Recycling, as a topic, encompasses the collection, separation, processing, and reintroduction of post-consumer or post-industrial materials into manufacturing cycles to displace primary raw resources. Scientifically, it involves material-specific pathways such as mechanical and chemical recycling for polymers, re-smelting and refining for metals, and deinking and pulping for paper fibers. Research addresses process efficiency, contamination control, life cycle assessment (LCA), and system-level optimization of material flows within circular economy frameworks. Key metrics include recovery rates, material quality retention, embodied energy, and net environmental impact relative to landfilling, incineration, or virgin-material production.
Every time a rocket is launched, tons of valuable materials are lost, and huge amounts of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting chemicals are released into the atmosphere. Published in Chem Circularity, sustainability and ...
Space Exploration
Dec 1, 2025
0
36
Chemical engineering researchers at the University of Waterloo have joined forces to take on a pressing environmental problem by using synthetic biology to turn plastic waste into valuable resources. The multidisciplinary ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 24, 2025
0
24
Modern beer production is a US$117 billion business in the United States, with brewers producing over 170 million barrels of beer per year. The brewing process is time- and energy-intensive, and each step generates large ...
Nanomaterials
Nov 6, 2025
0
25
Australia's recycling system has been lurching from one crisis to another for decades. Soft-plastic schemes are collapsing, curbside contamination is on the rise, and states are still struggling to coordinate a coherent national ...
Environment
Nov 6, 2025
2
45
A research project within Resource Recovery at the University of Borås in Sweden explored how valuable substances can be extracted from organic waste—such as animal manure—and how this loop can be closed by producing animal ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 6, 2025
0
21
Food waste has long been reviled as an immoral, largely preventable feature of our consumer society.
Environment
Oct 30, 2025
1
24
Every year humanity produces nearly 300 million tons of plastic. Only a fraction ever gets recycled. Most ends up in rivers, oceans and soil, slowly breaking down into tiny, invisible microplastics that get into what we eat ...
Environment
Oct 28, 2025
0
13
A study published in Nature Communications has shown that, rather than being discarded, plastics can be transformed into valuable carbon nanomaterials that help solve both energy and environmental challenges.
Nanomaterials
Oct 24, 2025
0
43
A unique bacterium that thrives in highly acidic environments feeds on spent battery "waste," making it a promising new method for self-sufficient battery recycling, according to new research from Boston College chemists.
Biotechnology
Oct 22, 2025
0
32
Millions of tons of discarded electronics from the United States are being shipped overseas, much of it to developing countries in Southeast Asia unprepared to safely handle hazardous waste, according to a new report released ...
Environment
Oct 22, 2025
0
28
