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On-demand data makes recycling easy
CategoriesSustainable News

On-demand data makes recycling easy

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Despite all of the interest in achieving net zero and reducing waste, recycling rates in the US actually decreased between 2018 and 2021. One of the reasons for this is that regulations vary from state to state, leaving many people confused about exactly what can and can’t be recycled. Faced with this problem, two female engineers at the University of Georgia came up with a solution – a platform that provides users with real-time and location-specific answers to the question ‘can I recycle this?’ 

The platform, dubbed CIRT, provides customers and businesses with on-demand and location-specific data on whether materials can be recycled, composted, or must be thrown to landfill. The company remains in contact with waste management facilities to ensure the information is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. 

The company provides all this information to partnering brands via an API, so that they can optimise procurement and make more sustainable choices on materials. This, in turn, enables them to track and meet ESG goals. 

For customers, information is provided through an app. Brands can also add scannable CIRT QR codes to their packaging, which send customers directly to relevant information on how to dispose of the specific product where they are. And, as a further behavioural nudge, CIRT integrates recycling reminders with regular order updates.

In the archive, Springwise has spotted other innovations making recycling easier, including chemical recycling for unsorted plastics and an inclusive scheme in South Africa.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Making a difference to people and planet with an innovative recycling scheme
CategoriesSustainable News

Making a difference to people and planet with an innovative recycling scheme

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Most people are eager to engage in recycling and want to make more sustainable choices, but logistical obstacles get in the way. In fact, a lack of recycling services was cited as the biggest barrier to recycling worldwide, according to a World Economic Forum study.  

To make recycling more accessible for everyone, South-Africa-based Regenize collects separated rubbish directly from users on specified days – including recyclables and compostable organic waste – taking collections to local Decentralised Recycling Hubs (DRHs). Collection is free for lower-income areas and middle-upper communities pay a monthly fee. Once households sign up to the scheme, they receive a starter kit that includes information on how to recycle. 

In exchange for their recycling, participants receive Remali – a virtual currency that can be spent with Regenize partners, including Vodacom and Telkon Mobile in return for data and minutes. Users track their recycling and Remali rewards on an easy-to-use app. But for those who don’t have access to a smartphone, Regenize also offers ‘Simplified Remali’ that can be redeemed in participating shops instead of online, which further helps to boost the local economy. 

Impactful social change is at the heart of Regenize’s model, and the company chooses existing waste pickers and unemployed community members to become collectors. Collectors are given free uniforms, fossil-fuel-free bikes, equipment, mobile phones, and instead of sorting through dirty landfill sites, they have access to clean and safe rubbish. As well as providing them with a stable income, Regenize also helps the collectors get bank cards and access micro-loans. 

Though currently only available in certain parts of South Africa, Regenize has plans to go national within five years, and then expand across the whole of Africa. The company recently launched more of its services at Khanyolwethu Secondary School, Lwandle in June this year.

Social change doesn’t have to come at the expense of sustainability. In fact, in the archive Springwise has spotted many innovators combining the two, including an Indian startup that employs local women and youth to create artisanal products from upcycled plastic and a Kenyan recycling company that ensures fair wages for waste pickers.

Written By: Matilda Cox

Reference

A platform for recycling coffee capsules
CategoriesSustainable News

A platform for recycling coffee capsules

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Coffee is a popular drink, and the market continues to grow, with an increasing number of people turning to the convenience of coffee pods at home and at work. The problem with these capsules is that very few are recycled, with leading coffee brand Nespresso estimating that only 30 per cent of its consumers recycle the pods. One of the main stumbling blocks in recycling coffee capsules are the grounds that remain in the pod after it has been used. 

Spanish company Recycap is making it easier for home users to recycle both the capsules themselves and leftover grounds with its React (Recycap Automated Coffee Technology) recycling device. Used pods are tossed into the device that then automatically cleans the capsules and separates the two materials for easier, more sustainable disposal. 

