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The Springwise Top 5 – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

The Springwise Top 5 – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

This year has seen renewed momentum around the need to conserve marine and coastal habitats, and not before time. The international community has failed to meet the Convention on Biological Diversity’s target to protect 10 per cent of the ocean by 2020. However, even if that goal had been hit, it wouldn’t have been enough to reverse the damage wrought by the current 1.1 degree Celsius increase in global temperatures, estimated to be a 60 per cent degradation of the world’s marine ecosystems. The more ambitious target agreed at COP 15 last year, to protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s global ocean by 2030, could be more effective at sustaining long-term ocean health, if met.

Innovation is crucial to hit the 30 by 30 goal. Our Top 5 this week, in recognition of the United Nations World Oceans Day (June 8) provides just a snapshot of what is happening around the world to help preserve and restore crucial ecosystems.

A new kind of cubism to restore the seabed   

A key contributor to the decline in marine ecosystems is the mass alteration of seafloor habitats and the over-industrialisation of fishery resources. Offshore wind farms, for example, are a crucial provider of renewable energy but they require foundations that are drilled deep into the seabed, stiring up large amounts of sediment and damaging habitats. Likewise, the construction of deep-sea cables.

ARC Marine, a UK-based firm, has a solution designed to be used by renewable energy firms, as well as aquaculture companies looking to create thriving ecosystems while farming fish and other marine life. ARC’s founders comprise engineers and scientists, who are also committed divers who witnessed first-hand the degradation of their local marine environment in the South West of England. The team developed its flagship technology, the reef cube, in response. Low-carbon, plastic free, and made from 98 per cent recyclable materials, the cubes feature circular passageways on each face leading to spherical chambers, ideal for lobsters. The surface is rough and uneven to encourage plant life and shellfish. The cubes can act as ‘anchors’ for wind turbines, preventing shifts in the sediment surrounding the structures and restoring precious ecosystems. The impact has been encouraging – the company’s own research has shown that typically after deployment, the cubes support three times as many species as controls, including blue mussels, feather stars, cuttlefish and squid, as well as providing a safe haven for shark eggs.

For more, visit arcmarine.co.uk

3D bricks promise to restore reefs

Meanwhile, one Swiss-based company, Rrreefs, has focused on coral reef replacements and creates bespoke solutions that provide multiple environmental benefits.

Using pure clay, the company 3D prints reef bricks that are customised to best suit the nearest shoreline and local environment. By understanding water flows and marine topography, the company builds structures that provide microenvironments for thousands of animals and plants to thrive. Protecting shores from erosion improves the growing environments for underwater forests of mangroves and seagrass, both of which are crucial to the capture of carbon dioxide. And a single cubic metre of the reef blocks provides a new home to more than 20,000 tiny animals, 20 corals, 60 fish, and more. Using 3D printing allows for modular production and complete customisation of the height, width, and length of the overall reef structure. The process also allows for local manufacturing, which further reduces the carbon footprint of each reef.

For more, visit rrreefs.com

An aquaculture solution that works in harmony with nature

Mangrove forests are rich in biodiversity, can effectively act against coastal erosion, and are valuable carbon ‘sinks’. However, over the last 50 years degradation and deforestation has destroyed 20-35 per cent of global mangrove cover.  

A programme called Selva Shrimp by Swiss company Blueyou is making inroads into the restoration of mangrove forests in Vietnam, with a view to replicating its success in Indonesia. Blueyou is an established global group of companies focused on sustainable seafood. What sets Selva Shrimp apart is the role local communities play in the cultivation of shrimps in mangrove swamps laid waste by the damage wrought during the Vietnam War. The shrimps are introduced to the swamp and from there, it’s very light touch – no external inputs such as feed, fertlisers, or chemicals, are required. The creatures get what they need from the natural environment and, in turn, the mangrove forest thrives.

The programme provides a regular income for more than 3,500 small-scale farmers in South Vietnam. The shrimps are caught by net and the final product comes with a trace code that allows consumers track it back to the mangrove forest where it was caught.

For more, visit blueyou.com

The ‘jellyfish’ robot that could clean the oceans

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates that the 11 million metric tonnes of plastic currently entering our oceans every year is set to triple in volume in the next 20 years. Without intervention, this waste will take hundreds of years to degrade, severely harming marine life in the process.

Roboticists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems in Stuttgart (MPI-IS) have developed an underwater robot inspired by jellyfish to collect waste from the bottom of the ocean. 

