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Eliminating waste in the drinks industry
CategoriesSustainable News

Eliminating waste in the drinks industry

By Zarkon Group,

In the UK, around 500,000 tonnes of fresh produce is wasted in hospitality and food service each year. Globally, some estimates put the total amount of food wasted at 1.3 billion tonnes, which according to data from the United Nations equates to around 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

A more innovative approach to waste produce is good for the planet and, as UK brand Discarded has discovered, it’s also good for the palette. Discarded is part of the Scottish company William Grant & Sons, famous predominantly for its whiskeys, and was the brainchild of the company’s innovation team who were looking for credible and impactful ways to build on its sustainability strategy. The first product to launch in 2018 was a Cascara Vermouth, made from the fruit that is usually discarded as part of the coffee production process, and trailed in a limited number of bars in the UK.  

The pandemic gave the team the opportunity to develop the brand further and double down on its mission to make waste extinct and to inspire progress around reusing produce that would otherwise be thrown away and potentially contribute to methane emissions from landfill. A key objective was to think creatively about waste in order to transform it into a superior product.  

The team went back to the drawing board for the packaging: the bottle is now fully recyclable and made from mostly recycled materials. The glass in the bottle is 65-70 per cent recycled, while the lid is 100 per cent recycled tin, waste cork, and recycled plastic, and the label is made from sugar cane pulp.  

The vermouth had been a hit with bartenders but to really go mainstream, the brand had to consider something more mainstream. Enter, Banana Peel Rum and Grape Skin Vodka. The rum is made with a spirit base already available in the William Grant supply chain and leftover banana skins. With the vodka, the team wanted to show that the Discarded methodology could be applied to waste produce in other areas of the drinks industry. The result is a trio of liquids that taste good while trying to do good at the same time.  

Want to know more? How do you make rum with banana skins? What exactly is cascara anyway? Our next article will feature a conversation with Discarded brand ambassador Sam Trevethyen about how each of the liquids is made and the plans for a roll-out beyond the UK.  

discardedspirits.com

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Could we make milk from CO2?
CategoriesSustainable News

Could we make milk from CO2?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Over 80 per cent of the global population regularly consumes milk and other dairy products, with approximately 37 million metric tonnes of fresh dairy produce being consumed around the European Union each year. All of this consumption has an impact on the planet, with cattle – including dairy cows – responsible for 65 per cent of the world’s total livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. Due to concerns over these negative environmental impacts, it’s possible that production of milk in the EU will be dropping 0.2 per cent a year by 2032. 

To avoid the emissions and related land-use changes and soil degradation currently caused by the dairy industry, a new project is looking for inspiration from the air. Finnish startup Solar Foods has developed a proprietary microbe that feeds on hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the air to create a high-protein ingredient, Solein, which has already been approved for sale in Singapore. 

Springwise first spotted Solar Foods back in 2019, but since then the company has made great strides. In September 2023, it was revealed that Solar Foods will lead a consortium including the University of Groningen, RWTH Aachen University, and FGen AG, that will explore the use of the same technology for the production of milk. 

Backed by €5.5 million worth of funding from the European Innovation Council, the ‘HYDROCOW’ project aims to create a microbe that, using water and electricity, can convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen into beta-lactoglobulin – a whey protein that is a main component of dairy milk.  

Combining expertise from all participants in the project, including FGen’s superior screening process and the University of Groningen’s genetic modification techniques, the project will design, test, and modify the best protein-secreting microbe to create milk. If successful the techniques and technologies could be used to create a huge variety of animal-free proteins in future, for food and pharmaceutical applications. 

Back in May this year, Solar Foods also partnered with Japanese company the Ajinomoto Group to test the marketability of Solein products from the beginning of 2024.

Springwise has spotted other innovators looking to change up typical milk production, including by using no cows in India and a countertop plant milk brewer for home use.

Written By: Matilda Cox

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How can computer vision boost business efficiency?
CategoriesSustainable News

How can computer vision boost business efficiency?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Computer vision, a field of artificial intelligence (AI) in which computers derive information from images and video streams, has a range of applications in the real estate sector, whether that is for office-based or manufacturing businesses. 

