Are mushrooms Mother Nature's built-in solution to plastic pollution?
In a world overrun with plastic waste, the potential hero may arise from the humble realm of fungi. With between two and four million species worldwide, these often overlooked creatures hold possibilities ranging from alternative building materials to cleansing environmental toxins. Scientists Read More...
The EU makes historic decision to stop plastic waste exports to poor countries
The European Union took an important step toward reducing plastic pollution by agreeing to stop exporting waste plastic to non-OECD countries. This landmark decision, which is still awaiting formal approval, demonstrates a commitment to responsible trash management and environmental Read More...
A massive solar farm rises from a former landfill in the United Kingdom
The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest of its kind in the UK, is harnessing the power of the sun on what was once a bleak trash site in Essex in a revolutionary feat of eco-reinvention. The waste management company Veolia infused new life into this unexpected environment, where more than Read More...
This superbug has a big appetite...for sewage
Scientists at the Urban Utilities water management plant in Queensland, Australia have grown a superbug from scratch. Its superpower? A remarkably large appetite for sewage. The bacteria, called anammox bugs, were devised as a response to the rapidly growing population. Plant Manager Peter Read More...
Diesel garbage trucks average 3 miles per gallon. It’s time to go electric
Last month, we featured a story out of New York City where new electric garbage trucks are being tested on the streets of Brooklyn to take the sound and smell of exhaust fumes out of the waste collection equation. The garbage truck in that story was Mack’s LR Electric, a greener take on the truck Read More...
Salvaging wood from Baltimore’s abandoned homes creates jobs and cuts waste
Baltimore, like many post-industrial cities, confronts novel challenges. Once the sixth-largest city in the United States, Baltimore’s population has contracted by more than a third, resulting from a complex suite of factors, including job loss, economic decline, and discriminatory policies or Read More...
Private trash haulers have stopped shipping waste to poor countries
In May, when nearly all the world’s nations signed an agreement to limit the amount of unrecyclable plastic waste shipped to developing countries, the U.S. refused to sign. But after months of global outcry over the United States’ role in the plastic pollution crisis, companies that collect Read More...
India’s first ‘garbage cafe’ provides meals in exchange for trash
They say you shouldn’t waste your food, but in this unique case, the waste you collect is what can get you food. India just launched its very first ‘garbage cafe’ in the city of Ambikapur in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. An initiative of the Municipal Corporation, the idea is to Read More...
Taiwan was once known as ‘Garbage Island’. Now it’s a model of recycling success
In the ’80s and ’90s, Taiwan had one of the world’s worst urban waste problems. Its landfills overflowed and mountains of rubbish clogged street corners, earning it the unflattering moniker “Garbage Island.” Fed up with the accumulation of waste, people across the country demanded action. Read More...