The ‘Jellyfish-Bot’ is a versatile, energy-efficient, virtually noise-free robot that is just the size of a hand. It can also operate alone or with several others in combination. In the Jellyfish-Bot, the team decided to mimic a jellyfish’s ability to swim upwards and trap objects along its path. This function helps the robot collect waste particles that can then be transported to the surface, where they can be recycled.

For more details, click here.

Photo source Aponiente

‘Super grass’ takes on a whole new meaning  

Seagrass is described as an “incredible tool” to fight climate change by the WWF. The plant accounts for up to 18 per cent of the ocean’s carbon storage annually, despite covering less than 0.1 per cent of the seabed. Although there are meadows full of the wild species across Europe, the plant is still dying at a concerning rate, and mass reforestation of Zostera marina has proven difficult. However, a new programme spearheaded by the research lab of Aponiente, a restaurant owned by Spanish chef Angel Leon, has found a way to cultivate the plant, in order to grow it as a sustainable crop suitable for human consumption, and to create a seedbank, which will make it easier to repopulate areas where the plant has been lost.

More widespread cultivation of Zostera marina could be a crucial weapon against climate change while providing us with a sustainably produced and highly nutritious food source. And as more Zostera marina meadows are restored, they will help to mitigate the effect of rising sea levels, regenerate marine life, and contribute to the survival of numerous marine species.

For more, visit cerealmarino.com

Written By: Angela Everitt

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Growing crops in saltwater – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Growing crops in saltwater – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Climate change is leading to the increased scarcity of fresh water – just as food production needs to increase. According to one study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, increases in the global population will require raising overall food production by some 70 per cent between 2005 and 2050. Production in developing countries would need to almost double.

Scottish company Seawater Solutions has developed a novel approach to growing more food with less water, specialising in using seawater to grow salt-tolerant crops. Seawater Solutions takes flood-affected or degraded farmland and turns it into an artificial saltmarsh ecosystem by pumping seawater over the area or flooding it.

Farmers use the flooded land to grow crops, called halophytes, that thrive in waters with a high percentage of salt. Examples of halophyte crops include samphire, mangrove, and Salicornia. Some of these crops are in demand as food specialities, and others can be used to produce oil for cosmetics, as biofuels, or for fodder.

Halophyte crops also provide protection against erosion and carbon sequestration – the plants absorb 30 times more carbon than rainforests do. Seawater Solutions estimates that farmers who adopt their artificial ecosystems could sell €2,600 worth of carbon credits per year for each hectare farmed. On top of this, Seawater’s artificial salt marshes are powered entirely by renewable energy systems.

Climate change has given a new urgency to finding solutions. Recent ideas spotted by Springwise include a greenhouse designed to grow crops in hot, dry climates and using extremophile bacteria to improve crop yields.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

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AI-powered reverse vending machines – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

AI-powered reverse vending machines – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Most beverage bottles are recyclable, but actual recycle rates vary significantly. For example, although most glass is 100 per cent recyclable, only around 32 per cent of glass containers are actually recycled – and the figure for plastic beverage bottles is much worse. A Thai startup called Sustaintech is hoping to change this with a sustainable reward system for beverage bottle recycling.

Sustaintech has developed the CircularOne, an artificial-intelligence-enabled (AI) reverse vending machine that’s placed in stores. Users can deposit their used bottles in the machine. Using AI and visual analytics, the machine is able to automatically check the material quality and sort the containers, including PET bottles, aluminium cans, and glass bottles.

The CircularOne can identify each type of container, scan bar codes, and measure weight to determine if there is any liquid left in the container. ‘Depositors’ can then receive a variety of rewards for their deposit – such as vouchers, contributions to charity, or digital tokens for future purchases. The machines can also be customised to match store design, branding, and reward options.

Sustaintech has partnered with Tencent Cloud to allow the platform to produce and analyse data on the type of materials recycled. Mr. Chang Foo, COO of Tencent (Thailand), commented that, “Apart from sorting used containers, [Sustaintech’s] solutions can also detect and eject broken or damaged glass bottles and send notifications which consume less time and make the sorting process more effective.”

With recycling rates for materials like plastic and glass still quite low in many countries, it is vital to try and make improvements. Innovations that Springwise has recently spotted, like carbon-negative textiles and a backpack made from recycled plastic, are helping to show the way to circularity.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Bio-based ingredients replace microplastics – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Bio-based ingredients replace microplastics – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Every year, approximately three million metric tonnes of microplastics enter the environment worldwide, and they are found everywhere within agriculture, food, and cosmetics. Now, Germany-based Bioweg has created bio-based ingredients to be used as alternatives to plastic-based additives and polymers. 

