A short time ago the very first wind power turbines in Finland were dismantled. Much of the material is easy to recycle – mostly steel. But the blades are made with thermoset FRPs that have so far been considered unrecyclable.

Starbucks is committing $10m to develop a fully recyclable and compostable coffee cup.  The coffee giant said its NextGen Cup Challenge initiative, in partnership with Closed Loop Partners’ Center for the Circular Economy, will provide grants to inventors who are working towards a new cup technology.

Dairy company Fonterra is constructing an advanced plant that is set to reduce the amount of groundwater extracted for its Darfield manufacturing site by around 70%.

Based on New Zealand’s South Island, Darfield is already considered a world-leading facility, according to Fonterra. Now the company is investing $11 million in new water processing technology for the site, which is expected to have a significant impact on its environmental footprint.

“Thanks to the new plant we’ll save the equivalent of around 100 tanker loads of water every day,” said Robert Spurway, head of Fonterra’s global operations.

“As well as reducing water use, the new technology also decreases the amount of water the site discharges for irrigation. It’s a win-win situation.”

The new plant uses a reverse osmosis technique to purify the water extracted from cow’s milk during the manufacturing process. Water is passed through a membrane filtration system, which makes it drinkable and suitable for use in a range of on-site activities such as cooling, heating and cleaning.

The Darfield development aligns with Fonterra’s six water commitments to help improve the quality of New Zealand’s waterways:

• Farm within regional environmental limits.
• Encourage strong environmental farming practices.
• Reduce water use and improve wastewater quality at manufacturing plants.
• Build partnerships to improve waterway health.
• Invest in science and innovation to find new solutions.
• Make the products people value most.

“We’re prioritising investment to reduce water consumption,” said Spurway. “Last year we announced our 2020 target to reduce the amount of water we use across our 26 New Zealand manufacturing sites by 20%.

“The new plant will go a significant way toward helping us achieve our target, creating a manufacturing site that’s more self-sufficient.”

The new plant is expected to be up and running by October, in time for the 2018–2019 milk season.

| A Fonterra release  ||  march 19, 2018   |||

The University of Canterbury Eco-marathon team is again coming home from Singapore triumphant, after beating more than 100 teams from 21 countries at the Shell Eco-marathon Asia 2018 event.

The student team has won this year’s Technical Innovation award, an off-track prize which includes a trophy and US$3000, in UC’s second Eco-marathon competition entry after competing in the international event for the first time last year at Changi race track.

The judges said the UC team “was awarded the Technical Innovation Award for the self-designed 3D-printed titanium engine in their UrbanConcept car, which makes for a stronger engine with finer, more intricate details”. The student team, which meshed the use of 3D-printing with the traditional machine, was lauded for “taking a holistic approach to designing and printing the complete engine in a way that is not only optimised for efficient production of the printed parts, but also for optimised engine fuel efficiency”.

Faculty advisor to the UC Eco-marathon students, Bruce Robertson says the team has done extraordinarily well in the second year of competing in the Eco-marathon contest and has left its mark on a global stage.

“The 3D-printed titanium engine has been met with so much interest that our voices were failing from having to talk to people about it so much,” Mr Robertson says.

“When competing internationally, it always strikes me that we must be doing a particularly good job of educating engineers at UC. As one delightful elderly Pakistani man said to me yesterday, ‘after a lifetime of watching the Kiwis on the cricket field, I had no idea you could be so clever!’

“We are honoured to have such generous support from our external partners including Shell NZ, Singapore Airlines Cargo, and Rodin Cars. Without their support, the world might have one fewer glimpse of what Kiwis can do.”

Last year the UC team won the Eco-marathon Design award for: “producing a car that brought fresh thinking about recyclability to the competition. By entering a car largely made of a common thermoplastic, the team showed a refreshing and holistic approach to design – it chose a material that was easy to work with, light, low-cost, and easy to re-use”.

| A UC release  || March 16, 2018   |||

Is dairying the worst offender when it comes to environment protection? Is dairying the worst offender when it comes to environment protection?  Writes Alastair Frizzell, managing director of Frizzell Agricultural Electronics in an article on Dairy News.

As part of a collaboration between Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (EDSM) with New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), the University of Auckland will host 23 Indonesians for a Geothermal Project Management Course for the next 4 weeks.

Reactor block 1 at Beznau nuclear power plant can restart after a three-year shutdown for repairs, the Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate said on Tuesday.

After ramping up its efforts to shift towards more sustainable materials in 2015, perennial purveyor of plastic blocks Lego is making good on that promise and is set to launch a new form of eco-friendly playthings this year.

Feb 05, 2018  -  It’s Monday, the week has just begun and already we’ve been handed some pretty incredible news.  One of the world’s biggest cruise lines, Royal Caribbean International, has vowed to cut single-use plastic on its cruises.  This is a pretty phenomenal step forward by a major industry player, and we imagine the transition to environmentally-friendly materials won’t be easy.

Feb 03, 2018  -  Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers has vowed to eliminate use of nonrecyclable plastics on aircraft and at head offices and bases. It will also introduce a voluntary carbon offset payment for customers when booking.  The low-cost carrier said it planned to switch to biodegradable cups, wooden cutlery and paper packaging onboard, and make its head offices, bases and operations plastic free.