Recycling

The brewing of beer produces great quantities of leftover grain, which often ends up being processed into cattle feed. Scientists have developed a new method of extracting the protein and fiber from that waste, however, for use by humans.

Like most other commonly used types of plastic, polyurethane is typically made from non-renewable crude oil, and it takes centuries to break down when discarded. Now, however, scientists have created a biodegradable polyurethane-like polymer using fish waste.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new process to convert old tires into graphene, which can then be used to make concrete. Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but the team says the resulting concrete is substantially stronger.

Restoring post-agricultural land to tropical forest can be challenging, as the pasture grasses tend to choke out the native trees. A new study, however, indicates that waste from the coffee industry gives those trees a fighting chance.

Although not a huge seller everywhere, durian fruit is consumed in great quantities in countries like Singapore. Scientists there have now developed a method of using its husks to create cheap, eco-friendly, antibacterial hydrogel bandages.

Those purple corn chips you see in the store aren't just a gimmick – the corn's purple pigment actually has health benefits. Researchers have now devised a method of extracting more of it from the usually discarded cob, for a variety of uses.

The Coca-Cola Company has announced it will be trialing a paper bottle prototype in a limited run of 2,000 later this year. The test sales of the plant-based beverage AdeZ will be conducted in Hungary through the e-grocery retailer Kifli.hu.

Many "cold chain" items such as food or medicine are shipped in single-use expanded polystyrene foam (EPS) packaging, which is difficult to recycle and non-biodegradable. Such is not the case with a new material, however, made from discarded paper.

As useful as plastics are in our everyday life, they’re difficult to recycle, with most ending up in landfill or the environment. Now, researchers in Japan have used a novel catalyst to recycle a common plastic into useful products like fuel and wax.

A team has developed a process that turns waste plastic into an adhesive that's more valuable. The goal was to find ways to "upcycle" plastics by putting them to new uses while preserving the properties that made them attractive in the first place.

Because different polymers have different qualities, multiple types will often be layered together in products such as food packaging. And while such multilayer plastics are currently non-recyclable, a new technique may change that.

A new breakthrough could boost the eco-credentials of an environmentally friendly form of lithium battery even further, by restoring it to its original condition once it is spent using just a fraction of the energy of current approaches.