Now, US startup Groundlight is speeding up the technology’s deployment. The company offers an accessible platform for developers, including those lacking data science expertise, to create robust computer vision solutions swiftly. Crucially, the technology eliminates time-consuming processes such as dataset gathering and model training, that typically take months to complete. 

Developers describe their visual task in natural language, and Groundlight instantly converts it into a tailored model. The platform then continuously refines this model based on expert human feedback, expediting development. 

Groundlight is designed for companies with large warehouse or retail footprints. Teams can apply the technology to create models that meet their business’s specific needs, whether that be providing warehouse teams with alerts when delivery trucks arrive or improving forklift routes for both efficiency and safety throughout a building. Groundlight’s platform can also be helpful in shops by providing managers of large retail spaces with models that alert staff when check-out queues form or when items are dropped or spilled on the floor.

There’s a lot of room for improvement when it comes to boosting the efficiency and sustainability of retailers, and Springwise has spotted innovators making an impact with hyper-local micro-factories and warehouse robots.

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Could layers of gravel, sand, and clay replace bricks?
CategoriesSustainable News

Could layers of gravel, sand, and clay replace bricks?

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: On average, for every square metre of brick produced, it’s estimated that about 26 kilogrammes of carbon dioxide emissions are released. Once more, the firing of these bricks in kilns is one of the largest stationary sources of black carbon – a significant and dangerous contributor to air pollution. 

Due to their high carbon footprint, bricks are playing their own part in global warming and increased instances of extreme weather. Ironically, because such weather events can damage buildings, it means that even more bricks and other buildings materials need to be manufactured in carbon-intensive processes to make repairs. Hoping to provide a greener, more sustainable alternative is Aussie company Earthbuilt.

The new, carbon-friendly method of building houses, as well as the new materials Earthbuilt uses, aim to not only negate the majority of carbon emissions associated with bricks, but also introduce a more durable and stronger house. An Earthbuilt home is graded at the highest level of Australian fireproofing, meaning the technology can also be utilised in constructing miles of firebreaking. Additionally, the non-Newtonian fluid properties of Earthbuilt’s structures mean that the walls self-heal rather than crack under pressure, this also makes them earthquake resistant.

The technology relies on machines that lay the fill (including gravel, sand, and clay) over layer upon layer of Earthbuilt’s material – which resembles a roll of fabric, but is in reality a tensile membrane – until a wall is built up. This wall holds incredible strength due to the many layers that make it up, as well as holding great resistance to movement thanks to the material’s properties itself. This process is called terre armée, or reinforced Earth in English. Due to the process of constructing Earthbuilt walls being machine-led, there is a large reduction in labour costs, as well as in the material costs and overall carbon footprint.

Video source Earthbuilt

The company is just finishing its MVP prototype and is currently searching for investment and manufacturing partners. Next, the ambition is to look at other big polluters in construction and develop more sustainable solutions. 

Springwise has also spotted other innovations in building materials like these recycled plastic tiles that look like clay as well as these robots and AI that speed up homebuilding. 

Written By: Archie Cox

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An affordable, solar-powered induction cooker
CategoriesSustainable News

An affordable, solar-powered induction cooker

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: As of 2022, only around 31 per cent of people in Uganda had access to grid electricity. Without a stable electricity connection, it’s harder to access essential appliances, such as cookers. And, non-electric alternatives like burning logs or coal to cook food are generally highly polluting and emissions-intensive. To provide a clean cooking option for those not connected to the grid, Paul Soddo, along with other researchers from Makerere University and Intellisys, developed a solar-powered induction hob and oven called the MakSol Cooker. 

The Cooker itself is powered by a roof-mounted solar panel that charges a deep-cycle battery. The device can function for up to six hours, or until the device reaches 20 per cent charge, with the management system automatically charging when the sun is up, and saving essential reserve power when it’s dark. With the control panel, users can easily turn the device on and off and tailor their desired heat. 

Where the MakSol Cooker differs from other solar-powered cooking units is the affordability – its price is $150 (around €137), which is far lower than competitors.  

