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☆ Where ocean plastic actually comes from
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Charlie Floyd | Elizabeth Mccauley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

What do we get wrong when we talk about ocean plastic? A lot, it turns out. Business Insider producer Elizabeth McCauley dives into the scientific literature and talks to experts to find out how we actually solve this problem. If you want to check out the sources for this video, we made a reading list for you.

Persons: Elizabeth McCauley Organizations: Business

Indonesia ranks as one of the world's biggest contributors to ocean plastics, and a lot of it comes from rivers. The local nonprofit Sungai Watch saves about 3 metric tons of trash from entering the ocean every day with simple barriers and manual labor. We visited the island of Bali to meet the three young siblings behind the nonprofit and learn why a tropical paradise has a huge trash problem.

Organizations: Sungai Watch Locations: Indonesia, Bali

☆ Can Bamboo Replace Paper and Plastic? and Should It?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Manuel Silva-Paulus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

With bamboo-based products on the rise, we wanted to see how they compared to their plastic and paper counterparts. We went to Taiwan and China for a behind-the-scenes look at how bamboo is turned into cups, lunchboxes, toilet paper, and cutlery — and figured out which of these products have the biggest impact on our environment. For more on Lastic, visit www.lastico.com.

Locations: Taiwan, China, www.lastico.com

☆ The Startup Keeping Wind Turbine Blades Out of Landfills
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Manuel Silva-Paulus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Conventional recycling techniques don't work on wind turbine blades. Now, an Ohio startup is turning them into park benches and planters. But how much trash will the wind energy industry create?

Locations: Ohio

Your average EV has six times more mineral content than a petrol- or diesel-powered vehicle. All those metals need to be dug, scraped, blasted, or leached out of the earth. There is massive demand for batteries as countries eye up ambitious zero-emissions targets. But what's the cost?

☆ How Turning Flower Waste Into Natural Dyes Can Reduce Pollution
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Worshippers in India buy thousands of tons of flowers every day to give as offerings in temples. The rituals leave behind mountains of flower waste that often end up contaminating already troubled rivers. One business is turning that waste into natural dyes used in garments sold by Anthropologie. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now.

Persons: Anthropologie Organizations: Business Locations: India

Cardboard has a high recycling rate in the US. But it can't be reused forever, so producing it also consumes millions of trees each year.

☆ Recyclers reject most plastic. This company turns it into furniture.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

But ReFactory, a UK-based family business, has a complex process to give it a new life. It makes plywood-like plastic boards and turns them into furniture, planters, and more. ReFactory processes post-consumer waste from collection bins around the UK, along with recalled or expired manufacturing waste that never hit shelves. The company says the furniture cuts down on emissions compared to transporting plastic to landfill and that the boards can be recycled over and over. But there isn't much demand for the plastic furniture, so ReFactory gives a lot of it away to schools.

The Ocean Cleanup started removing plastic from the ocean a decade ago. But most of that plastic comes from rivers, so it started building solar-powered river cleaners to catch garbage before it goes out to sea. Experts worry the ocean-cleaning machines could harm sea life, but most say cleaning rivers is a smarter approach.

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☆ How to make bricks from plastic trash
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Lilian Manansala | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Recycling wind turbine blades is nearly impossible. Veolia North America thinks it can keep them out of landfills.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Katie Nixdorf | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

But most of the cement industry's emissions come from heating limestone in kilns, so this process probably won't make much of a dent. A furnace used in industrial cement production. Artur Osypian/Getty ImagesCement factories burn the turbine blades for fuel — replacing some of the coal the factories usually use. Veolia says its product burns cleaner.

☆ Rocks vacuumed off the seafloor can power electric cars. But is mining the ocean worth it?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Seafloor rocks contain metals that can be used in wind turbines and electric-car batteries. In November, a Canadian mining startup collected tons of them on a test run. This type of deep-sea mining could destroy untouched habitats, among other environmental impacts. More research is likely needed to see how the effects of mining the seafloor compare to mining land. Critics say mining them could cause serious ecological destruction, but no one knows exactly what the impact will be yet.

M&S Schmalberg has been handcrafting custom fabric flowers in Manhattan since 1916. Its flowers have been worn by celebrities like Beyoncé, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Rihanna. But since the 1950s, competition from overseas manufacturers has made it difficult for them to stay afloat. But competition from overseas flower manufacturers has made it difficult to stay afloat. For more information, visit the M&S Schmalberg website or Etsy shop.

☆ How seaweed could replace plastic bags and packaging
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Making eyeglasses from coffee grounds in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A Kyiv startup is making eyeglass frames out of old coffee grounds, despite the ongoing war with Russia. The frames are biodegradable and help keep organic waste from creating methane in landfills. Loading Something is loading. This Ukrainian startup is using some of those leftovers to make eyeglass frames and cases. We visited Kyiv to see how it's kept going despite the war with Russia.

☆ Why asphalt is one of the world's most recycled materials
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | Grant Tyler | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Asphalt pavement is one of the most recycled materials in the world. Recycled roads can replace mined rocks and fossil fuels used to make new asphalt. Regulators often limit the recycled content of roads to about 30%, but one company found a way to make 100% recycled asphalt. But regulations often limit the recycled content of roads to around 30%. We visited a company making 100% recycled asphalt to see how it does it.

☆ How roof waste became a massive issue, and how we can solve it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Elizabeth Mccauley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

Asphalt shingles can be recycled by mixing ground shingles into pavement for roads. But there isn't enough demand to keep up with all the waste, so the vast majority still go to landfills. A roofing company has found a way to turn old shingles into new ones, but it will take time to scale up. Loading Something is loading. One company says it's figured out how to turn used shingles back into new ones.

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