Introducing Idealpak’s bioplastic product—sugarcane packaging

Good News Notes: “Bioplastics are plastic materials produced from renewable biological resources, such as vegetable oils, corn starch or sugarcane. Idealpak’s bioplastic packaging products are made from 100% biobased material derived from sugarcane. Instead of fossil-based materials, these products are sourced from 100% renewable resource—sugarcane. Their carbon footprint is lower than traditional packaging because sugarcane…

Chobani launches earth-friendly effort

Good News Notes: “Chobani took a giant step toward a more sustainable future, announcing Thursday it has launched a paper cup initiative to reduce plastic use and put more sustainable packaging on shelves across America. Chobani’s new product innovations – oatmilk, cold brew coffee and coffee creamers – already come in paper-based packaging that is recyclable. After…

Omaha-metro nonprofit and recycle center team up for electronic drop-off

Good News Notes: “ A steady stream of cars rolled through the parking lot at Dingman’s Collison Center near 144th and Industrial Road Saturday morning. The contents, unused electronics, laptops, computers, cell phones, tablets, and more were turned over to Nebraska Recycles and the Open Door Mission. Nearly 10,000 pounds of old equipment that won’t end up in…

Utah tech company may hold the key to solving the world’s food problems and cutting water use while also fighting climate change

Good News Notes: “Before Utah’s searing, mega-drought summer, came the winter storm of 2021. In February tornadoes and ice storms swept across the nation causing massive damage. Hardest hit was Texas, where millions lost power, over 200 people died and economic damage exceeded $195 billion. Agriculture saw devastated crops and livestock killed in massive numbers….

Amcor, TIPA partner to bring compostable packaging to Australia and NZ

Good News Notes: “Global packaging producer Amcor, has partnered with compostable packaging producer, TIPA, to bring compostable packaging to Australia and New Zealand. TIPA is a portfolio company of the Millennium Food-Tech Public R&D Partnership. Amcor will collaborate with TIPA to locally manufacture, supply, and distribute their trademarked, certified compostable solutions in ANZ. The packaging…

Pandemic makes recycled plastic profitable for first time

Good News Notes: “Recycling programs cost a lot of money for towns. For citizens, whether you pay for curbside pick-up or drop off your items off at a local facility, it takes time and staff to handle, sort, and resell or rehome your commingled discards. And once your detergent bottles, yogurt lids, and takeout containers…

Israeli start-up devises way to convert used nappies into green plastics

Good News Notes: “UBQ Materials is researching a way for turning common household waste into sustainable plastics. The Tel Aviv based start-up is set on developing a material out of the likes of paper, mixed plastics, food residue and dirty diapers that could serve as a substitute to conventional plastic, wood and concrete. This material…

These entrepreneurs want consumers to reuse wine bottles

Good News Notes: “Americans aren’t the biggest wine sippers in the world — imbibing a mere 3.2 gallons per person in 2020 versus the 16 gallons guzzled by Portuguese residents, according to estimates from the industry’s primary source of stats.  But the habit still translates into a whole lot of single-use bottles: About 4.3 billion of…

Purdue University develops new way to recycle polyolefin plastics

Good News Notes: “Single-use plastic scrap continues to be a growing problem internationally with only 9 percent of the 8.3 billion tons of plastic produced in the last 65 years being recycled. One of the biggest contributors to this issue is polyolefins, such as polypropylene and polyethylene. Researchers at Purdue University are working to solve that problem…