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Storing carbon by turning unrecyclable waste into stones
CategoriesSustainable News

Storing carbon by turning unrecyclable waste into stones

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Waste is a huge environmental problem. The world creates over 2 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste every year, with at least a third of that total not being handled in an environmentally friendly way. In addition, around five per cent of global CO2-equivalent emissions come from the treatment of this waste.

To tackle this, Néolithe has developed a new way of processing unrecyclable waste, with a solution that will limit waste and emissions, while creating a value-added product. Essentially, its technology speeds up the millennia-long natural fossilisation process. 

The company’s patented emissions-free fossilisation process turns unrecyclable and non-hazardous waste into stones for the construction industry. Néolithe’s Fossilizator process works with ordinary industrial waste like plastics, textiles, wood, plaster, and insulation materials from deconstruction – waste that would otherwise go to landfill or be incinerated.

First, metals are removed from the materials so that they may be reused elsewhere. In the Fossilizator, the waste is then crushed into a powder and mixed with water and a low-carbon binder. Finally, the created paste is pressed to make a new mineral, called Anthropocite, which has the same technical and mechanical characteristics as traditional aggregates and can be used in road sub-bases and concrete. Anthropocite is also carbon-negative – instead of biogenic waste within the used construction materials breaking down and releasing carbon dioxide, this carbon gets captured and stored in the final aggregate products.

The construction industry is booming with innovations that help reduce waste and protect the environment. Springwise has spotted an AI platform to optimise concrete recipes, and construction blocks made from sugarcane.

Written By: Anam Alam

Reference

Turning harmful ocean algae into everyday products
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning harmful ocean algae into everyday products

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: When water becomes enriched with minerals and nutrients, a process starts called eutrophication, where algae grow rapidly and accumulate, causing algal bloom, which can smell bad, block sunlight, and even release toxins. However, the plants also offer a sustainable, clean, and biological source of raw materials, ideal for many applications. They can be harvested and processed without affecting the environment, and Origin by Ocean is doing just that.  

The startup has found that marine overgrowth can be removed and converted into ecological, healthy, and oil-free ingredients for use in everyday consumer products. The company’s patented biorefinery technology, Nauvu, turns invasive and harmful algae and ecologically farmed seaweed into many products in one industrial process. The technology uses selective chemistry to extract valuable bio-based chemicals, which can be used to replace traditional high-carbon chemical ingredients in industries like food, cosmetics, hygiene, and textiles. To make the process as sustainable as possible, Origin by Ocean also recycles chemicals and water.  

In addition, the company’s algae harvesting platform can provide employment opportunities to coastal communities around the world, while clearing oceans of potentially toxic seaweed. Origin by Ocean employs individuals directly, from the algae farmers and harvesters to the feedstock producers. 

The startup recently raised €7.5 million in a seed funding round which will be used to grow operations and develop an industrial-scale algae refinement plant. 

Algae, while essential, can become a danger to our oceans, which is why Springwise has spotted so many innovations trying to use the plant and clean up our seas. One startup has developed bio-based plastics made from macroalgae as a friendly alternative to conventional plastics, and another is turning seaweed into sustainable packaging.

Written By: Anam Alam

Reference

Turning unused textiles into recycled yarn
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning unused textiles into recycled yarn

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) says that a lack of ‘system enablers’ is the main challenge in scaling up supply chain transparency in the garment and footwear industries. The lack of those enablers presents a significant market opportunity in this area, as recent research found that 78 per cent of consumers would pay more for products that are produced locally or made from sustainable material. French company Weturn is improving this visibility for full circularity in textile production and use.  

Weturn provides a complete recycling service that makes it possible for brands to offer consumers clear traceability of garments. Weturn tracks a company’s entire inventory, from finished products to production scraps, and builds a recycling process around future fabric needs. Weturn’s team picks up and transports unsold products and then recycles and spins them into new yarns that are used to create recycled raw material (RRM) fabrics. 

It takes two to three months after pick-up of waste materials for a company to receive its recycled fabrics. Weturn’s service includes a full traceability report, and the company works with production partners in Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal to keep transport and other emissions to a minimum. The RRM fabrics are Global Recycled Standard certified, and part of every traceability report includes life cycle assessments covering water consumption, pollution, CO2 and other waste emissions. 