The startup’s technology combines fermentation, material science, and molecular simulation to develop biodegradable and sustainable bio-ingredients. All Bioweg’s ingredients are customisable, vegan, GMO-free, easily scalable, and sustainably produced without the need for harsh chemicals. 

Bioweg has four products: MicBead and Rheweg are solutions to microplastics in cosmetics and personal care, AgriWeg replaces petroleum and acrylic-based coatings in fertilisers and seeds, while HydroWeg is a sustainably derived hydrocolloid for plant-based food. To make its ingredients sustainable, the company converts low-value by-products, residues, and waste from the food and agriculture industry – like molasses and vegetable peels – into high-value and circular products. 

The company ferments these by-products to create microbial cellulose in a zero-waste process and Bioweg has identified high-yielding strains based on more than 10,000 lab-scale and factorial design-based experiments. And to further improve the yield, the company optimises the genetic makeup of the strains using classical and new genetic engineering techniques. 

So that it may create ingredients that are perfect for end use, Bioweg performs molecular simulations, including structural and thermodynamic analysis. This allows the company to test various cellulose fibrils’ properties with different functionalisation levels. Then, using green chemistry principles, Bioweg can adapt the fibrils for various designs and purposes. 

Microplastics have become a severe problem for the oceans, land, and humans, and Springwise has spotted many innovations looking to clear up and replace these harmful ingredients. One company has created dissolving make-up wipes that leave no microplastics or waste, and researchers are even looking into removing microplastics with sound.

Written By: Anam Alam

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Sustainable B Corps that go beyond expectations – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Sustainable B Corps that go beyond expectations – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

What is a business? What does and should it do? Is making profits all that matters?

According to the principles of the B Corporation Movement, business should be a force for good. And in this time of climate crisis and rapid change, this idea has never been more important.

B (‘Benefit’) Corporations adhere to high standards when it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. They also measure success by the positive impact they cause. In this way, they are going beyond the current model of ‘business as usual’ by taking action to proactively change the status quo.

B Corp Month is an annual, month-long event that promotes the values of the B Corp Community. And, this year, the celebrations are based around the theme of ‘We Go Beyond’. This will invite people to understand how and why B Corporations go beyond expectations to pursue a more impactful path.

As one of the first certified B Corporations in the UK, Springwise is proud to support this campaign. Every day we spot the latest innovations that matter, developed by a whole range of different organisations from startups and non-profits to large corporations and established universities. But a significant proportion of the innovations in our library come from environmentally focused B Corporations who are living their commitment to positive impact through the products and services they produce.

Here are some of the best.

Photo source Wild

Embarking on its B Corp journey in February 2021, Wild Cosmetics was first featured on Springwise early last year. Since then, many UK consumers will have become familiar with the brand from both billboards and supermarket shelves. And the vegan, refillable deodorant is also available in Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Norway. The company’s flexible subscription service allows users to receive personalised, mix-and-match refills of vegan deodorant. With their first package, subscribers receive a lightweight case made largely from aluminium with a small number of recycled plastic parts. They then receive scent refills with their subsequent deliveries. These refills come in a bamboo pot that can be composted at home or recycled with other papers. Switching to this model helps to save a lot of plastic. In fact, according to the company’s latest B Corp impact assessment, its community of 1 million users has saved up to 150 tonnes of plastic from entering landfill. Most recently, the company announced the addition of a new camomile tea and French lavender scent to its range. Read more

Photo source Cabinet Health

Another B Corp providing sustainable packaging refills – this time for medicine – is Cabinet Health. The company has developed the world’s first refillable and decomposable medicine system, under which pharmacy HealthHavenRX refills prescriptions using Cabinet Health products – which include refillable bottles and biodegradable pouches. In addition to prescriptions, Cabinet Health’s packaging is also used for over-the-counter medicines, such as those for hay fever relief, pain relief, cold and flu treatment, and digestive health. According to the company, by switching to its refillable system, customers can eliminate up to one pound of plastic annually and hundreds of pounds of plastic over the course of a lifetime. Read more

