Recycling and Waste News

April 16, 2024

Top Headlines

Switch to Green Wastewater Infrastructure Could Reduce Emissions and Provide Huge Savings According to New Research

Apr. 15, 2024 — Researchers have shown that a transition to green wastewater-treatment approaches in the U.S. that leverages the potential of carbon-financing could save a staggering $15.6 billion and just under 30 ...

Hidden Threat: Global Underground Infrastructure Vulnerable to Sea-Level Rise

Apr. 15, 2024 — As sea levels rise, coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the ground surface while also becoming saltier and more corrosive. A recent study compiled research from experts worldwide showing that in ...

Method to Extract Useful Proteins from Beer-Brewing Leftovers

Apr. 11, 2024 — Researchers have created a method that extracts over 80 percent of the available protein in grain leftovers from brewing beer, commonly known as brewers' spent ...

Hybrid Intelligence Can Reconcile Biodiversity and Agriculture

Apr. 11, 2024 — So far, biodiversity and agricultural productivity could not be reconciled because the socio-ecological system of agriculture is highly complex, and the interactions between humans and the environment are difficult to capture using conventional ...

Latest Headlines

updated 7:22pm EDT

Using CO2 and Biomass, Researchers Find Path to More Environmentally Friendly Recyclable Plastics

Apr. 10, 2024 — Researchers have created a potential alternative to traditional petroleum-based plastic that is made from carbon dioxide (CO2) and lignin, a ...

Tiny Plastic Particles Are Found Everywhere

Apr. 9, 2024 — Microplastic particles can be found in the most remote ocean regions on earth. In Antarctica, pollution levels are even higher than previously ...

Using Pulp and Paper Waste to Scrub Carbon from Emissions

Apr. 8, 2024 — Researchers have come up with an innovative approach to improve the energy efficiency of carbon conversion, using waste material from pulp and paper production. The technique they've pioneered not ...

eDNA Methods Give a Real-Time Look at Coral Reef Health

Apr. 5, 2024 — The study underscores the crucial role of microbes in maintaining coral reef health, akin to the human gut microbiome. Hurricanes and disease outbreaks affect coral reef water microbial communities, ...

'Tug of War' Tactic Enhances Chemical Separations for Critical Materials

Apr. 3, 2024 — Lanthanide elements are important for clean energy and other applications. To use them, industry must separate mixed lanthanide sources into individual elements using costly, time-consuming, and ...

Ocean Floor a 'Reservoir' of Plastic Pollution

Apr. 4, 2024 — New science has taken a deep dive into plastic waste, providing the first estimate of how much ends up on the sea ...

Plant-Based Plastic Releases Nine Times Less Microplastics Than Conventional Plastic

Apr. 3, 2024 — A newly developed plant-based plastic material releases nine times less microplastics than conventional plastic when exposed to sunlight and ...

Testing Environmental Water to Monitor COVID-19 Spread in Unsheltered Encampments

Apr. 3, 2024 — To better understand COVID-19's spread during the pandemic, public health officials expanded wastewater surveillance. These efforts track SARS-CoV-2 ...

Giant Phage Holds Promise as Treatment for Lung Infections

Apr. 3, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new bacterial killer that can target common lung infection caused by Burkholderia bacteria that has exciting potential for biotechnological ...

Open Waste Burning Linked to Air Pollution in Northwestern Greenland

Mar. 28, 2024 — A case study on the effects of open waste burning on air quality in Northwestern Greenland calls attention to the importance of no-one-left-behind sustainable air quality monitoring in the Arctic ...

Curbside Collection Improves Organic Waste Composting, Reduces Methane Emissions

Mar. 26, 2024 — Most organic household waste ends up in landfills where it generates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Composting food and garden waste instead of sending it to landfills can significantly reduce ...

A Self-Cleaning Wall Paint

Mar. 25, 2024 — Beautiful white wall paint does not stay beautiful and white forever. Often, various substances from the air accumulate on its surface. This can be a desired effect because it makes the air cleaner ...

Major Environmental Benefits Recycling Gold With Biodiesel

Mar. 25, 2024 — Researchers have developed an environmentally friendly method for recycling and purifying metals. Using gold earrings from a pawnshop in Gothenburg and biodiesel from the nearest filling station, the ...

