How to recycle the unrecyclable

There are several chemical recycling methods being tested throughout the world, including one of the latest ones in the United Kingdom. Mura Technology is building the world’s first commercial-scale plant that can recycle all kinds of plastic and turn them into oil. Their method aims to process 80,000 tonnes of plastic waste every year once the plant opens in 2022. While some criticize that the chemical recycling process is very energy intensive and is not always profitable, the new Mura plant already has partnerships lined up with some plastic manufacturers.

A clean-tech startup in Germany is producing sustainable food packaging out of agricultural waste as an alternative solution to single-use plastic. Bio-Lutions claims its products are compostable and uses less water than other products, but the material used won’t work for some food items like hot beverages. The company already has investors such as Delivery Hero that will use its products when the factory is producing compostable packaging.

A ski company and oil and gas executive were able to work out a deal to turn the Elk Creek Mine into a power plant that puts out 24 million kilowatt hours a year and prevents hundreds of billions of methane each year from escaping into the atmosphere. The plant hasn’t made a profit yet for its investors and regulatory red tape could make it difficult to implement in other places, but officials say the plant has been successful and could be a way to combat climate change.

After lithium-ion batteries from iPhones, laptops, or electric cars are used up, the Ontario-based company LiCycle recycles parts of them to be reused in new batteries or in other products. While the recycling process isn’t completely environmentally friendly, the company is able to recover 95 percent of the raw materials and says their operations produces no carbon emissions, wastewater, or solid waste.

Hywind Scotland is the world's first commercial wind farm using floating wind turbines to generate power for about 36,000 homes a year. This approach — which is being seriously looked at by several countries seeking to reduce their carbon emissions and oil-and-gas companies wanting to expand into renewable energy — allows wind farms to work in deeper waters where there is often stronger winds.

Gjenge Makers Ltd is an alternative building product manufacturing company that creates products – such as pavers and blocks – out of recycled plastics. Founded by four Kenyan engineers, the team began by studying the manufacturing process and researching what products would do well on the market. They then built all of the machinery themselves, which break down the plastics, and then mix them with other building material products to ultimately create customizable plastic bricks that can withstand larger weight and are less expensive than concrete. They are popular in rural and lower-income areas.

An economic shift to renewable energy could take decades, but thanks to rapidly evolving disruptive technologies, dropping prices of solar and wind power sources, and increasing market demand for green business, the new age of renewable energy could encompass the world economy much more quickly.

Over 70 Catholic dioceses in the Philippines have entered into an agreement with energy resource company WeGen Laudato Si to install solar panels on their parishes, schools, and other buildings. The Diocese of Maasin on Leyte Island became the first in the world to completely shift to renewable energy. Installing the panels can be expensive, but shifting to solar has saved one diocese at least 100,000 pesos a month in energy bills.

In Sweden, waste is not just waste, or so the country explains with a total of 34 waste-to-energy power plants that turn garbage into electricity. With an already staggering low percentage of waste ending up in landfills, 50 percent of the portion that does is transformed into energy through an incineration process that plays a large part in heating many homes throughout the winter.

A research fellow at Deakin University’s School of Engineering in Australia has developed a world-first technology 3D printer prototype capable of printing plumbing and sanitation supplies using discarded plastics - and what's more, it runs on solar power. They are partnering with NGO Plan International to implement this technology in the Solomon Islands, where locals will learn to print the parts they need, thereby solving the dual problems of plastic rubbish and a lack of access to vital mechanical parts for clean water supply. The model gives these communities tools to solve their own problems.