Sustainability in the News

Source: University of Dundee, 8/11/25

Arbikie Distillery has partnered with Dr Dongyang Sun, Edinburgh Napier University, and Dr. Wenbin Zhou, University of Dundee, to use mycelium, the root structure of fungi, and distillery by-products like spent grain to create durable, lightweight packaging. The material created is impact-resistant, fire-retardant, and fully compostable, offering an eco-friendly alternative to plastic. Over the next 10 months, the project team will focus on proof of concept, testing the material, and the design. Funded by Scotland Beyond Net Zero – a coalition of leading climate and sustainability experts from Scotland's universities – this project is one of 11 new research collaborations aimed at accelerating Scotland's transition to net zero. Each project involves cross-sector collaborations to address sustainability challenges in energy, finance, food, the built environment, natural systems, and transport.

Source: Inside Climate News, 11/11/25

Local communities are hosting events where people can bring in their broken goods for repairs—free of charge.

Source: Trellis, 8/21/25

In a footwear first, a new Allbirds’ sneaker features material that has been recycled from polycotton waste. The Remix runners, which retail for $140, are made with lyocell recycled by startup Circ from used polycotton T-shirts and other textiles. The midsoles are recycled from manufacturing-scrap foam by partner Blumaka, and the laces are made of recycled polyester.

Source: Colorado School of Mines, 9/18/25

America already mines all the critical minerals it needs for energy, defense, and technology, but most are being wasted as mine tailings. Researchers discovered that minerals like cobalt, germanium, and rare earths are discarded in massive amounts, even though recovering just a fraction could eliminate U.S. dependence on imports. 

Source: CNRS, 4/24/25

A study describes a new method of recycling silicone waste (caulk, sealants, gels, adhesives, cosmetics, etc.). It has the potential to significantly reduce the sector's environmental impacts. This is the first universal recycling process that brings any type of used silicone material back to an earlier state in its life cycle where each molecule has only one silicon atom. And there is no need for the raw materials currently used to design new silicones. Moreover, since it is chemical and not mechanical recycling, the reuse of the material can be carried out infinitely. 

Source: Northwestern University, 9/3/25

Scientists at Northwestern University have developed a groundbreaking nickel-based catalyst that could transform the way the world recycles plastic. Instead of requiring tedious sorting, the catalyst selectively breaks down stubborn polyolefin plastics—the single-use materials that make up much of our daily waste—into valuable oils, waxes, fuels, and more. 

Source: Trellis, 4/30/25

Years of persistence and experimentation led to a biodegradable coffee pod that improves brewing performance. Inspired by baristas tamping down grounds for espresso, the Keurig team sought to compact the coffee tightly enough to maintain its patty shape without a container. Along the way, the new format also yielded a stronger brew. However, the team realized those naked coffee pods would not survive distribution. They tried beeswax before landing on an algae-based coating that kept the pods intact. Their prototyping advanced in 2021 in the company lab with a small pilot line of coffee pods. The team used a hand crank to encapsulate roasted and ground coffee in a layer of alginate. This coating was found to tolerate pressure levels up to approximately 200 pounds per square inch, meaning the pods could be used to brew espresso. Today, about 200 consumers are beta-testing the pods, called K-Rounds, in their homes, providing daily data that helps with product refinement.

Source: Ars Technica, 10/20/25

Electronic waste is a treasure trove of rare earth elements (REEs), but separating out these materials for recovery and reuse is no easy task. A team of researchers from Rice University says it has developed a better way to separating REEs from waste magnets found in discarded electronics. The process uses less energy and isn’t nearly as emissions and pollution intensive as current methods. The team describes the technique in a paper recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: University of Leicester, 5/2/25

A new technique that uses soundwaves to separate materials for recycling could help prevent potentially harmful chemicals leaching into the environment.  Researchers at the University of Leicester have achieved a major milestone in fuel cell recycling, advancing techniques to efficiently separate valuable catalyst materials and fluorinated polymer membranes (PFAS) from catalyst-coated membranes (CCMs). 

Source: Forbes, 1/17/26

'Switching to a circular electric vehicle (EV) battery economy is essential to meet growing demand and avoid a critical bottleneck in the supply of key minerals, according to a new analysis.

