Science & Tech
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale have found a new ingredient to make cookies: PET plastic. “We were trying to develop technologies for plastic upcycling to make more valuable products. We thought, why not focus on making food? Because plastic is carbon and food is carbon,” explains Associate Professor Lahiru
Arts & Lifestyle
How can we quantify how much trash ends up in the ocean while simultaneously drawing eyes and crowds? Created in 2010 by the Artula Institute for Arts and Environmental Education, Washed Ashore is a traveling art exhibition that brings creatives together to celebrate art and raise awareness of marine trash.
Business
As is the case with many companies that make material goods, IKEA views circularity as a way to lessen its impact on nature, reduce pollution, and tackle climate change. Transitioning towards a circular business is a fundamental, system-wide shift that affects every aspect of the IKEA business. This includes
Business
The Carhartt Built to Last Commitment℠ stands out among clothing retailers as a commitment to craft, excellence, and durability. Carhartt claims that if one of its products "fails to meet expectations," then they will right the wrong, whether by repair, replacement, or credit. A little repair work can
Business
Being a $200 billion multi-faceted company, PepsiCo uses its power to ensure that the large number of packages that it produces and distributes every day don't have negative impacts on the environment. To assess potential packaging risks facing the business, PepsiCo completes a comprehensive plastic packaging-related
Business
In their series Before The Needle, The Vinyl Factory is debuting its new Eco-Jazz material. This material utilizes leftover PVC from previous vinyl pressings, creating a circular economy around this plastic. The process, which involves recycling PVC from the coloured waste of records previously manufactured in-house, sees increased
Science & Tech
German creatives and scientists have created a new lightweight substitute for polystyrene, made out of an unusual material: popcorn. The popcorn kernel is an ideal natural resource for eco-friendly composite materials that can be used to produce not only insulation, flakeboard, and packaging but also furniture and children’s
Arts & Lifestyle
In 2022, the Coca-Cola company created a stop-motion PSA featuring longtime educator and entertainment personality Bill Nye. "As we know, we need to reuse plastic," says Nye. "That’s why I’m partnering with The Coca-Cola Company to show the science behind the process
Special Interest
During our research, the Local Loops group had the opportunity to visit the Rumpke Recycling & Resource Center in Central Ohio. Led on an informational tour of the facility by Education and Community Relations Assistant Lauren Monnin, we discovered that the facility boasts one of the highest recovery rates in
Special Interest
Guided by our belief that every day is a chance to do better, in 2018 we introduced the first-in-the-industry toy recycling program and last year committed to eliminate virtually all plastic in packaging for new products by the end of 2022, building on our decade-long journey
Special Interest
In 2019, Hasbro set a goal to drastically reduce plastic packaging on it's products by 2022. This came as part of its larger initiative to act more environmentally conscious (Pyzyk, 2023). However, fans of the collectible toys note that the windowless packaging contributed to reduced sales because consumers
Special Interest
Collectable trading card games have long been a large source of plastic waste. Each single booster pack comes individually wrapped, and those wraps immediately go into the trash as soon as the product is opened. Bandai Namco, producer of some of the largest modern-day card games, has created a