The next step for Soddo is to improve the device further. Specifically, the team is looking to use the magnetic coil to double the MakSol’s cooking power and allow food to be ready in half the time. 

Cooking is an essential task, but clean cooking devices aren’t universal. Luckily, there are alternatives out there, including safe cookstoves in Sierra Leone and East Africa. 

Written By: Archie Cox 

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Managing warehouses with machine learning
CategoriesSustainable News

Managing warehouses with machine learning

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Although many people returned to in-person shopping after the COVID-19 pandemic, e-commerce has continued to grow and is expected to make up nearly 20 per cent of all retail sales in 2023. At the same time, the need for efficient logistics is growing, with the market for warehouse management systems poised to reach $12.3 billion (around €11.2 billion) by 2031. 

One new player in this field is Fulfilld, which has developed an innovative platform that uses real-time data to optimise warehouse operations by coordinating tasks between humans and robots. Fulfilld’s platform harnesses cloud-based technology, ultra-wideband connectivity, RTLS beacons, scanners, tags, and digital-twin warehouse simulations to connect systems and track real-time flow. 

The system includes both software and hardware, in the form of hand-held scanners with natural language processing capabilities, to optimise inventory and co-ordinate task instructions to both human and robotic workers. The startup’s artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning models can also proactively recommend “on-the-fly opportunities” for better warehouse optimisation. 

The system further co-ordinates tasks and inventory locations and creates a Google Maps-like solution for warehouse workers. 

Fulfilld aims to serve mid-market customers in industries including warehousing, manufacturing, distribution, and logistics. It offers a subscription package that allows for rapid roll-out. The novel technology, the startup claims, can boost efficiency by 15-20 per cent, and reduce employee turnover – a crucial benefit amid labour shortages and supply chain disruptions. 

Many companies are calling on robots to help optimise operations across various sectors, including to build houses and support security guards.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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An easy-to-use platform for creating digital workers  
CategoriesSustainable News

An easy-to-use platform for creating digital workers  

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Today, human employees spend hundreds of hours doing repetitive and mindless intellectual tasks such as data entry, client prospecting, and form-filling. Automation is the natural solution to this problem, but, traditionally, automation tools have been built by individual organisations to perform individual tasks, which creates bottlenecks for their deployment at scale. 

To tackle this, startup 11xAI has created Platform X, a user-friendly, no-code platform accessible to individuals from various professions. This technology allows for the creation and deployment of ‘digital workers’ that can streamline workflows, whether for tasks that are highly specific to an individual or organisation, or broad general purposes. 

Platform X is particularly beneficial for small businesses, which haven’t traditionally had access to automation at the scale that can be achieved by their larger peers. Without this access, small businesses risk being left behind as the economy is increasingly filled with automated agents. The ability to easily create digital workers is therefore especially important for this segment of the market.  

To demonstrate the power of its platform, 11xAI has developed Alice, a ‘digital’ sales representative that automates outbound sales efficiently and at a lower cost than humans. The company reports that Alice has so far sent over 10,000 emails, saving early adopting sales teams thousands of days of work. Its research also indicates that emails sent by Alice have three times higher response rates than those sent by humans. 

Although outbound sales were chosen to demonstrate the power of Platform X, the possible uses of the technology are extremely broad. And this potential has convinced investors, with the startup receiving $2 million (around €1.8 million) in pre-seed funding in August of this year.

Springwise has spotted other ways technology is transforming the workforce, including by predicting future skills gaps and supporting employee wellbeing online.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

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A mixer for life: the kitchen appliance you can repair and upgrade
CategoriesSustainable News

A mixer for life: the kitchen appliance you can repair and upgrade

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The electronic devices and appliances industry is in the bottom ten of Kantar’s 2023 Sustainability Sector Index (SSI) rankings, which means it has inherent issues and needs radical innovation. German startup Open Funk is providing that innovation for one type of electronic appliance: the kitchen mixer or blender.  

The company has created a blender, called Re:Mix, which has a customisable casing and is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. The device is made up of modular components to enable the easy repair and upgrading of parts – either at the company’s Berlin workshop or at home. At-home repairs like this are possible thanks to the device’s open-source design.  