Photo source Canva

All kinds of businesses can become a B Corp, and in late 2021, Springwise spotted Leaf & Limb, the first-ever tree service company to achieve B Corp certification. This longstanding family business employs a unique approach. In the tree service industry, a significant proportion of revenues comes from cutting down trees. For example, until 2019 – when the company shifted its approach – half of Leaf & Limb’s revenue came from tree felling. Today, however, the company only cuts down diseased trees – and only when completely necessary. Instead, it focuses on caring for existing trees by providing pruning services, improving the soil through practices such as adding wood chips and leaf compost, and avoiding harmful practices such as the use of herbicides and mulch volcanoes. Furthermore, it plants new trees and shrubs with a focus on choosing the right native species for a given location. Read more

Photo source Oxwash

First spotted by Springwise in 2020, Oxwash became a certified B Corporation last year. The company has developed a comprehensive system for improving the sustainability of commercial laundry. Oxwash’s solution revolves around the use of ‘wet’ cleaning, which replaces the harsh solvents used in dry cleaning with biodegradable detergents. The startup also uses ‘ozone technology’ to deodorise and sanitise clothes at lower temperatures than those used in traditional commercial laundry processes – a method also used in hospital sterilisation and during space missions. To improve sustainability further, electric vans and e-bikes are used to pick up and deliver orders, with robots assisting with ironing and folding at scale. Read more

Photo source Dayrize

Meeting the stringent criteria for becoming a B Corporation is not easy and takes time. One company currently undertaking this process is Dayrize, a climate tech startup that has developed a platform to rapidly and cost-effectively evaluate the environmental impact of consumer products. Dayrize’s Sustainability Assessment Tool uses geospatial analytics, datasets, and a complex algorithm to collect and cross-reference information for individual products and calculate a score out of 100, called the Dayrize Score. This allows consumers to easily understand and compare the sustainability of products as they shop. Read more

Please note: Dayrize is a Pending B Corp and is working towards full certification.

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

For more innovations, head to the Springwise Innovation Library.

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Technology for monitoring cooling systems – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Technology for monitoring cooling systems – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Cooling, including refrigeration and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, is essential for human health and food safety. It is also estimated to account for up to 10 per cent of global CO2 emissions. However, in industries such as food production and delivery, it is impossible to turn down the thermostat as products need to be kept at constant temperatures to avoid spoilage. But now there is a product that can help users save energy and reduce waste.

The Therma Cooling Intelligence Platform is a wireless system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor and optimise refrigeration and HVAC systems. It offers 24/7 temperature and humidity tracking, alerts users to faulty equipment, reduces energy consumption, and moves electricity usage to off-peak hours. Energy data is sent directly to a user-friendly dashboard, allowing operators to track energy bill savings and energy consumption, while empowering them to adjust usage as required.

As Therma founder and CEO, Manik Suri, points out: “The massive growth of refrigeration and air conditioning globally will greatly accelerate climate change unless we revolutionise cooling technologies.”

Therma’s system has already been deployed with more than a thousand customers across restaurants, hospitality, education, and food manufacturing, and the company recently completed a $19 million (around €17.9 million) funding round led by Zero Infinity Partners.

Therma° is not the only company working to reduce energy consumption. Springwise has spotted other innovations in this space, including solar powered refrigerated trucks, and an off-grid solar refrigerator.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Upcycling microfibres from laundry – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Upcycling microfibres from laundry – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Microfibres, or microplastics, have been receiving a lot of bad press lately. And for good reason. These tiny threads break off from textiles in the normal course of washing, drying, and wear and tear, and end up everywhere. Now, startup Xeros Technology is hoping to prevent this situation from getting worse by devising ways to upcycle captured fibres.

Xeros already manufactures a filter that captures 99 per cent of microplastics shed during washing and can be used with any washing machine. Now, the company has teamed up with the University of Surrey to develop a method for upcycling the micro and nanofibres that are shed during the washing of textiles. These fibres are made from plastics, and the researchers have devised a way to release the carbon contained in the fibres, which can then be reused.

The method takes microfibre waste collected from commercially available filters and produces clean hydrogen and solid carbon nanomaterials as by-products. These can then be used in various essential products including batteries, solar cells, and medical devices. The partnership with Xeros will allow the researchers to develop ways to scale up their process and develop a commercial-scale solution.

Although the exact environmental and health effects of microplastics are unclear, there is a growing consensus that we need to get on top of this problem. Springwise has spotted a growing number of innovations aimed at tackling this issue, including processes that use magnets, silk capsules, and apples to remove microplastics from water.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

A climate-positive chocolate brand – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

A climate-positive chocolate brand – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The mainstream chocolate industry is affecting rainforests, damaging the environment, and contributing to global warming – and the problem begins when sourcing the cocoa bean. In normal chocolate production, cocoa farmers clear tropical forests to plant new cocoa trees rather than reusing the same land. This has resulted in massive deforestation in West Africa, particularly in The Ivory Coast.  

