The Super Bowl successfully diverts all its waste away from landfills; Nike designs most sustainable line yet for the 2020 Olympics; New Zealand removes all plastic packaging from supermarket fruits and vegetables; Scientists create strong, bio-based plastic alternatives from silk; U.S. hits record low for recycled fiber exports; and more.
Scientists have developed bio-based strong, biodegradable plastic alternatives from wood pulp and manmade silk. Story and photo from Intelligent Living.
INITIATIVES
This year, the Super Bowl and ancillary events generated about a few hundred tons of waste—and none of it went to landfill. Some of the material like clothing and signage was donated to nonprofits or repurposed, recyclables were transported to local recycling centers, edible food was donated to local food shelters and municipal solid waste, along with food waste, was sent to the Miami-Dade County Resources Recovery Facility. Read more on Waste360.
Lego has vowed to eliminate virgin fossil-based plastics from its products within a decade, by investing heavily in recycled and bio-based materials. Read more on edie.
Nike is unveiling its designs for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with sustainability at their core. The new design movement, Space Hippy, revolves around a zero carbon philosophy and is as sustainably designed as Nike could conceive. Read more on Vogue.
Prada has just announced a multi-pronged partnership with UNESCO which aims to spread information related to and educate on ocean sustainability. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission will team with the brand on programs for high school students from 10 cities around the world, with the goal of helping students to develop an awareness campaign on ocean conservation. Read more on Robb Report.
This week, 27 startups from all over Switzerland will travel to Zürich for the launch of a three-month program, the Circular Economy Incubator 2020. The 27 selected startups will be incubated at the Impact Hubs of their respective city – in Bern, Geneva, Lausanne or Zürich. Read more on CoFounder.
The West Java administration in Indonesia will construct waste treatment sites that process plastic waste into diesel fuels and raw plastic materials. The administration hopes these sites will be used by 2023. Read more on The Star.
SKYPRO, a supplier of uniforms for the travel industry, is working to supply more sustainable uniforms to the cruise line industry. Major cruise lines employ approximately 30,000 crew wearing an average of 20 pieces of uniform and accessories each. Read more on Seatrade Cruise News.
Booking.com has announced $3.4 Million in Grants to Support Sustainable Accommodation in 2020. The fourth iteration of the company’s Booking Booster program in 2020 will focus exclusively on the topic of sustainable accommodation. Read more on Hospitality Net.
Oregon has joined its bottle deposit program with a state savings plan. Through the partnership, Oregon consumers can directly deposit their bottle refunds into a state-administered college savings account. Read more on Waste360.
The Best Western Opéra Liège has become the first zero single-use plastic hotel in France, having replaced all plastic packaging in the hotel with sustainable alternatives. The hotel’s 50 rooms and suites will no longer feature any single-use plastic, starting with the wooden keycards used to access the rooms. Read more on Business Traveller.
PRODUCTS
Scottish firm MacRebur has unveiled a ‘sustainable plastic’ pothole repair pack that uses otherwise non-recyclable plastics. The product, called Plastikfix, does not need to be heated and can be used straight from the bag. Read more on The Herald Scotland.
The My Walk initiative is turning used, uncontaminated PVC intravenous drip bags, oxygen masks, and associated tubing into school shoes made from 100% recycled material. This initiative has already given 1,300 pairs of shoes to children at Chivirikani Primary School in South Africa, and will provide another 25,000 pairs to students throughout 2020. Read more on Kempton Express.
PACKAGING
New Zealand is launching a new campaign, ‘Food in the Nude’, in which all plastic packaging in fruits and vegetables will be discarded. According to NZ Herald report, there was a 300 percent increase in sales of vegetables and fruits after some supermarkets abandoned the use of plastic packaging. Read more on Agriculture Monthly.
Perrier has partnered with SoScience, which connects people from the worlds of Science, Innovation and Technology, to support three start-ups who have the potential to change the future of packaging. Read more on Food Navigator.
Major North American fresh berry producers announced their commitment to use 100% recycle-ready packaging by 2025. This includes a commitment to new label standards, which will optimize the recycle readiness of all berry clamshells throughout North America. Read more on BusinessWire.
TECHNOLOGY
Scientists have created a biodegradable and strong plastic alternative made of bacteria-created silk. The new substance, which is made from wood fibers and manmade silk, was found to outperform most synthetic and natural materials at stretching without breaking and resisting non-reversible deformation. Read more on Intelligent Living.
Primitives, a San Francisco startup, has developed bio-based packaging that can can tell you when food is going bad, and also can be safely composted in a backyard. The women-run company is incorporating sensing mechanisms into their materials to detect things like spoilage or even cold chain monitoring. Read more on Fast Company.
OTHER NEWS
In 2019, U.S. recovered fiber exports experienced their largest year-over-year decline on record. U.S. scrap plastic exports also continued a substantial fall. The decrease of roughly 3 million tons in 2019 - a drop of more than 13% - seems to represent the latest chapter in overseas recycling import restrictions, including China’s National Sword import policy. Read more on Resource Recycling.