Recycling

Imagine your local nuclear plant is a zero-emissions cozy community center. Oklo’s Aurora microreactor could make this vision a reality – delivering clean power to remote areas with a "fire-and-forget" reactor that runs 20 years without refueling.

Back in 2021, researchers came up with a recipe for greener concrete that had building waste and CO2 among its ingredients. Now the same team has used rubble from a demolished school and the greenhouse gas to produce bricks to build new structures.

Using a proprietary chemical process pioneered by Canadian firm Excir, England's The Royal Mint has begun mining old circuit boards from electronic devices for gold and converting what's harvested into attractive, if pricey, jewelry.

Lithium is a finite resource, and the more we lock inside rechargeable batteries, the less we have to use. A new speedy method to free the element from such sources could be a game changer in terms of the material's availability.

We don't usually want our furniture to be flammable, but this stool actually encourages it. Made from potatoes and sawdust, it's designed to be thrown in a fireplace for warmth once it reaches the end of its usefulness.

Torqeedo, a major innovator of all-electric boat motors, is trying to further improve its clean track record. It's deep in the works on a new version of its iconic bright-orange propeller that's crafted from 100% recycled plastic.

Bricks made of discarded glass and recycling-waste ash have been shown to insulate better than regular bricks, while also requiring less energy to produce. And of course, they additionally use materials which would otherwise end up in landfills.

Scientists have developed a new "ink" that allows objects to be 3D-printed out of wood. The material could reduce the amount of wood that gets wasted in the manufacturing of various products, plus it could utilize existing wood waste.

Scientists have devised a method of using fish scales to convey encrypted messages. Not only would the technology divert seafood industry waste from landfills, it should also be less costly than existing options such as special inks.

Carbon fiber has some great qualities, but easy recyclability isn't one of them. New Zealand manufacturer Vélos Advancements is nonetheless using carbon fiber waste in the production of its limited-run high-end road bike, the Holocene Superbike.

The disposable nature of modern gadgetry is leading to a worrying e-waste problem. To highlight the issue, Envision Racing and artist Liam Hopkins teamed up to create a Formula E Gen3 racecar built from discarded phones, laptops, vapes and other tech.

While we use around five trillion plastic bags every year, disposable alternatives aren't that much better. A group of scientists, however, want us to rethink the humble paper bag, making it super strong, durable and a handy source of biofuel.