Recycling and Waste News
October 2, 2025
Top Headlines
Oct. 1, 2025 — Fungi may have shaped Earth’s landscapes long before plants appeared. By combining rare gene transfers with fossil evidence, researchers have traced fungal origins back nearly a billion years earlier than expected. These ancient fungi may have ...
Sep. 26, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered an unexpected witness to Earth’s distant past: tiny iron oxide stones called ooids. These mineral snowballs lock away traces of ancient carbon, revealing that oceans between 1,000 and 541 million years ago held far less ...
Sep. 26, 2025 — Scientists found that biochar doesn’t just capture pollutants, it actively destroys them using direct electron transfer. This newly recognized ability accounts for up to 40% of its cleaning power and remains effective through repeated use. The ...
Sep. 26, 2025 — Bio-tar, once seen as a toxic waste, can be transformed into bio-carbon with applications in clean energy and environmental protection. This innovation could reduce emissions, create profits, and solve a major bioenergy industry ...
Sep. 22, 2025 — A team at RMIT University has created a cement-free construction material using only cardboard, soil, and water. Strong enough for low-rise buildings, it reduces emissions, costs, and waste compared to concrete. The lightweight, on-site process ...
Sep. 22, 2025 — A sweeping review from NYU Langone Health reveals that everyday exposure to plastics—especially during childhood—poses lasting risks for heart disease, infertility, asthma, and even brain ...
Sep. 18, 2025 — America already mines all the critical minerals it needs for energy, defense, and technology, but most are being wasted as mine tailings. Researchers discovered that minerals like cobalt, germanium, and rare earths are discarded in massive amounts, ...
Sep. 18, 2025 — Warming Arctic permafrost is unlocking toxic metals, turning Alaska’s once-clear rivers into orange, acid-laced streams. The shift, eerily similar to mine pollution but entirely natural, threatens fish, ecosystems, and communities that depend on ...
Sep. 12, 2025 — Forever chemicals known as PFAS have turned up in an unexpected place: beer. Researchers tested 23 different beers from across the U.S. and found that 95% contained PFAS, with the highest concentrations showing up in regions with known water ...
Sep. 10, 2025 — Barrels dumped off Southern California decades ago have been found leaking alkaline waste, not just DDT, leaving behind eerie white halos and transforming parts of the seafloor into toxic vents. The findings reveal a persistent and little-known ...
Sep. 10, 2025 — Researchers in Germany and Australia have created a simple but powerful tool to detect nanoplastics—tiny, invisible particles that can slip through skin and even the blood-brain barrier. Using an "optical sieve" test strip viewed under a regular ...
Sep. 5, 2025 — A team of chemists has discovered how to transform PET plastic waste into BAETA, a material that captures CO2 with remarkable efficiency. Instead of ending up as microplastics in the environment, discarded bottles and textiles could become tools to ...
Latest Headlines
updated 11:28am EDT
Sep. 3, 2025 — Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst ...
Sep. 1, 2025 — Sargassum has escaped the Sargasso Sea and exploded across the Atlantic, forming the massive Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. Fueled by nutrient runoff, Amazon outflows, and climate events, these ...
Aug. 31, 2025 — As the Great Salt Lake shrinks, scientists are uncovering mysterious groundwater-fed oases hidden beneath its drying lakebed. Reed-covered mounds and ...
Aug. 28, 2025 — In just one afternoon, scientists used a nanoparticle “megalibrary” to find a catalyst that matches or exceeds iridium’s performance in hydrogen fuel production, at a fraction of the ...
Aug. 27, 2025 — Scientists have discovered that waxworm caterpillars can break down polyethylene plastic, one of the most common and persistent pollutants on Earth. ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Roughly two-thirds of all atmospheric methane, a potent greenhouse gas, comes from methanogens. Tracking down which methanogens in which environment produce methane with a specific isotope signature ...
Aug. 17, 2025 — Rising CO₂ levels will make the upper atmosphere colder and thinner, altering how geomagnetic storms impact satellites. Future storms could cause sharper density spikes despite lower overall ...
Aug. 16, 2025 — Chemical evidence from a stalagmite in Mexico has revealed that the Classic Maya civilization’s decline coincided with repeated severe wet-season ...
Aug. 13, 2025 — Amid growing concerns over plastic waste and microplastics, researchers are turning agricultural leftovers into biodegradable packaging. Using ...
Aug. 3, 2025 — Plastic pollution is a mounting global issue, but scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have taken a bold step forward by creating a new ...
Earlier Headlines
Aug. 1, 2025 — A jaw-dropping 515-mile lightning bolt lit up the skies from Texas to Kansas City, smashing previous records and reshaping our understanding of extreme weather. Thanks to advanced satellite tech, ...
July 27, 2025 — For over two decades, satellites have quietly documented a major crisis unfolding beneath our feet: Earth's continents are drying out at unprecedented rates. Fueled by climate change, ...
July 24, 2025 — What would happen if a nuclear war triggered a climate-altering catastrophe? Researchers have modeled how such a scenario could devastate global corn crops cutting production by as much as 87% due to ...