New Route to Recyclable Polymers from Plants

Mar. 25, 2024 — Cellulose, abundantly available from plant biomass, can be converted into molecules used to make a new class of recyclable polymers, to sustainably replace some ...

Say Hello to Biodegradable Microplastics

Mar. 21, 2024 — Finding viable alternatives to traditional petroleum-based plastics and microplastics has never been more important. New research shows that their plant-based polymers biodegrade -- even at the ...

Cleaning Up Environmental Contaminants With Quantum Dot Technology

Mar. 20, 2024 — The 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was focused on quantum dots -- objects so tiny, they're controlled by the strange rules of quantum physics. Quantum dots used in electronics are often toxic, ...

Crawfish Could Transfer Ionic Lithium from Their Environment Into Food Chain

Mar. 20, 2024 — Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries are showing up in ever more devices, and the increasing use of this technology means more lithium is expected to find its way into the environment as a contaminant. ...

Is Food Waste the Key to Sustainable, Plastic-Free Diapers and Sanitary Pads?

Mar. 19, 2024 — Once thrown away, disposable diapers and sanitary pads can take hundreds of years to decompose, because they contain plastics and other synthetic polymers. But now, researchers are replacing these ...

There Are Large Accumulations of Plastics in the Ocean, Even Outside So-Called Garbage Patch

Mar. 19, 2024 — When plastic ends up in the ocean, it gradually weathers and disintegrates into small particles. If marine animals ingest these particles, their health can be severely affected. Large accumulations ...

Genes Identified That Allow Bacteria to Thrive Despite Toxic Heavy Metal in Soil

Mar. 18, 2024 — Some soil bacteria can acquire sets of genes that enable them to pump the heavy metal nickel out of their systems, a study has found. This enables the bacteria to not only thrive in otherwise toxic ...

Transforming Wood Waste for Sustainable Manufacturing

Mar. 18, 2024 — Research is exploring how to add value to lignin by breaking it down into small molecules that are structurally similar to oxygenated hydrocarbons. These renewable chemicals are key components in ...

Sustainable Plastics from Agricultural Waste

Mar. 18, 2024 — Scientists have developed a sustainable method to make high-performance plastics from agricultural leftovers, turning them into valuable ...

'Find Pearls in the Soil' Unveiling the Magic of Hydrogen Production from Municipal Sewage

Mar. 13, 2024 — Scientists have developed a catalyst for the urea oxidation reaction, enhancing hydrogen generation ...

Micro And Nanoplastics in the Body Are Passed on During Cell Division

Mar. 6, 2024 — The gastrointestinal tract is already known to researchers as a major storage site for micro- and nanoplastic particles (MNPs) in the human body. A research consortium has now investigated the ...

Harmful 'Forever Chemicals' Removed from Water With New Electrocatalysis Method

Mar. 5, 2024 — Scientists have developed new electrochemical approaches to clean up pollution from 'forever chemicals' found in clothing, food packaging, firefighting foams, and a wide array of other ...

Turning Waste Into Gold

Feb. 29, 2024 — Researchers have recovered gold from electronic waste. Their highly sustainable new method is based on a protein fibril sponge, which the scientists derive from whey, a food industry ...

Researchers Develop Novel Method to Photosynthesize Hydrogen Peroxide Using Water and Air

Feb. 28, 2024 — Researchers have developed a microporous covalent organic framework with dense donor-acceptor lattices and engineered linkages for the efficient and clean production of hydrogen peroxide through the ...

Streams Connected to Groundwater Show Improved Detoxification and Microbial Diversity

Feb. 23, 2024 — Streams with ample connections to shallow groundwater flow-paths have greater microbial diversity and are more effective at preventing toxic forms of metals -- often products of upstream mining -- ...

An Environmentally Friendly Way to Turn Seafood Waste Into Value-Added Products

Feb. 21, 2024 — Reduce, reuse, recycle, and repurpose: These are all ways we can live more sustainably. One tricky aspect of recycling, though, is that sometimes the recycling process is chemically intensive, and ...

Plastic Recycling With a Protein Anchor

Feb. 20, 2024 — Polystyrene is a widespread plastic that is essentially not recyclable when mixed with other materials and is not biodegradable. A research team has now introduced a biohybrid catalyst that oxidizes ...