While the complexity of the fashion industry can make it challenging to implement sustainable changes quickly, it also creates opportunity for exciting innovations. Springwise has spotted improvements in the industry’s sustainability in a number of different ways, including a cellulose powder that removes textile dyes from water, and 3D printed footwear that is 100 per cent recyclable.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Shine On or Lights Out? Architects Are Turning Exterior Walls into Digital Façades
CategoriesArchitecture

Shine On or Lights Out? Architects Are Turning Exterior Walls into Digital Façades

By Zarkon Group,

Judging for the 11th A+Awards is now underway! While awaiting the Winners, prepare for the upcoming Architizer Vision Awards, honoring the best architectural photography, film, visualizations, drawings, models and the talented creators behind them. Learn more and register >

Light-emitting diode (LED) video displays take architectural design to a new level of brilliance, transforming the city streets and skylines into spectacular sights. Technology meets design and art to cover entire building façades for a high-impact passerby engagement.

Unfortunately, as mesmerizing as this visual spectacle can be, these luminous building skins add to the high amounts of human light pollution. This effect increases the brightness of the sky at an alarming pace.

Building Skins

Digital façades redefine how we think of architecture and, more specifically, building skins. Entire walls become giant canvases with lighting as an artistic form of visual communication. LED technology has reached the point where screens of digitally controlled nodes emitting vivid colors can form an integral part of the architectural expression, adapting to various planes and configurations. The outcome achieves extraordinary visual effects, blending light, media and art. Never have buildings been brighter and more scintillating.

Interactive LED Media facade

Interactive LED Media façade for La Vitrine Culturelle in Montreal’s Cultural district. Photo by Moment Factory via Architizer

Dynamic and Expressive

With free-flowing and vivid colors, buildings become more dynamic and expressive. At dusk, architecture becomes secondary, and the light installations that cover entire building surfaces take centerstage. Then, the urban landscape, as experienced during the daytime, gives way to a transformed setting where light and media become the main attraction. Expansive installations fill the streets with a futuristic flair blending the real and virtual worlds. This fantastic atmosphere captures passersby’s and drivers’ attention, heightening their senses and triggering feelings. The ambient sound intensifies the experience, unsettling yet captivating.

Aura, Toronto, Canada. Photo by Victor Rodriguez on Unsplash

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo by Shot by Cerqueira on Unsplash

Design for the Senses

This sensory architecture affects how passersby interact with their immediate surroundings. It influences feelings such as mood, energy levels and appetite. Based on all of these attributes, digital façades serve as powerful marketing tools to attract customers for retail establishments, enhance the fan experience for sports venues and create brand identities for corporate businesses. Digital façades have become an effective communication vehicle that transforms urban centers into a new media form, like print (newspapers), broadcast (television) or the internet (social media). This luminous communication technology allows passersby to interact with the displayed content, whether it is news, advertising, weather forecasts or social media activity.

Interactive digital screens

Interactive digital screens deliver information in real-time. Photo by Cheung Yin via Unsplash

Pros and Cons

Technological advances continuously make LED lighting more affordable and energy-efficient. Light quality is continuously improved. LEDs have a very long life compared to other types of lighting, such as high-pressure sodium lamps traditionally used in street lighting and require virtually no maintenance or replacement. Yet, concerns are growing about the impact of blue emission excess on the one hand and light pollution causing the “skyglow” phenomenon on the other hand. Digital façades put off an incredible amount of light which, to some degree, contributes to light pollution generated by electric lights’ nighttime glow. This effect appears to be intensifying, especially in dense urban areas, with the artificial brightening of the night sky.

Lugard Road, Hong Kong

Sky glow over Hong Kong due to lighting pollution. Photo by Patrick on Unsplash

New Lighting Strategies

Also, environmental studies show that LED lights emit relatively high levels of blue light, a wavelength that negatively impacts human health and wildlife. While new light strategies are explored to mitigate the impact on human well-being and ecological systems, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) promotes the minimization of light pollution by reducing light emissions, especially up to the sky. Perhaps a period of complete night darkness would be beneficial but unrealistic, so finding the most efficient and safe lighting system seems to be a priority. LED technology has the potential for improvement, and city authorities can regulate the amount of light emission per building, a compromise worth exploring.

