The latest in the growing number of efforts directed at reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms.
Food wasted by consumers is an enormous economic problem and countries should ensure excess food is given to the hungry instead of being thrown away, according to agriculture ministers from the Group of 20 leading countries, as reported by Reuters.The ministers were meeting for a two-day meeting in Istanbul that focused on problems of food security and nutrition, such as the impact of global warming. Reducing food waste could improve food security, the they concluded.
Three Purdue students and a graduate have launched a startup called Atlas Energy Systems, that has found a way to turn nuclear waste into its own source of energy, according to The Purdue Exponent. The project that started in an apartment as a prototype held together with Scotch tape has gone on to win the Indiana Clean Energy Challenge.
A recent report commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates the ocean’s value at $24 trillion, making it the world’s seventh-largest economy. The annual “goods and services” it provides, such as food, rounds out to about $2.5 trillion, a value that the report warns is at risk due to overfishing, pollution and climate change.
Just in time for graduation season, REPREVE recycled fibers will be used in Oak Hall graduation gowns at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Since the introduction of REPREVE, nearly 60 million plastic bottles have been recycled into Oak Hall GreenWeaver gowns worn by more than 2.2 million students, the brand says. REPREVE is made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles, and each graduation gown is made from around 27 bottles. During the spring 2015 graduation season alone, more than 300,000 students around the nation will graduate wearing Oak Hall REPREVE-based gowns, using more than 8 million recycled plastic bottles. Participating schools include Duke, Yale, University of Alabama and Notre Dame, to name a few.
Disneyland Resort has been recognized by the EPA with the 2014 Food Recovery Challenge Award, for its zero-waste efforts and the highest percent increase in food recovery of any theme park in the nation.In 2012, Americans threw away nearly 35 million tons of food — more than any other type of material being put in landfills. As wasted food decomposes in a landfill, it generates methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that wasted food costs America more than $165 billion annually and that the average family of four throws away $1,600 worth of food each year.
Preserve, producer of sustainable consumer goods with a focus on creating closed loop products using recycled plastic, today announced the launch of Preserve 2 Go — a durable, reusable clamshell container designed for use in food services.Developed to “transform the takeout food experience and to provide an avenue for a more sustainable, eco-friendly system”, Preserve 2 Go could help eliminate the unnecessary waste of millions of disposable to-go containers.
Spring cleaning this year just got a little easier: On Saturday, May 2nd, donating old clothes will be a breeze thanks to a partnership between Goodwill and Uber. Donors can open the Uber app on Saturday, select the GIVE option at the bottom of the screen and request a pickup for their donations to be delivered directly to their local Goodwill, free of charge.
In honor of Earth Day this week, both Brad Pitt and Sheryl Crow are using their star power to back initiatives aimed at helping responsibly build affordable housing for those in need, while bringing awareness to the importance of textile recycling.First, Pitt’s non-profit, Make It Right — which builds sustainable, affordable homes, buildings and communities for people in need — kicked off a partnership with American Eagle Outfitters to recycle used and unwanted denim into building materials for affordable homes.
Upwards of 100 million tons of plastic are manufactured annually across the globe. That’s 200 billion pounds of new material on-market every year, ready to be thermoformed, laminated, foamed and extruded into billions of products and packages. In the past decades it has been widely adopted by industry, and plastic has become one of the most ubiquitous and versatile materials in the world – and, subsequently, one of the most difficult to reliably collect and recycle.
Construction and demolition materials (C&D) recycling is a $7.4 billion industry, according to a new report by the Construction & Demolition Recycling Association (CDRA). And when considering indirect and induced economic output, the industry could be worth over $17 billion.C&D materials are recognized as one of the largest components of the solid waste stream in the US. While much of this is recycled for purely economic reasons, avoidance of landfill disposal of materials such as concrete, wood, gypsum drywall and asphalt shingles has benefits well beyond financial ones, CDRA says.
Nestlé USA has had a busy year so far: The company has publicly committed to removing all artificial flavors and colors from its chocolate candy by the end of 2015 and purchased enough certified cocoa to produce its entire Easter chocolate collection, a first for a major U.S. candy manufacturer.
With California suffering one of its most dire water shortages on record, the Golden State’s political leaders are scrambling to find solutions to shore up an ever-diminishing supply of this precious resource. Some analysts suggest California only has about one year’s reserve of water left within its reservoirs.
A commuter bus in Bristol, England, which runs on biomethane gas produced by food waste and fecal matter generated by 32,000 local households, entered regular service late last month. Originally launched with sporadic service in November, the waste-powered Bio-Bus, affectionately known as the “poo bus,” will now be available four days a week — on, you guessed it, Route #2.
A new report released today from Arizona State University indicates that the development of online education programs can be a significant component of an institution’s sustainability strategy, based on greater socioeconomic impact for a smaller environmental footprint per degree.
Iglo Group, Europe’s largest frozen food company, yesterday launched a coalition with leading waste reduction charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), with the objective of reducing food waste across Europe.
With two billion pounds of waste generated by the seafood industry in Alaska alone, finding creative ways to repurpose this waste represents an economic opportunity as well as an environmental imperative. We’ve seen shrimp shells turned into everything from bioplastic to solar cells … but upcycling seafood byproducts into clothing likely wouldn’t be a top-of-mind solution for most people.
There is a worldwide concern that the ability of our environmental systems to sustain the conditions of life as we know it is being compromised. We need to act now, and we need to act fast, so today more than ever we need innovative solutions and a different approach to problem solving.Every time we analyze a problem by focusing only in its consequences, we risk not understanding it at all. We miss the opportunity to comprehend what is causing it in the first place, and that the solution might not be to solve the end result, but to eliminate the root that is causing the problem in the first place.
The British Metals Recycling Association (BMRA) is calling on car manufacturers to ensure that using lightweight materials to achieve greenhouse gas reductions doesn't impede circular manufacturing processes, edie reports.
Unilever North America announced on Tuesday it has achieved 100 percent zero waste to landfill (ZLF) at all dedicated distribution centers in North America.To achieve ZLF, the company has adopted the four ‘R’ approach — firstly reducing waste at source then reusing, recovering or recycling any non-hazardous waste that remains. It has meant reconsidering every single material that is consumed in a factory and distribution center — from reusing packing materials from supplier deliveries to food waste from staff cafeterias.
WastED, a pop-up restaurant dedicated to food waste, opens today in Greenwich Village. Starting tonight, chef Dan Barber has suspended dinner service at his farm-to-table Blue Hill Restaurant to host this pop-up, where all-star chefs including Grant Achatz, Danny Bowien, Mario Batali, Dominique Crenn and Alain Ducasse will create menus with ingredients that are usually thrown away. WastED will run through the end of the month, with a menu of dishes devised from leftovers such as stems, peelings, rinds and bones.