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.
A drug to treat Parkinson's disease can be made from waste plastic bottles using a pioneering method, a study shows. The approach harnesses the power of bacteria to transform post-consumer plastic into L-DOPA, a frontline ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 16, 2026
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192
A clean energy future hinges on minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, and rare earth elements. But the race to secure them puts pressure on the places where they are mined. With some supply and processing concentrated ...
Environment
Mar 6, 2026
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27
By converting plastic waste into a microbe-friendly food source, scientists have built an upcycling pipeline that turns the waste into a variety of useful products. The findings are detailed in the journal Nature Sustainability.
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 4, 2026
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41
A plastic drinks bottle is one of the most "recyclable" objects in the modern waste stream. It is lightweight and collected in huge volumes. Yet even for this item, the reality of recycling is messy: labels, inks, caps, food ...
Environment
Mar 4, 2026
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21
Despite some modest progress over the past two decades, Canada's waste diversion efforts remain wanting: according to the Canadian government, only 27% of the country's waste is recycled, composted, or otherwise diverted ...
Environment
Mar 3, 2026
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13
Scientists have found a way to use common bacteria as tiny, green chemical factories to replace a process that currently relies on fossil fuels. In industrial hydrogenation, the hydrogen added to molecules to create products ...
Researchers at UNSW have discovered a new way to make graphene, a remarkable "wonder material," using just discarded peanut shells. The development opens the door to cheaper, more sustainable electronics and energy storage ...
Nanomaterials
Feb 26, 2026
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174
As the global population climbs toward 10 billion and climate change strains farmland, scientists are searching for new ways to feed the world. A group of Cornell food science researchers say one answer may lie not in fields ...
Ecology
Feb 25, 2026
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103
Solutions to the plastic waste crisis are often pitched using words that can skew value judgments, new research argues. The paper, authored by the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at The University of Manchester, explores ...
Environment
Feb 25, 2026
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367
European nations voted Friday to allow for chemical recycling to play a larger role in the production of plastic bottles, overcoming reservations about the energy-intensive technology.
Environment
Feb 7, 2026
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