But British chocolate company Love Cocoa has created a brand that makes chocolate consumption and manufacturing more sustainable. As the great-great-great-grandson of John Cadbury, creator of Cadbury chocolate, James Cadbury aims to follow in his footsteps by building his company on ethical grounds. For every product sold, the company is planting one tree in their Plant A Tree Project to create a fairer, more sustainable chocolate industry.  

Love Cocoa is working in partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects, a non-profit NGO that works with local communities in developing countries to restore natural landscapes destroyed by deforestation, thereby creating jobs, protecting ecosystems, and helping to combat climate change. The company has already planted one million trees in West Africa. Planting more trees isn’t only ecologically beneficial, it also benefits local communities and cocoa farmers who can transition to more stable and sustainable practices. 

Increasingly, the chocolate industry is looking to minimise its carbon footprint. Springwise has also spotted a 3D-printed dress made from waste cocoa bean husks, and a blockchain programme that supports local cocoa farmers.

Written By: Anam Alam

Reference

Underground storage for hydrogen – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Underground storage for hydrogen – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Increasingly, green hydrogen is touted as a crucial element in the world’s journey to carbon zero. UK startup and underground energy storage specialist, Gravitricity, is completing its design of purpose-built underground lined rock shafts which would enable efficient underground hydrogen storage. 

Gravitricity believes its storage technology, which it calls FlexiStore, is a ‘Goldilocks’ solution to the obstacles facing hydrogen storage. Unlike above-ground hydrogen storage alternatives, FlexiStore provides a much bigger and more secure system. It is also more flexible than subterranean salt caverns – another commonly suggested method of underground storage.  

One FlexiStore could store the green hydrogen generated by an offshore wind farm, but this would fill up daily and would need to be emptied regularly. To make the process more efficient, multiple stores could be constructed so that large amounts of wind energy that would otherwise go to waste could be soaked up. And unlike salt cavern storage, which naturally requires specific geological environments, Gravitricity’s stores can be built wherever they are needed.  

Gravitricity has already identified many sites for its UK pilot project and is discussing the project and future commercial schemes with site owners. The company recently completed a £300,000 (around €341,000) feasibility study, which showed it is technically and commercially viable to store large amounts of compressed hydrogen with the Flexistore technology.  

Springwise has spotted other innovations aimed at storing hydrogen. HydroSolid developed a way to store and transport large amounts of hydrogen at low pressures using a new nanomaterial, and EPRO found a way to transport green hydrogen in powder form.  

Written By: Anam Alam 

Reference

Precision-engineered, carbon-negative homes – Springwise
CategoriesSustainable News

Precision-engineered, carbon-negative homes – Springwise

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Construction is big business. Representing 5 per cent of the total GDP in developed countries with projected global revenues of $15 trillion (approximately €14.5 trillion) by 2025, the construction industry is also the single largest consumer of resources and raw materials. Accordingly, it’s a big producer of waste too, and over 30 per cent of materials delivered to construction sites end up discarded in landfill. California-based Aro Homes aims to make construction more time-efficient, with energy-optimised projects completed in as little as three months through carbon-negative, architect-designed homes.

Aro Homes’ algorithms and machine learning technology work alongside designers to maximise sight lines as well as privacy, all the while conforming with local zoning regulations. The precision-engineered structures have water-proofed exteriors, extremely high fire ratings, and are so well-insulated that they produce more energy than they use.

The homes also include electric heat pumps, low voltage lighting, and highly efficient solar panels to ensure that they are as green as possible. Compared to a traditionally built home, Aro homes use half as much energy; along with 6,000 fewer gallons of water per year. That translates into an annual reduction of 11.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

By maximising efficiency and sustainability within their homes, during construction and beyond, Aro ensures that costs and energy usage remain as low as possible for homeowners. The company’s approach could help to abate the endemic affordable housing crisis afflicting so many nations.

Aro recently closed a Series A funding round that raised $21 million (approximately €20.2 million) for further expansion of its methods into new locations.

Springwise has spotted many innovations hoping to make the construction industry more efficient and sustainable, including self-powered tiny homes and a carbon negative construction company.

Written By Keely Khoury

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