July 24, 2025 — A new eco-friendly plastic called LAHB has shown it can biodegrade even in the extreme environment of the deep ocean, unlike conventional plastics that persist for decades. In real-world underwater ...
July 16, 2025 — Twenty-five years after first warning that oil spills would wane while invasive species and climate impacts would surge, an international team revisits its coastal forecasts and finds many ...
July 21, 2025 — Millions of tons of plastic in the ocean aren't floating in plain sight—they're invisible. Scientists have now confirmed that the most abundant form of plastic in the Atlantic is in the ...
July 3, 2025 — Tropical trees are dying faster than ever, and it's not just heat or drought to blame. Scientists have uncovered a surprising culprit: ordinary thunderstorms. These quick, fierce storms, powered ...
June 28, 2025 — Parts of New Orleans are sinking at alarming rates — including some of the very floodwalls built to protect it. A new satellite-based study finds that some areas are losing nearly two inches of ...
June 27, 2025 — At Flinders University, scientists have cracked a cleaner and greener way to extract gold—not just from ore, but also from our mounting piles of e-waste. By using a compound normally found in pool ...
June 26, 2025 — South Australia’s tiny pygmy bluetongue skink is baking in a warming, drying homeland, so Flinders University scientists have tried a bold fix—move it. Three separate populations were shifted ...
June 24, 2025 — Wildfires don’t just leave behind scorched earth—they leave a toxic legacy in Western rivers that can linger for nearly a decade. A sweeping new study analyzed over 100,000 water samples from ...
June 20, 2025 — Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed an astonishing new material: a printable gel that’s alive. Infused with ancient cyanobacteria, this "photosynthetic living material" not only ...
June 20, 2025 — Arctic peatlands are expanding with rising temperatures, storing more carbon at least for now. But future warming could reverse this benefit, releasing massive ...
June 19, 2025 — During Earth's ancient Snowball periods, when the entire planet was wrapped in ice, life may have endured in tiny meltwater ponds on the surface of equatorial glaciers. MIT researchers ...
June 19, 2025 — AI researchers in Switzerland have found a way to dramatically cut cement s carbon footprint by redesigning its recipe. Their system simulates thousands of ingredient combinations, pinpointing those ...
June 14, 2025 — Atmospheric rivers, while vital for replenishing water on the U.S. West Coast, are also the leading cause of floods though storm size alone doesn t dictate their danger. A groundbreaking study ...
June 12, 2025 — Mercury contamination is surfacing as a serious concern in parts of Georgia and South Carolina, particularly in regions like the Okefenokee Swamp. University of Georgia researchers found alarmingly ...
June 17, 2025 — In a surprising twist during an air quality study in Oklahoma, researchers detected MCCPs an industrial pollutant never before measured in the Western Hemisphere's atmosphere. The team suspects ...
June 13, 2025 — Where do microplastics really go after entering the environment? MIT researchers discovered that sticky biofilms naturally produced by bacteria play a surprising role in preventing microplastics from ...
June 8, 2025 — In a world where over a billion smartphones are produced yearly, a team of researchers is flipping the script on electronic waste. Instead of tossing out older phones, they ve demonstrated a ...
Friday, August 1, 2025
Sunday, July 27, 2025
Thursday, July 24, 2025
- Scientists Modeled Nuclear Winter—the Global Food Collapse Was Worse Than Expected
- This Plastic Disappears in the Deep Sea—and Microbes Make It Happen
Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Monday, July 21, 2025
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Saturday, June 28, 2025
Friday, June 27, 2025
Thursday, June 26, 2025
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Friday, June 20, 2025
- Scientists Create Living Building Material That Captures CO₂ from the Air
- Hidden Carbon Giants: Satellite Data Reveals a 40-Year Arctic Peatland Surge
Thursday, June 19, 2025
- How Life Endured the Snowball Earth: Evidence from Antarctic Meltwater Ponds
- The AI That Writes Climate-Friendly Cement Recipes in Seconds
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Thursday, June 12, 2025
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Friday, June 13, 2025
Sunday, June 8, 2025
Monday, June 2, 2025
- Researchers Develop Recyclable, Healable Electronics
- Researchers Use Deep Learning to Predict Flooding This Hurricane Season
- Human-Caused Dust Events Are Linked to Fallow Farmland
Thursday, May 29, 2025
- 2021's Hurricane Ida Could Have Been Even Worse for NYC
- Rock Record Illuminates Oxygen History
- EV Battery Recycling Key to Future Lithium Supplies
- Waste to Foundation: Transforming Construction Waste Into High-Performance Material
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
- Just Add Iron: Researchers Develop a Clever Way to Remove Forever Chemicals from Water
- Cryo-Em Freezes the Funk: How Scientists Visualized a Pungent Protein
- Home Water-Use App Improves Water Conservation
- Nordic Studies Show the Significance of Old-Growth Forests for Biodiversity
Friday, May 23, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
- A New Approach Could Fractionate Crude Oil Using Much Less Energy
- Scientists Say Microplastics Are 'silently Spreading from Soil to Salad to Humans'
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
- Engineers Discover a New Class of Materials That Passively Harvest Water from Air
- Wind-Related Hurricane Losses for Homeowners in the Southeastern U.S. Could Be Nearly 76 Percent Higher by 2060
- Extreme Weather Cycles Change Underwater Light at Lake Tahoe
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Monday, May 19, 2025
Friday, May 16, 2025
- Designing the Future of Clean Energy: Janus Heterobilayers Lead the Way
- Ancient Ocean Sediments Link Changes in Currents to Cooling of Northern Hemisphere 3.6 Million Years Ago
Thursday, May 15, 2025
- A Vicious Cycle: How Methane Emissions from Warming Wetlands Could Exacerbate Climate Change
- Scientists Use Fossils to Assess the Health of Florida's Largest Remaining Seagrass Bed: Surprisingly, It's Doing Well!