Digital façades undoubtedly add to the character of buildings while becoming part of the urban landscape, creating exciting environments, attracting visitors and spurring business. Cities like New York, Hong Kong and Dubai exemplify the striking development of buildings incorporating digital façades. These eye-catching buildings shape the skylines of these cities, captivating the mind, rewarding the eye, enhancing the atmosphere and evoking powerful emotions.

Judging for the 11th A+Awards is now underway! While awaiting the Winners, prepare for the upcoming Architizer Vision Awards, honoring the best architectural photography, film, visualizations, drawings, models and the talented creators behind them. Learn more and register >

Reference

Turning food waste into packaging
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning food waste into packaging

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The takeaway food delivery market is expected to continue its steady growth following the explosion of interest during the pandemic. The growth in recycling facilities, however, is not keeping pace, which is bad news for the environment. Countries across the globe are producing millions of metric tonnes of single-use plastic waste each every year. 

Even the cardboard and paper containers that are becoming more common are not truly sustainable. Most contain a plastic coating to prevent leaks, something that Singapore-based startup Alterpacks wanted to change. After analysing the most common types of agricultural and food waste around the world, the company chose spent grain for its new line of compostable food containers.     

Malt and barley grain waste created by the beer brewing process provide the majority of Alterpacks’ raw material. And rather than relying on a coating, the creators of Alterpacks chose to make the whole container leakproof, microwaveable, washable, and home-compostable.  

Currently, the packaging is available as stackable containers with a cover, a bento box, and a set of cutlery. Having recently raised $1 million (around €922,000) in pre-seed funding, the company plans to begin commercial production and distribution of the packaging throughout Asia, Australia, and Europe.  

Reusable food and drink container options have proliferated in recent years, providing consumers with feel-good ways to enjoy the ease of takeaway and on-the-go coffees without the environmental footprint. Two recent examples Springwise has spotted are reusable takeaway containers for restaurants, and a vegetable oil-based reusable coffee cup.  

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Turning carbon dioxide into baking soda
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning carbon dioxide into baking soda

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Sodium bicarbonate, known colloquially as ‘baking soda’, has a diverse range of uses and is found in domestic kitchens all over the world. Now, one of Europe’s largest producers of the common ingredient, Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE), is producing it in an innovative and environmentally friendly way.

The company has just finished constructing the UK’s first industrial-scale carbon capture and usage plant. The £20 million facility will capture 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year from energy emissions. This CO2 will then be purified to food and pharmaceutical grade using a patented process that produces a raw material that will be used to make baking soda. The sodium bicarbonate will be exported to over 60 countries, and much of it will be used in haemodialysis to treat people living with kidney disease.

The plant will reduce TCE’s carbon emissions by 10 per cent, and the CO2 captured will be equivalent to taking 20,000 cars off the road. “The completion of the carbon capture and utilisation demonstration plant enables us to reduce our carbon emissions, whilst securing our supply of high purity carbon dioxide,” explains TCE’s managing Director Martin Ashcroft.

Carbon capture is an important area of innovation and Springwise has recently spotted a carbon capture solvent for the cement industry, a device that captures CO2 from car exhausts, and technology that captures CO2 from the air for use by greenhouse growers. 

Written By: Matthew Hempstead

30th June 2022

Website: tatachemicalseurope.com

Contact: tatachemicalseurope.com/contact-us

Reference

Turning wind, water, and air into green fuel
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning wind, water, and air into green fuel

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: At the very bottom of Chile, not far from Antarctica, is the wild and rugged region of Magallanes. Known for the constancy and strength of its wind, the area has traditionally supported a variety of farms along with a sizeable tourism industry. But now, Chile’s largest and southernmost region has been chosen as the setting for an innovative, $55 million (€50.6 million) facility that is exploring the commercialisation of synthetic fuel.