The grounds can be collected for composting, and the cleaned capsules become recyclable in standard facilities. By removing the need for recycling facilities to separate organic waste from metal, the React device could save billions of pieces of recyclable rubbish from ending up in landfill or being incinerated.  

The React device has the capacity to recycle up to 600 capsules per hour, making the technology convenient for large office buildings and in high traffic public spaces, such as grocery and convenience stores. Recycap has also created a coffee machine with the recycling technology integrated, so users can minimise the number of appliances they have on countertops. Available in red, black, or white, the coffee machine is compatible with most brands of coffee pods, making it easy to switch to a more sustainable brewing system. 

The startup recently raised €400,000 to further develop its technologies and get them on the market.

Other coffee-focused innovations that Springwise has spotted include car interiors made from coffee pulp and a platform that encourages environmentally responsible coffee bean production.  

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

A green process for recycling materials from spent lithium-ion batteries
CategoriesSustainable News

A green process for recycling materials from spent lithium-ion batteries

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Lithium-ion batteries form the basis of today’s electric vehicle (EV) technology, and their production is ramping up rapidly. According to one estimate, the global production of lithium-ion batteries is expected to increase five-fold between 2001 and 2030. But as more batteries are produced, the question of what we will do with the leftover waste becomes more pressing, as currently only a small percentage of used lithium-ion batteries are recycled (5 per cent is an often-quoted, but disputed, figure). 

Now, researchers at Rice University have found a way to recycle one of the key components of a lithium-ion battery: the graphite anode. Today, used anodes are either burned for energy or sent to landfill. 

Rice researchers developed a process called ‘Flash Joule heating’ back in 2020 to produce graphene, a ‘wonder material’ that can enhance plastics, paint, metals, asphalt, and cement. Now, a team of chemists, led by James Tour and Weiyin Chen, has re-configured the process for use in battery recycling. In the latest iteration of Flash Joule heating, a sudden and powerful jolt of energy, lasting just a few seconds, decomposes inorganic salts, such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese, found in spent anodes. These can then be recovered using dilute hydrochloric acid and re-used in anodes for new batteries.  

The team estimates that it would cost roughly $118 (around €110) to recycle one tonne of untreated anode waste using the new process. And, the researchers estimate that the ‘flashed’ anodes retain 77 per cent of their capacity after 400 recharge cycles. 

Springwise has been tracking the development of Flash Joule heating for several years and has previously spotted it being used for recovering metals from electronic waste, and turning plastic from old cars into graphene.  

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

Reference

Verifiable plastic recycling technology  – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Verifiable plastic recycling technology  – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), just 9 per cent of global plastic waste is recycled. This problem is particularly acute in Africa, where poor rubbish collection and a lack of recycling facilities has not stopped wealthier countries from dumping their excess trash. This is the problem Nigerian cleantech company Kaltani aims to solve with its collection centres and recycling factory. 

Kaltani operates its own collection and aggregation centres, where plastic waste is delivered by waste pickers before being brought to dedicated recycling factories. There it is aggregated and processed. Plastics are converted into hot washed PET flakes, then PE and PP pellets which are sold to Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies for thermoform, sheet, packaging, bottling, and fibre applications.

The company was founded by petroleum engineer Obi Charles Nnanna, who was motivated
by the high pollution levels in Africa, and the numbers of people earning a precarious living by picking through waste. Kaltani uses data analytics, predictive analytics, and geo-mapping to ensure transparency and traceability throughout the entire value chain. But the company also works to empower waste pickers by providing a more stable and predictable income.

The startup recently raised $4 million (around €4.1 million) in a funding round. The money will be used to open new collection and aggregation centres across Nigeria and increase its staff to over 500 people.