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
- Drinking Water, Select Foods Linked to PFAS in California Adults
- Engineers Tackle Sunlight Intermittency in Solar Desalination
- Sharp Depletion in Soil Moisture Drives Land Water to Flow Into Oceans, Contributing to Sea Level Rise
- Microplastics in Texas Bays Are Being Swept out to Sea
- New Catalyst Boosts Efficiency of CO2 Conversion
- Understanding Carbon Traps
- Climate Change Is Turning Coastal Lagoons Into 'salty Soup'
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
- Growth Before Photosynthesis: How Trees Regulate Their Water Balance
- Enhanced Activity in the Upper Atmosphere of Sporadic E Layers During the 2024 Mother's Day Super Geomagnetic Storm
Monday, May 12, 2025
Friday, May 9, 2025
- Metals and Hormone-Disrupting Substances Pose Real Threat to Sustainable Agriculture and Water Management in Europe
- Urine, Not Water for Efficient Production of Green Hydrogen
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
- Feat of 'dung-Gineering' Turns Cow Manure Into One of World's Most Used Materials
- Is Virtual-Only Couture the New Clothing Craze?
- New Roadmap Advances Catalytic Solutions to Destroy 'forever Chemicals'
- Smart Spongy Device Captures Water from Thin Air
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
- Replanted Rainforests May Benefit from Termite Transplants
- Discovery: A Better, More Targeted Termite Terminator
- Practical New Tool Created for Detecting Nanoplastics and Microplastics in the Environment
- Breakthrough in Fuel Cell Recycling Turns 'forever Chemicals' Into Renewable Resources
Monday, May 5, 2025
- Western US Spring Runoff Is Older Than You Think
- Are Agricultural Pesticides an Environmental Threat?
- Artificial Oxygen Supply in Coastal Waters: A Hope With Risks
- Are at-Home Water Tests Worth It? New Study Shows Quality Can Vary Widely
Friday, May 2, 2025
Thursday, May 1, 2025
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
- Rare Earth Element Extraction Bolstered by New Research
- 'Scratching' More Than the Ocean's Surface to Map Global Microplastic Movement
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Monday, April 28, 2025
- 'Wood You Believe It?' Engineers Fortify Wood With Eco-Friendly Nano-Iron
- Flood Risk Increasing in Pacific Northwest
- Dangerous Synthetic Opioids and Animal Sedatives Found in Wastewater
Friday, April 25, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
- A New Recycling Process for Silicones Could Greatly Reduce the Sector's Environmental Impacts
- Keeping Tabs on Native Woodlands in Times of Flood and Drought
- Could Seismic Signals from Earthquakes Mask the Signals of an Underground Explosion?
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
- Toxic Blooms in Motion: Researchers Map Algae Patterns in Lake Okeechobee, Florida
- Micro-Nano-Plastics Found in Artery-Clogging Plaque in the Neck
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
- Telemedicine Had an Impact on Carbon Emissions Equivalent to Reducing Up to 130,000 Car Trips Each Month in 2023
- Trash Talk: As Plastic Use Soars, Researchers Examine Biodegradable Solutions
Monday, April 21, 2025
- Harmful Microplastics Infiltrating Drinking Water
- Microplastics: What's Trapping the Emerging Threat in Our Streams?
- How Safe Is the Air to Breathe? 50 Million People in the US Do Not Know
Thursday, April 17, 2025
- Nutrients Strengthen Link Between Precipitation and Plant Growth, Study Finds
- Researchers Warn of a Threat to Water Safety from Wildfires
Wednesday, April 16, 2025
- Microbes in Brooklyn Superfund Site Teach Lessons on Fighting Industrial Pollution
- A Step Toward Harnessing Clean Energy from Falling Rainwater
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
- Growing Wildflowers on Disused Urban Land Can Damage Bee Health
- Inactive Components in Agricultural Runoff May Be Hidden Contributors to Drinking Water Hazards
- Colombia's Peatlands Could Be a Crucial Tool to Fight Climate Change: But First We Have to Find Them
- Corn Leads to Improved Performance in Lithium-Sulfur Batteries
- Making Desalination More Eco-Friendly: New Membranes Could Help Eliminate Brine Waste