The project—called ‘Haru Oni’—is an initiative of startup Highly Innovative Fuels (HIF). The first-of-its-kind facility is designed to convert three ingredients, wind, water, and air, into a green fuel that could play an important role in the energy revolution.

The project combines the products of two separate processes: electrolysis and carbon capture. In the first, an on-site wind turbine produces an electric current that separates hydrogen from water. In the second, carbon dioxide is captured from atmospheric air and industrial sources. The CO2 and hydrogen are then combined to create a fuel that can be used in a range of everyday applications.

The process is billed by the company as ‘carbon neutral’, and two features in particular earn it this label. First, the hydrogen produced at the site is ‘green hydrogen’, as the electricity used to power the process comes from renewable wind energy that does not emit any carbon. Second, because the CO2 used to create the fuel is ‘recycled’ from the atmosphere, when the fuel is ultimately burned the CO2 released is not ‘new’. Instead, burning the fuel merely returns CO2 captured at the start of the process back into the atmosphere. This contrasts with the burning of fossil fuels which releases carbon that had previously been stored in the earth for millions of years.

The facility remains under construction and is due to begin production later in the year. Once up and running, the company says the site is capable of manufacturing 130,000 litres of fuel per year. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) will monitor the volumes of carbon captured and produced in order to verify the project’s carbon neutrality. 

Synthetic fuels are an important area of innovation, and Springwise has spotted several similar processes, such as an integrated process that turns hydrogen and CO2 into aviation fuel, a Canadian facility that creates fuel from thin air, and an eKerosene plant in Germany that will produce up to eight barrels per day in 2022.

Written By: Keely Khoury

22nd April 2022

Email: contacto@hif.cl

Website: hif.cl/en

Reference

Turning the overlooked croton nut into a sustainable cash crop
CategoriesSustainable News

Turning the overlooked croton nut into a sustainable cash crop

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: To date, the East and Southern African croton tree has mostly been used as firewood or charcoal. However, the tree has the potential to provide a number of other products. EcoFix Kenya is a company that is working to harness such potential. The company’s CEO, Cosmas Ochieng, is on a mission to find new ways of using native Kenyan plant-resources. He has developed a process to extract biofuel from the nuts of the croton tree. This biofuel can be used for a variety of purposes, including powering vehicles and generators. In addition, the byproducts of the process can be used as fertiliser, animal feed, and even cosmetics.

EcoFix is also providing a sustainable business model that encourages local farmers to plant and harvest croton trees rather than other crops. EcoFix processes over 3,000 tonnes of croton nuts each year, working with over 6,000 farmers. This business model not only helps to improve the environment by encouraging the growth of croton trees, but it also provides a reliable source of income for local farmers.

The company started out as a small startup focused on biofuel. They have since worked with large-scale corporations like multinational food producer Del Monte – powering their diesel generators through croton oil. However, it became clear that reliance solely on fuel contracts would not sustain long term business growth. With 90 per cent of the nut being wasted in the biofuel production process alone, the company has been growing and diversifying.

Croton nuts now form the basis of several products, such as high-protein supplements that are sold to poultry farmers as well as Ochieng’s latest innovation: a cosmetic brand based on croton oil called NEA by Nature. Ochieng said that he found croton nuts have unique physical elements including high moisturising properties to make them ideal for use in soap and face masks. The Ochieng Company is looking to target a niche market of conscious consumers with their palm-free products.

Ochieng is eager to take his cosmetics company global. In order for that goal, he’s building another factory alongside the original processing plant in Nanyuki – a town around 200 kilometres north from Kenya’s capital city Nairobi. This new production facility will increase capacity and start exporting items such as cosmetics towards lucrative markets like America or England. The expansion will also allow for more employment opportunities in the local area as well as continued growth for the company. Ochieng is committed to providing quality products and good jobs for the community and this next phase of development will help to achieve those aims.

Other recent biofuel innovations spotted by Springwise include pellets made from agricultural and food waste, a biofuel startup expanding into consumer goods, and a shipping company using biofuel to reduce maritime emissions.

Written By: Katrina Lane

8th April 2022

Email: info@efk.co.ke

Website: efk.co.ke

Reference