Plastic recycling is still in its infancy – only a small part of the waste is recyclable. Natural enzymes could get the circular economy going.
World Recycling
Auckland factory producing recyclable meat trays
An Auckland packaging company is working to remove the confusion around recycling plastic, one meat tray at a time. Pact Packaging’s Kiwi-designed meat trays – made from Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PET – can be recycled.
Newspaper recycling resumes for Lions
The Gore Pakeke Lions are back in the paper recycling business as the price for recycled paper stabilises. In February last year, the recycling factory the club runs in the town stopped collecting paper.
Can the Tokyo Games get a perfect recycling score?
Before the pandemic arrived and safety became such a high priority, the Olympic Commission announced it was to be the ‘most sustainable one’ since the Games started in 1896. But what does that mean exactly?
Repairing – not recycling – is the first step to tackling e-waste from smartphones. Here’s why.
As smartphone sales have skyrocketed, so has the device’s contribution to waste streams and carbon emissions. Manufacturers will need to conserve resources as 6 of the key elements for mobile phones will run out in the next 100 years.
High school students turn non-recyclable plastic bottle tops into earrings
Five Ōtūmoetai College students are taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme and have started a business that turns the plastic bottle tops into earrings. ‘Dune’ has launched on Instagram and will be appearing at local markets next month.
Renowned Percussionist Dendê Macêdo Recycling Trash Into Musical Treasure
What may seem like trash to some is musical treasure in the hands of Afro-Brazilian artist Dendê Macêdo. His new album “Recycled Sounds” features instruments made of found materials.
Good foundations: The challenge of recycling beauty products
When Sarah Bacon launched her skincare brand three years ago, her ethos was ethicality. Velettà, based out of her Seatoun home in Wellington, is vegan, cruelty-free, halal-certified, and set on reducing its carbon footprint.
AGIC backs golf ball recycling programme
The Australian Golf Industry Council (AGIC) is backing an exciting new venture that will see used golf balls recycled into multiple applications including furniture, drainage systems, pathways, roads and sculptures.
Recycling app uses AI to identify rubbish
A new app will use artificial intelligence to help Australians work out if their rubbish can be recycled. Recycle Mate is designed to end widespread confusion about what goes into which coloured bin.
L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, Suntory Unveil World’s First Enzymatically Recycled Bottles
The potential to endlessly recycle PET plastic recently became a step closer to reality, as a consortium of companies announced the successful production of the world’s first food-grade PET plastic bottles produced entirely from enzymatically recycled plastic.
Recycling face masks into roads to tackle COVID-generated waste
Researchers have shown how disposable face masks could be recycled to make roads. Their study shows that using the recycled face mask material to make just one kilometre of a two-lane road would use up about 3 million masks.