Waste Not
The latest in the growing number of efforts directed at reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms.
Sustainable Surf, MAFIA Bags Launch Sustainable Daypack Made Entirely from Waste
Sustainable Surf, a nonprofit focused on protecting ocean health, has teamed up with Swiss designer Yves Béhar and MAFIA Bags, a Bay Area-based brand making bags and backpacks from upcycled sails, to create an urban adventure bag that supports the local community and diverts valuable resources from landfill.
WRAP Releases Date Label Guidance to Drive Down UK Food Waste
Households in the UK waste two million tons of food each year simply by not consuming it in time. A third of this food waste is the result of the result of a confusing and counterintuitive labeling system. WRAP, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Defra have teamed up to change the way food is labeled and ultimately tackle the critical issue of food waste.
As EMF Calls for New Textiles Economy, H&M Clothing Powers Swedish Incinerators
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. Sweden is a leader in waste-to-energy generation and earlier this year, the country began powering its incineration plants with trash purchased from neighboring countries. With less than one percent of Swedish household waste sent to landfill since 2011, the country needed to look outside its borders to keep its incineration plants going. Now, news has emerged that some of this waste is discarded clothing from fast fashion giant H&M.
3 Scottish Cities Gain 'Zero Waste Town' Status
While a recent report from waste management firm Suez has expressed concern about the potential “disastrous” consequences of Brexit on the UK’s already taxed waste infrastructure system, Scotland is forging ahead with its plans to create a Zero Waste future. Late last week, MSP Roseanna Cunningham, Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, announced the cities chosen for phase two of Zero Waste Scotland’s Zero Waste Towns project.
Trending: Closed-Loop Solutions Ramp Up Recycling Rates for Batteries, Contact Lenses
While coffee cup recycling is just beginning to gather steam, previously hard-to-recycle products such as lead batteries and contacts are demonstrating surprisingly high recycling rates.
Trending: Coffee Grounds Poised to Power Future for Sustainable Transport, Fashion
Your morning cup of java could be good for more than just a caffeine buzz — Shell and Vancouver-based sustainable clothing company LEZÉ the Label are fueling a sustainable future with the help of waste coffee grounds.
Trending: Resource Optimization Is Driving the Future of Food
In the face of climate change, embracing new methods of agricultural production, consuming responsibly and adopting circular business models will be critical to forging a sustainable future and achieving both income and food security.
WWF, AHLA, Rockefeller Foundation Launch Food Waste Reduction Toolkit
The hotel industry continues to pursue a food waste-free future as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Rockefeller Foundation and the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) release a toolkit with strategies to help hotel properties and brands meet measurable, time-bound goals to reduce food waste. The resources are based on the results of a set of projects demonstrating innovative strategies aimed at reducing food waste in the hotel industry.
Planetarians Aiming to Fight Childhood Obesity with Food Waste
Extrusion technology is opening new doors for circularity within the food industry, allowing brands to transform food waste into nutritious food products instead of fodder for landfill. Planetarians is one such brand putting the method to the test, creating high-fiber, high-protein snacks that it says can tackle childhood obesity.
Gold, Silver Flowing Through Swiss Sewers Could Provide Path to Circular Future
Wastewater that’s worth the likes of gold? What would seem like a farfetched concept is reality in Switzerland, where 95 pounds of gold find their way into Swiss sewage each year — the equivalent of US$1,947,925.60. The build up is the result of the country’s iconic watch-making trade, which sees 70 percent of the world’s gold pass through Swiss gold-refining plants each year. So what to do with all this gold?
Guest-imator Tool Takes Guesswork (and Food Waste) Out of Thanksgiving Planning
Just in time for Thanksgiving, Ad Council and the Natural Resources Defense Council’s (NRDC) Save the Food national public service campaign have launched a digital portion planning calculator designed to reduce the amount of food, money and resources that go to waste around the holiday.
Trending: The War on Food Waste Rages On ... No Thanks to You, Londoners
Around a third of all food that is produced is lot at some point across the food supply chain. Globally, this equates to around 1.6 gigatons (GT) of food waste, of which 1.3 GT is still edible at the time of disposal. A new technology developed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Australia promises to make food waste a thing of the past, transforming discarded fruits and vegetables into healthy snacks. Researchers at CSIRO’s Food Innovation Centre have developed a method to return lost food-grade biomass to the food supply chain as value-added ingredients and food products.
Trending: Finally, Real Solutions to Tackle Coffee Cup Waste
With millions of disposable coffee cups finding their way into landfill each year, businesses and local authorities across the globe have been searching for ways to increase recycling and recovery of the single-use item. Building on the success of previous in-store cup and pilot recycling schemes, major brands in the UK have launched two permanent solutions for scaling coffee cup recycling.
How Companies ‘Seeing Goldmines in Landfills’ Are Refashioning Textiles
Want to subvert the traditional apparel supply chain? You must possess a “little bit of craziness,” according to Giulio Bonazzi, CEO and president of Aquafil, an Italian company that transforms abandoned fishing nets and castoff bits of carpet into good-as-new nylon fibers. Speaking on a panel at the Textile Sustainability Conference in Washington, D.C., last week, Bonazzi noted that his propensity for seeing goldmines in landfills hasn’t always drawn plaudits. In fact, he was often ridiculed.
Trending: Plastics Recycling Worldwide Takes One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
While the circular economy hits its stride in Sweden, recycling comes to a standstill in the US as it comes face-to-face with the realities of China’s new scrap ban. US shopping malls may be in fatal decline, but in Sweden, shopping centers are helping push the envelope on the circular agenda.
Trending: TP, Organic Waste Could Become Sources of Clean Energy, Low-Carbon Building Materials
From used bathroom tissue to banana peels, researchers and innovators are fueling a sustainable future by giving new life to previously overlooked waste streams. While scientists in the Netherlands are tapping sludge from water treatment facilities to generate clean energy, Arup is using organic waste to generate low-cost, low-carbon building materials.
Breweries, Bars Latest Crop of Businesses Making Creative Use of Waste
Closed-loop cocktails are officially a thing thanks to Operation Dagger, a popular Singapore-based bar and one of Asia’s best watering holes. Single-use is practically unheard of in this trendy spot, where every ingredient is given a second life, be it a vanilla pod or recycled receipt.
Trending: US, UK Grocery Giants Solidify Commitments to Eliminate Food Waste
Food giants across the US and UK continue to forge forward on efforts to drive down food waste and end hunger, rolling out new initiatives that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goal to halve food waste by 2030. The announcements coincide with a new global resolution launched by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which calls on the private sector to halve food and agricultural losses by 2030 and work with suppliers and consumers to do the same.
How the Right KPIs Can Help Eliminate Food Loss and Waste
Spoiler Alert is a Boston-based software company that helps the world’s largest food businesses better manage unsold inventory. This week, the company released a new ebook, A Strategic Guide for Using Data to Drive Food Loss and Waste Reductions, intended to arm food manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and grocery retailers with the tools and strategies to develop data-driven food waste prevention and reduction programs. Topics featured include:
Trending: Twinkie Vodka, Package-Free Supermarket Driving Food Industry Closer to Zero Waste
One-third of the world’s food — approximately 1.3 billion tons — is lost or wasted, a fact that is spurring startups to seek out new solutions to keep food out of landfills and stopping waste at the source. California-based distillery Misadventure & Co. is working to drive down food waste in a completely unexpected way — by transforming discarded Twinkies and other dump-destined baked goods into vodka.