The report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warns a bottleneck could threaten higher and volatile prices, which in turn could lead to a slower uptake of such vehicles.

It argues only a practical, system-wide circular economy approach can keep pace with market appetite, build resilience in the supply chains, and deliver better value.'

Source: The Conversation, 5/28/25

Researchers at West Virginia University are developing a new technology to change how electronics are recycled. Instead of using toxic chemicals, their approach uses electricity, which makes recovering critical materials from electronics safer, cleaner, and more affordable. 

Source: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 5/8/25

An edible robot made by EPFL scientists leverages a combination of biodegradable fuel and surface tension to zip around the water's surface, creating a safe -- and nutritious -- alternative to environmental monitoring devices made from artificial polymers and electronics.

Source: BusinessWire, 11/18/25

Epic Cleantec ("Epic") recently announced the launch of a groundbreaking commercial beer made with highly purified recycled water from showers and laundry — now available to consumers across the United States. Shower Hour IPA and Laundry Club Kölsch, Epic’s two beer styles, are category-defining brews made with a uniquely sustainable ingredient: recycled water. Crafted in partnership with the award-winning team at Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company in San Carlos, CA, the beers use water from buildings where Epic operates advanced onsite reuse systems. The water is cleaned with modern, state-of-the-art technology to ensure it’s exceptionally pure. 

Source: Waste360, 9/18/25

Household hazardous waste (HHW) is showing up on states’ and local jurisdictions’ radar, fueled by safety concerns and the exorbitant cost to manage these materials. As batteries, vapes, compressed gas cylinders, and certain other products flood waste and recycling streams, they spark fires and injure waste workers while leaving governments to shoulder most of the cleanup costs. In response, a few jurisdictions are looking at extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws, requiring producers to take responsibility for dealing with these materials at the end of life. 

Forbes, 3/30/25

Federal researchers are making gains in experiments to ease the process of harvesting recyclable materials in electronic waste from discarded cellphones and computers. 

Two new methods developed by Richland, Wash.-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists may hold the keys for how to better salvage critical minerals in e-waste. Traditional methods are time consuming, require a great deal of energy and involve handling hazardous chemicals. 

Scientists at Illinois-based Argonne National Laboratory spearheaded a project to make and recycle luminescent polymers in semiconductor materials that light up such electronics as computer screens and car dashboard navigation displays.

Source: TechCrunch, 3/5/25

A U.K. startup, originating from founder Jacob Nathan’s high school science project on using enzymes to break down plastic waste, has secured an oversubscribed $18.3 million in Series A funding.

Source: Great Big Story, 8/8/24

Harvest mice are the smallest mammals in Britain. They are only about the size of your thumb, and live in tall grass across the countryside, usually in small nests. But with their habitat infringed upon, animal conservationists found an object that makes for a perfect harvest mouse home: the tennis ball.

Source: Live Science, 12/8/25

Scientists have converted waste cooking oil into various recyclable plastics with exceptional strength — and some were even durable enough to tow a car. Turning nonedible waste into useful polymers is a sustainable way to create new materials, the researchers said in a new study published Nov. 28 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Source: Flinders University, 6/27/25

A major discovery by an interdisciplinary team of experts in green chemistry, engineering and physics at Flinders University in Australia has found a safer and more sustainable approach to extract and recover gold from ore and electronic waste. The glistening gold-extraction technique, unveiled in the leading global journal Nature Sustainability, promises to reduce levels of toxic waste from mining and shows that high purity gold can be recovered from recycling valuable components in printed circuit boards in discarded computers. 

The new process uses a low-cost and benign compound to extract the gold. This reagent (trichloroisocyanuric acid) is widely used in water sanitation and disinfection. When activated by salt water, the reagent can dissolve gold. Next, the gold can be selectively bound to a novel sulfur-rich polymer developed by the Flinders team. The selectivity of the polymer allows gold recovery even in highly complex mixtures. The gold can then be recovered by triggering the polymer to “un-make” itself and convert back to monomer. This allows the gold to be recovered and the polymer to be recycled and reused.