Plastic waste is everywhere – so solutions also need to be everywhere. Springwise has spotted a huge number of innovative solutions to the problem of plastic waste. Recent ideas have included the use of PPE waste to strengthen concrete and the creation of a self-healing, recyclable plastic. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

A nature-based solution for water recycling 
CategoriesSustainable News

A nature-based solution for water recycling 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Wastewater, such as that containing sewage and agricultural runoff, generally contains an overabundance of phosphorus. This can lead to increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants, which can produce toxins and result in decreased levels of dissolved oxygen in the water, a process called eutrophication. Traditional methods for reducing phosphorus in wastewater generally involve chemicals, which are energy inefficient and can themselves cause problems. Now, a nature-based process for removing phosphorus, developed by start-up I-Phyc (‘Industrial Phycology’) is gaining traction. 

I-Phyc’s solution is a circular process that uses algae to remove phosphorus, ammonia, and other harmful contaminants, including steroids, and insecticides. At the same time, the growing algae locks away carbon and produces biomass from which sustainable products can be created. Algae thrive in water containing an excess of nutrients. I-Phyc’s process deliberately applies algae to wastewater treatment in a controlled way, allowing the algae to do its work before the final, cleaned effluent is discharged to the watercourse.

The company claims that it is able to consistently remove between 50 and 99 per cent of pollutants without the use of chemicals. In addition, the biomass produced by the algae contains a number of compounds that can be used commercially. I-Phyc helps wastewater treatment operators to harvest the algae and transform it into useful products, including fertiliser, poultry feed, sustainable feed stock, biogas and specialist oils and lubricants. The entire process is carbon negative.

I-Phyc has recently raised £2.3 million (around €2.6 million) in an investment round led by Mercia water and Mellby Gård AB. In a press release, Kiran Mehta, Investment Manager at Mercia, said, “Our previous investments helped I-Phyc to develop and roll out its technology and it is now attracting huge interest within the industry. With water companies trying to meet ever increasing water quality standards and challenging carbon emission goals, new technologies will have a key role to play. This new funding will help position I-Phyc as a leader in sustainable water treatment solutions.”

Wastewater treatment can be an energy-intensive process, so it is no surprise that we here at Springwise have seen a number of innovations aimed at developing more sustainable treatment methods. Some recent projects includes an easy-to-use device that disinfects water using sunshine and a solar catalyst that can treat wastewater in a manner similar to photosynthesis. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Collecting and recycling electronic waste from homes and businesses
CategoriesSustainable News

Collecting and recycling electronic waste from homes and businesses

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Electronic waste, or e-waste, refers to any discarded item that has a plug or a battery – and it is becoming a major problem.

According to a United Nations forecast, we are on track to produce 74 million metric tonnes of e-waste by 2030. And in 2019, each person on earth generated around 7.3 kilogrammes of e-waste – with only 1.7 kilogrammes recycled per person.

In Malaysia 25 per cent of e-waste is recycled, and startup ERTH is looking to improve this rate with a service that pays consumers to recycle their old electronic devices. The service works by employing a network of freelance drivers. When a customer has e-waste that they wish to recycle, the system matches them with the nearest driver – just as ride-hailing apps match users to a taxi driver. This driver then collects the e-waste and the customer receives a cash reward.

Drivers return the e-waste they have collected to a central warehouse on a weekly basis. ERTH’s recovery partner then comes to this warehouse and collects the e-waste for dismantling and segregation. All this e-waste is recycled through the proper, regulated channels, and the company claims it has stopped more than 200,000 kilogrammes of e-waste from ending up in landfill.

ERTH is not the only e-waste recycling service, and customers in Malaysia can also deal with recycling facilities directly. However, ERTH’s service offers several important benefits. First, the company claims that its competitors require a minimum of ten items, whereas ERTH only requires one working device or three non-working devices for free pick up. Second, the startup offers fast and convenient payment through cash, bank transfer, e-wallet, or cheque. Finally, the network of drivers does all the heavy lifting, taking the hassle and inconvenience out of the process.

In addition to its core service, ERTH also offers e-waste collection boxes, secure data destruction, and a B2B recycling programme.

Other e-waste focused innovations spotted by Springwise
include a new
process can efficiently recover metals from electronic waste, and an Indian
startup that takes a collaborative
approach to e-waste.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

11th March 2022

Email: hello@erth.app

Website: erth.app

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