Belgium melts more than 22,000 guns into 60 tonnes of recycled steel
Multiple studies have shown that the fewer guns in a society, the safer its people. With that in mind, the Belgian police have collected more than 22,000 guns from citizens and melted them into 60 tonnes of recycled steel. About half of the collected firearms were handed in by owners from across Read More...
Recycling asphalt shingles is now possible thanks to this roofing giant
Affordable and easy to install, it’s not surprising that asphalt shingles are the most popular roofing material in the US, covering about 75 percent of the country’s roofs. The problem with it, however, is that 12 to 15 years after installation, they need to be replaced. Due to this, shingles Read More...
This apparel company wants to recycle your old socks into dog beds
While consumer awareness about the urgency of transitioning the textile industry towards circularity is growing, socks remain one of the most frequently discarded pieces of apparel. A new initiative from clothing company Smartwool wants to change that by encouraging you to donate your old socks — Read More...
This simple solution uses flowers to recycle waste water in your home
From saving on utility bills to helping replenish groundwater, recycling water has many benefits for both people and the planet. Not long ago, we shared a story about Hydraloop, a water recycling system that can be installed in homes and offices to help reduce water waste. Now, we would like to Read More...
This man makes bricks out of chewed-up gum and discarded masks
Have you ever reached in your pocket to find you had forgotten a rock-hard piece of chewed-up gum wrapped in a scrap of paper? This happened to Binish Desai when he was a boy, and that mundane event inspired his childhood dream to build the world’s least expensive houses for the people he saw Read More...
These students want to turn old chewing gum into skateboard wheels
While ubiquitous on city streets, discarded chewing gum is a form of plastic pollution that’s rarely a topic of discussion. To help spotlight this issue, two design students have come up with the idea of turning this street waste into skateboard wheels. The brainchild of Hugo Maupetit and Vivian Read More...
This startup is cleaning up the Ganges by recycling discarded flowers
As part of religious celebrations in India, Hindu worshippers leave collections of flowers at temples every day. Once these flowers start to wilt, the vast majority of them are disposed of in sacred bodies of water such as the river Ganges. Every year, about eight million tons of this floral waste Read More...
Kenyan woman recycles plastic waste into bricks stronger than concrete
Kenya uses 600,000 tons of plastic bottles annually, of which only 9 percent is recycled while the rest ends up in landfills and polluting the environment. A Nairobi-based, impact-driven entrepreneur is putting that plastic waste to much better use. Meet Nzambi Matee, a 29-year-old entrepreneur Read More...
Researchers recycle discarded face masks to make stronger road material
In addition to a global health crisis, the pandemic has also exacerbated our toxic relationship with plastic, with millions of single-use face masks and gloves ending up in the environment daily. There are some ways, however, we can mitigate this new form of pollution. Recently, we shared a Read More...
VW opens EV battery recycling plant in preparation for an electric future
As the electric revolution is making headway unabated, manufacturers are thinking about what to do with their electric vehicle batteries when the devices reach the end of the road. This is an important consideration given that lithium-ion batteries require a lot of materials, many of which are rare Read More...