Source: Harvard University, 9/17/25

Scientists at Harvard have discovered how salts like lithium bromide break down tough proteins such as keratin—not by attacking the proteins directly, but by altering the surrounding water structure. This breakthrough opens the door to a cleaner, more sustainable way to recycle wool, feathers, and hair into valuable materials, potentially replacing plastics and fueling new industries.

Source: Anthropocene Magazine, 4/9/26

'In a sustainable twist to the saying"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," researchers in Hawaii are developing a method to convert discarded fishing nets and plastic trash into asphalt roads. Their early tests show that incorporating recycled plastic into asphalt is technically viable and bears minimal risk of shedding microplastics that could end up in the oceans. The team from the Center for Marine Debris Research at Hawai'i Pacific University presented their innovative solution to the island's plastic waste problem at the American Chemical Society Spring 2026 conference.'

Source: Trellis, 3/21/25

Alternew and Revive are partnering with fashion brands to profit from repairs and alterations while keeping clothes out of closets, warehouses and landfills.

Source: PBS News Hour, 7/28/25

It may sound like the stuff of sci-fi movies, but diverting food waste from the landfill and converting it into electricity has become a real thing. William Brangham visited Ben & Jerry's Vermont ice cream factory and the operations next door to find out how it works.

Source: Waste360, 12/2/25

Greater Peoria Sanitary District (GPSD) treats 20 to 25 million gallons of wastewater each day and uses some of the resulting biogas to heat its boilers while flaring the rest. But now the Illinois utility has other plans for some of the excess and is banking on monetary and environmental returns. That biogas will be converted to renewable natural gas (RNG), injected into the natural gas pipeline, and sold as transportation fuel—a slow but steady growing trend among water utilities looking to reduce their emissions while capitalizing on their waste byproduct. And they have the ideal feedstock. Their gas is high in methane and low in nitrogen, meaning its energy-rich and requires relatively minimal treatment steps.

Source: Fast Company, 8/12/25

The brand’s recycled plastic shoes have a distinct look and texture. Now Rothy’s is bringing a new material to its roster.

Source: Phys.org, 2/2/26

'A University of Missouri researcher is pioneering an innovative solution to remove tiny bits of plastic pollution from our water. Mizzou's Susie Dai recently applied a revolutionary strain of algae toward capturing and removing harmful microplastics from polluted water. Driven by a mission to improve the world for both wildlife and humans, Dai also aims to repurpose the collected microplastics into safe, bioplastic products such as composite plastic films...The findings are published in the journal Nature Communications.'

Source: Trellis, 4/22/25

New regulations and global pressure are accelerating the shift toward more sustainable medical garments. Most medical textiles are not recycled, contributing to health care’s large climate and plastic waste footprint. Startups FIGS and AmorSui are serving sector professionals seeking to reduce those impacts, with “circular” scrubs and lab coats.

Source: Trellis, 4/22/25

New regulations and global pressure are accelerating the shift toward more sustainable medical garments. Most medical textiles are not recycled, contributing to health care’s large climate and plastic waste footprint. Startups FIGS and AmorSui are serving sector professionals seeking to reduce those impacts, with “circular” scrubs and lab coats.

Source: Associated Press, 2/5/26

In February 2026 Malaysia announced 'an immediate and full ban on the importation of electronic waste, as the government vowed the country would not be a “dumping ground” for the world’s waste. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said in a statement late Wednesday that all electronic waste, commonly known as e-waste, would be reclassified under the “absolute prohibition” category effective immediately. This removes the discretionary power previously given to the Department of Environment to grant exemptions for importation of certain e-waste.'

Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 3/4/26

A team of researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and MIT have converted plastic waste into a microbe-friendly food source to build an upcycling pipeline that turns the waste into a variety of useful products. They engineered the bacterium Pseudomonas putida to convert polyethylene terephthalate, a main class of single-use plastics found in containers like water bottles, into pyruvate, a molecule that most organisms rely on to generate the cellular energy and biomass that sustain them. The researchers also developed a series of specialist microbes, each of which consumes pyruvate to produce a unique end-product. Such products include biopolymers and enzymes used in medicine, chemicals and fuels used in engineering, and electricity for powering electronics. Their findings have been published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Source: Horizon Magazine, 12/24/24

Source: Phys.org, 1/27/26

'Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientists have developed a patented breakthrough system that marks a major step forward in insect biomanufacturing, waste reduction and sustainable protein production. The new "Black Soldier Fly Billet" was developed in the lab of Jeffery Tomberlin, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research Fellow, professor in the Texas A&M Department of Entomology and director of the Center for Insect Biomanufacturing and Innovation. It represents the first reliable method for long-term, room-temperature storage of young black soldier fly larvae...Each billet is a pint-sized container engineered with layers of fermented feed, newborn larvae and a dry food "blanket," sealed with a breathable lid that maintains consistent moisture and temperature. The system preserves larval viability far beyond the two-to-four-day window typical under conventional rearing methods. Once opened and emptied onto organic waste, Tomberlin said each unit can generate up to more than 3 pounds of harvestable larvae in as little as seven to 10 days.'

Source: New Food Magazine, 10/6/2025

Researchers at the University of California, Davis have launched an online tool designed to track agricultural byproducts and help industry find new uses for them, potentially turning food waste into valuable resources. The Byproduct Database, developed by the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems, catalogues leftovers such as fruit skins, nut shells and pulp, highlighting opportunities for reuse across the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors.

Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2/26/26

Scientists from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new edge-of-field water-treatment system that reduces the load of excess nutrients washing into waterways from farm drainage systems. Their method combines a woodchip bioreactor with a two-step biochar water-treatment module. A one-year field trial demonstrated that the system reduced both nitrogen and phosphorus runoff from farmland. The study, published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering, also included a techno-economic analysis that found that the bioreactor-biochar system could become a cost-effective alternative to current edge-of-field practices while achieving better water-quality outcomes. The team was led by Hong Zhou and Wei Zheng of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.

Source: The Conversation, 3/18/25

Because plastic is so commonly used, finding new ways to manage and recycle plastic waste is becoming ever more important. Plastic waste pyrolysis is one technology that could help address this issue.

Source: Northwestern University, 3/11/25

Harnessing moisture from air, Northwestern University chemists have developed a simple new method for breaking down plastic waste. The non-toxic, environmentally friendly, solvent-free process first uses an inexpensive catalyst to break apart the bonds in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common plastic in the polyester family. Then, the researchers merely expose the broken pieces to ambient air. Leveraging the trace amounts of moisture in air, the broken-down PET is converted into monomers — the crucial building blocks for plastics. From there, the researchers envision the monomers could be recycled into new PET products or other, more valuable materials. Safer, cleaner, cheaper and more sustainable than current plastic recycling methods, the new technique, published in the journal Green Chemistry, offers a promising path toward creating a circular economy for plastics.

Source: Recycling Today, 12/22/25

'German biotechnology company Bioweg, in partnership with Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), has secured 1.5 million euros, or $1.76 million, from SPRIND, Germany’s Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation, as part of the Tech Metal Transformation Challenge. The funding will support the development of Bioweg’s platform technology for water-based rare earth element (REE) recovery...The platform technology combines Bioweg's expertise in bioacid production from waste streams for bioleaching with TU Berlin's peptide-based separation technology using column systems. The process operates in water at ambient temperature, applying green-chemistry bioleaching without the use of solvents or high heat, according to a news release Bioweg issues about the grant award. The bio-based acids are generated as a secondary output of Bioweg's fermentation platform, requiring no additional downstream processing, resulting in a low-energy process with a reduced overall CO₂ footprint.' 

Source: Northeastern Global News, 2/5/26

'New researchout of Northeastern University has discovered a new way to extract rare earth elements out of coal tailings, the cast-off soil and rock left behind by coal mining. Using a chemical treatment and a specially designed microwave reactor to control the temperature, the researchers have doubled the extraction levels previously possible.’

Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 10/17/25

Arsenic is a potent carcinogen and one of the world’s most dangerous drinking-water contaminants, particularly in South Asia, where millions are exposed through groundwater. Removing the toxin from groundwater helps protect public health but leaves behind sludge laced with arsenic, which is expensive and hazardous to dispose of properly. Researchers in Denmark have now found a way to turn that toxic waste into something valuable: high-purity elemental arsenic, a material in growing demand for green electronics and batteries (Sci. Adv. 2025, DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adz5816).

