Issue 86

A substance that can provide sustenance to maintain life on earth, that prevents flooding and desertification and that could even reverse climate change might sound impossible, but that material is right under our feet.

Six products making the most of plastic ocean waste

With at least 150 million tonnes of the plastic already polluting our seas, it’s clear something must be done. They may only be a drop in the ocean, but here are some companies creating products from ocean waste.

Five examples of bioplastics taking root at major companies

Sometimes there are bioplastics where you least expect them. Here are a few examples of plant-based materials bringing sustainability to the mass market.

Compound questions: what happens to composite plastics after use?

Composite materials like fibreglass are strong, durable and light. The trouble is, they’re not very easy to handle at their end of life.

Cleaning up the city: the Bristol Waste Company

In setting up the Bristol Waste Company, Bristol City Council is getting its recycling into ship-shape conditions.

How Adnams is brewing sustainability

In choosing a drink, your main criteria might not be a beverage’s resource footprint, but brewers are increasingly adding a dash of sustainabilty to their blends.

Show your metal

A conversation with Rick Hindley, Executive Director of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro).

WasteBasedBricks: Laying the foundations for sustainable building

A pioneering eco house in Rotterdam has been made using waste-based bricks that even the toughest of wolves couldn’t blow down.

Charting the bioplastics boom

Plastics that sub in plants for petrol are booming, with the market set to quadruple in the next five years.

Creating the Circular Building

Engineering firm Arup has created the world’s first ‘Circular Building’, an experiment in circular economy thinking.

Glass: Take the weight off

Investigating the modern phenomenon of lightweighting glass and discovering just how low glass could go.

Material gains through brokerage services

How can risk-averse councils get the most value out of the recyclables they collect and feed them into a more circular economy? An idea finding favour in Wales and Scotland is a materials brokerage service.

Rejected Hypotheses - local authority contamination

Following a flurry of media disparagement around the 2014/15 stats onlocal authority recycling rejects, we analyse England’s recycling data to truly understand the figures.

Advanced conversion technologies: A heated debate

Following several high-profile setbacks for ‘advanced conversion technologies', some are now questioning whether gasification and pyrolysis can ever work at a large scale to treat residual waste.