Recycling

If you’re a fan of the original Back to the Future movie, then you probably liked the scene at the end where Doc Brown used some random household waste to fuel his time-traveling deLorean. Well, we’re now getting a little bit closer to that being a reality... sort of. While practical flying cars, time travel and cold fusion are still a ways off, the ability to power your car with garbage isn’t. Canadian biofuels firm Enerkem is currently working with the city of Edmonton, Alberta, to convert that city’s municipal waste into ethanol. This will lower the city’s greenhouse gas output, keep much of its waste out of the landfill, and produce a “clean” fuel Doc Brown would be proud of. Read More

Ever wonder what happens to discarded televisions and obsolete home computers, or do you prefer not to think about it? According to a United Nations study on recycling, the volume of disused electronic products, or “e-waste” as it is known, has risen dramatically as it coincides with growth in sales in developing countries. Read More

When Vancouver won the competition to host the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games thoughts immediately turned to construction, and one of the most awe-inspiring initiatives has to be the redesign of the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center (VCAEC). Currently hosting the international broadcasting and media hub for the Winter Olympics, this waterfront building is not only beautiful and functional but is environmentally sustainable, boasting a green electricity program, a seawater heating and cooling system and the largest "living roof" in Canada populated with 40,000 plants and grasses. Read More

Personally, I’m not a fan of bottled water. Firstly, tap water in many parts of the world is safe, tastes fine, and it's free. Then there's the waste that bottled water causes – an enormous amount of energy is consumed in manufacture and most bottles end up in landfill. So when I see a product like the Vapur, I instantly warm to it. It’s a flexible, reusable water container that rolls up like a tube of toothpaste when it's empty to fit in your pocket, purse or backpack – then in the dishwasher, not in the trash. Read More

Aside from tragic loss of life and incomprehensible destruction, events like last week’s devastating earthquake in Haiti create a myriad of problems in their wake, not least of which is homelessness. With over 30 million shipping containers the world over currently lying dormant, a team of researchers at Clemson University in South Carolina are working to help solve the issue of accommodation in disaster affected areas by developing a method to convert the unused containers into sustainable emergency housing. Read More

If the benefit to our environment isn’t enough to get some people to recycle, Georgia Tech’s Valerie Thomas has come up with the concept of offering a cash incentive enabled by “Smart Trash”. The concept involves a scanner integrated into a trash receptacle that automatically records what is being disposed of using Universal Product Codes (UPC) or radio frequency identification (RFID) tags attached to the trash. This would not only allow recyclers to better sort the waste but could also provide a cash back channel to consumers recycling goods of value. Read More

Undoubtedly a pretty environment-friendly way to travel, donning a pair of skates still leaves you with a bit of an eco-headache. With all that plastic and metal wrapped around your ankles, the skates themselves are a bit of an environmental let down - until now. Inline skate innovators at K2 skates have recently added another industry first to the company's catalogue of cutting edge developments. Not only are the boots and laces made from recycled plastic bottles but the wheel frame is made from one of the most sustainable materials on the planet, bamboo. Read More

A new method of recycling old tires to produce high-quality rubber powders for making new rubber products is being developed in Australia. Its developers say it is energy-efficient, economically viable and environmentally responsible, and they hope it will result in 50 per cent more tires being recycled. Read More

Sony Electronics has launched the GreenFill recycling service, an extension of its Take Back program using in-store drop-boxes for the collection of unwanted portable electronics good - around 80% of which currently end up in landfill. Read More