Source: Princeton University, 3/18/25

Giving a second life to construction materials after demolition, engineers at the University of São Paulo and Princeton have developed an approach for recycling cement waste into a sustainable, low-carbon alternative that is comparable in performance to the industry standard. In addition to lowering the carbon intensity of the cement and concrete industry, the process could enable new uses for construction and demolition waste, of which concrete is a significant component. In 2018 in the United States, the total amount of construction and demolition waste was more than twice that of household waste. In their paper, published in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, the researchers demonstrated that mixtures containing up to 80% of this recycled cement were just as strong as conventional Portland cement by itself while generating a fraction of the carbon emissions.

Source: University of Wisconsin, 8/26/25

With ever more electric vehicles on the road, regulators and automakers are considering what can be done with the millions of batteries that power EVs after they’re spent. Even when their useful life is over, EV batteries contain valuable lithium that could theoretically be recycled and used in new batteries, but coming up with a cost-effective way to do so is critical. A group of University of Wisconsin–Madison chemists are hopeful they’ve found a solution and they’re already filing patents and courting global carmakers.

Source: University of Tokyo, 2/6/25

Epoxy resins are coatings and adhesives used in a broad range of familiar applications, such as construction, engineering and manufacturing. However, they often present a challenge to recycle or dispose of responsibly. Now a team of researchers has developed a method to efficiently reclaim materials from a range of epoxy products for reuse by using a novel solid catalyst.

Source: Oregon State University, 3/21/25

Researchers from Oregon State and the Rural Development Administration in South Korea have made a key advance in turning spent coffee grounds into food packaging materials that can extend the shelf life of products. Their findings were published in the Journal of Food Science.

An estimated 60 million tons of spent coffee grounds are generated worldwide annually. Most end up in landfills and release methane, a potent greenhouse gas. That has led researchers to study other uses for coffee grounds, such as incorporating them into biofuels, cosmetics, catalysts and composite materials, including concrete, and now food packaging materials. The researchers believe coffee grounds could be used to make different food packages, including sheets between sliced cheese, pads underneath fresh meat and pads in clamshell containers used to package strawberries.

Source: Washington State University, 4/3/25

A new method to recycle wind turbine blades without using harsh chemicals resulted in the recovery of high-strength glass fibers and resins that allowed researchers to re-purpose the materials to create stronger plastics. The innovation provides a simple and environmentally friendly way to recycle wind turbine blades to create useful products. 

Source: The Guardian, 12/3/25

The 66m tonnes of pollution from plastic packaging that enters the global environment each year could be almost eliminated by 2040 primarily by reuse and return schemes, significant new research reveals.

Source: American Chemical Society 10/12/25

Researchers are finding extraordinary new uses for what we throw away. Beet pulp may help crops resist disease, while composted coconut fibers could replace peat moss. Discarded radish and beet greens are rich in bioactive compounds that boost gut health and protect cells. Food waste is rapidly becoming a source of sustainable solutions for both agriculture and health.

Source: The Week, 3/3/26

'Scientists have created a “sustainable, highly efficient” method to “upcycle plastics to value-added acetic acid,” which is the main component of vinegar, said a study published in the journal Advanced Energy Materials. The process is a “bio-inspired cascade photocatalysis using iron atoms embedded in carbon nitride,” said a release about the study. It is similar to “how certain types of fungi break down organic matter using enzymes.”'

Source: University of Copenhagen, 9/5/25

A team of chemists has discovered how to transform PET plastic waste into BAETA, a material that captures CO2 with remarkable efficiency. Instead of ending up as microplastics in the environment, discarded bottles and textiles could become tools to combat climate change. The method is energy-friendly, scalable, and potentially lucrative, offering industries both sustainability and practicality.

Source: South Dakota State University, 8/13/25

Amid growing concerns over plastic waste and microplastics, researchers are turning agricultural leftovers into biodegradable packaging. Using cellulose extracted from unlikely sources, including grapevine canes, they have created strong, transparent films that break down in just 17 days without leaving harmful residue.