The blender works with any of a customer’s standard twist-off glass jars, provided they have the right-sized opening. And if a customer no longer wants their Re:Mix, Open Funk will buy it back for refurbishment and resale. 

The idea for Open Funk came when co-founder Paul Anca attempted to fix a blender that had broken within months of purchase. Unable to carry out the repairs himself, and determined not to add to the millions of tonnes of e-waste that is generated each year, he took it to a repair shop and was quoted €50 “just to have a look at it.”  

Spurred on by this unsatisfactory experience, Anca and his co-founder Ken Rostand devoted themselves to understanding how blenders are put together and why they break. Crowdsourcing broken blenders from Facebook, the pair discovered that the root of the problem lay in cheap materials and the gluing together of components for rapid assembly. The result of their inquiries was Re:Mix, which is made to be repaired and upgraded, with parts replaced over time.  

Selected earlier this year as a participant in Amazon’s Sustainability Accelerator, Open Funk has since sent out its first batch of orders.

Springwise has spotted other innovators taking kitchen appliances to the next level, including a novel, low-energy cooking device and a countertop compost machine.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

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The future of construction: building with CO2
CategoriesSustainable News

The future of construction: building with CO2

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The global carbon capture and storage (CCS) market has increased significantly in recent years, and is projected to continue growing as the world looks for more ways to decarbonise. Often though, these solutions focus on storage underground, offering no commercial value. Paebbl’s technology, by contrast, turns carbon dioxide into a useful building material. 

Paebbl took the inspiration for its technology directly from nature. Carbon dioxide mineralisation, the process by which CO2 solidifies and turns into stone, is naturally occurring, but takes centuries to complete. Paebbl has found a non-energy-intensive way to accelerate mineralisation to make it over one million times faster, taking just 60 minutes.  

The company takes CO2 captured from the air or directly from polluting industrial sites and combines it with abundantly available silicate rocks to produce a carbon-negative raw material. 

This end product can be used as a filler in construction, as a replacement for parts of a concrete mix, and as paper, among other purposes. Unlike many methods of carbon storage or carbon-negative materials, the company also states that its material can be competitively priced.

Paebbl recently commissioned a 500-litre batch production unit, called Obelix, which has enabled the company to boost production capacity by 100 times in just half a year. With Obelix, Paebbl can create 100 tonnes of sustainable construction materials every year. The company expects to start shipping samples early 2024.

It’s not just the construction industry that’s using carbon to create new materials – Springwise has also spotted innovators turning it into chemicals and E-jet fuels.

Written By: Matilda Cox

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AI revolutionises response times for employees
CategoriesSustainable News

AI revolutionises response times for employees

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: During their working life, employees often need quick answers to questions from different internal teams, whether that is HR, IT, or finance. But these departments are often inundated by queries. This not only bogs down subject matter experts (SMEs) in repetitive and tedious tasks – it also leads to a sub-par employee experience for workers who must wait to get answers to their questions. 

Startup Atomicwork addresses this challenge with a generative artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that can automate many of those workflows, releasing SMEs from dealing with busywork and freeing up their time for more meaningful tasks. The company’s platform harnesses knowledge from various sources like policy documents, emails, chat conversations, and historical tickets to provide instant answers, reducing the need for employees to wait for responses or fill out forms. 

The software assistant, dubbed Atom, sits on top of collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams and can answer employee questions and requests across departments. For example, an employee can type in, “How do I set up email on my company phone,” and Atom will respond with the right link. The technology can also be used for smart routing, where employees are directed to the most appropriate person or process to find answers to more complex requests. 

Atomicwork promotes workflow automation, enabling employee-facing teams to tackle complex issues more efficiently. It also fosters organisational alignment and empowers different departments to work together seamlessly.  

The company recently launched from stealth, with $11 million (around €10 million) in seed funding. In the future, the company plans to expand into more support teams, including legal, facilities, and business operations.

Springwise has spotted other tools hoping to streamlines day-to-day operations at work, including one that predicts employee flight risk and another that makes it easy to manage workers overseas.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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