At the end of a product’s useful life, there are a number of options to capture more value from the material in that product. Unfortunately, recycling can be energy intensive, as well as requiring many other resource inputs, such as water. In addition, the result is often a downgraded material (the material is broken down [...]
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There are a lot of methods available to keep clothes clean and wrinkle-free. Many of them involve chemical treatments, significant water and energy usage, or detergents with ingredients that are released into waste streams. What if the fabric itself could keep clothes in good, wearable condition with few resource inputs over time? New York company Wool [...]
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Street lights have been a target for improvement among lighting experts for some time, and there are a number of approaches to improve their resource performance. One option is to focus on the energy use of the lamps themselves, replacing them with LEDs to increase efficiency. Another is to try to reduce the amount of [...]
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How do you create extremely thin, flexible, yet strong structures? Scientists have been working for some time on “stacking” layers of 2D materials, or materials that are just one atom thick, to create ultrathin devices. Now scientists from the University of Manchester have been exploring techniques to stack several layers of materials, including graphene, to [...]
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BASF and Swiss Krono Group have developed a lightweight board for furniture and interior construction that’s 30 percent lighter than typical particle board without sacrificing needed strength. The board not only saves on resources initially, but reduces resource use associated with shipping. It’s made from a polymer from BASF called Kaurit Light, combined with chipped [...]
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Developing new, more efficient car transmissions can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. So, while advancing this technology would improve a company’s competitive advantage, the work may be financially out of reach for one company to do alone. That’s why General Motors and Ford are teaming up to build fuel-saving 9- and 10-speed automatic transmissions. [...]
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