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Big Problem, Small Solution: Can Do-It-Yourself Processing Machines Help Combat Plastic Pollution?
From the viral video of a diver swimming in a sea of plastic, to National Geographic’s major focus on the topic this year, there’s growing public attention on the problem of plastic waste. So there was plenty of excitement when a Dutch engineer’s do-it-yourself plastic recycling machines started gaining traction around the world. Could the devices empower a global army of small entrepreneurs to turn plastic waste into revenue-generating products? The solution sounds appealing, but when Bali-based social enterprise Kopernik assessed its effectiveness, they came across one small problem.
- Categories
- Environment, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise, Technology
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World Environment Day: ‘Our world is swamped by plastic’
Eight million tonnes of plastic dumped into oceans each year, killing marine life and entering the human food chain.
- Categories
- Environment
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These Bold Ideas Aim To Make Plastic Waste A Thing Of The Past
The winners of a recent contest hosted by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation all start with one fundamental concept: We can–and must–replace non-recyclable materials on the market with biodegradable alternatives.
- Categories
- Environment
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Could this 10-year-old fix Pakistan’s waste problem?
"This is a situation you can find across all of Pakistan - these bags are not biodegradable and people carelessly discard them. They don't really think about recycling," Zymal says.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Five Key Building Blocks for Sustainable, Inclusive Recycling Systems
For the past year, a working group formed by the MIT Practical Impact Alliance (an MIT D-Lab program) has been exploring strategies for developing effective inclusive recycling systems in India, Africa and Latin America. The result is the publication of a guide for practitioners that includes five key steps for developing inclusive systems, nine case studies and a tool for promoting recycling systems that benefit all stakeholders.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise, WASH
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A new mindset for the SDGs? Top takeaways from Singularity University’s Global Summit
Singularity University faculty explain how exponentially growing technologies — such as artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing and synthetic biology — will enable us to make dramatic gains in the years ahead.
- Categories
- Technology
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Cape Town’s waste entrepreneurs helping to create a green environment
They started the initiative to encourage recycling in parts of the city where the council did not provide recycling opportunities‚ and in their short existence are already taking in up to 100 drop-offs a day from residents at their single depot at the Gardens Bowling Club in the City Bowl.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa