of the entire recycling landscape, in hopes of unlocking new insights to improving recovery.
We currently produce enough plastic to wrap Denmark in plastic film every day of the year all year round. This was just one of the shocking facts revealed by Sofus Midtgaard – Managing Partner & Nordic Lead at Leaderlab & LAUNCH, and moderator for Tuesday’s panel discussion that explored accelerating the transition to healthy products through the development of sustainable materials.
This morning, from the main stage at SB’16 Copenhagen, Carlsberg’s Sustainability Director, Simon Hoffmeyer Boas, unveiled the brewer’s latest design for its Green Fiber Bottle.
Renewable diesel and materials producer Neste and spoken word artist Prince Ea have unveiled the latest collaboration in their Pre-order the Future project, this time with a film that focuses on the future of learning. In “The People vs.
JetBlue today announced a ten-year renewable jet fuel purchase agreement with bioenergy company SG Preston, for jet fuel made from rapidly renewable, bio-based feedstocks that do not compete with food production. This marks one of the largest renewable jet fuel purchase agreements in aviation history, and the largest, long-term, binding commitment by any airline globally for HEFA (hydro-processed esters and fatty acids)-based renewable jet fuel.
A network of 90 NGOs from around the world including big names such as Greenpeace, Oceana, the Story of Stuff Project, GAIA, 5Gyres and Clean Water Action have come together to launch a massive global movement to achieve a “future free from plastic pollution.” Under the banner Break Free From Plastic, the group aims to change society’s perception and use of plastics, as well as identify and pursue solutions that reduce and prevent plastic pollution.
Business magnate Bill Gates and energy giant Total have backed biofuels company Renmatix in a $14 million investment round. Renmatix developed a new process called Plantrose® that makes converting biomass into cellulosic sugars – the critical intermediary for second-generation biochemicals and biofuels – more affordable for biorefineries. The investment will help fund the process’ commercialization, which will expand the supply of cost-competitive alternatives to petroleum-derived molecules.