Sustainability in the brewery
A new research project helps agro-food sector small and medium size enterprises, such as bakeries and breweries, improve their environmental sustainability
Purifying sludge through oxygen-based digestion
An additive for oxygen-based processing of sludge may be useful in specific cases in lowering the environmental impact of waste water treatment for the meat and dairy industries
Food price surges: still a mystery
Food market volatility has yet to be understood and there is no definite proof that it is due to speculators
Forever recyclable novel plastic thanks to old tyres
Recycling of tyres is a potentially economically sustainable enterprise providing an ingredient to make a kind of plastic for ever recyclable. But Europeans first need to overcome barriers to adoption.
Gara Villalba: Tracking mobile phone recycling rate to improve them
Multifunctional mobile devices like the smartphone contain small quantities of valuable materials, yet most are not recycled. Something needs to give.
Turning tyres into gas for energy and new, valuable materials
Tyre recycling represents an untapped opportunity, that may prove a success if processing costs do not become prohibitive
Food nets vanishing without a trace
Scientists are creating compostable versions food nets to be used with compostable products to ensure that, at the end of their life, they serve the purpose of helping to grow food, thus closing their life cycle loop.
Clare Hall – who are the trusted sources of food safety information?
The public perception of who can provide safe food evolves all the time and is culturally dependent, whereas people have preferred information channels they’d like to rely on to gain food safety information.
Philippe Baralon – Anti-fraud systems could still be improved
Damage to industry brands linked to fraud is almost as important as food safety because of the impact on their public image, while the current measures to prevent fraud could still be improved.
José Manuel Soto: "Turning tyres into ecological rubber"
Successful research projects such a solution for recycling old tyres sometimes find it difficult to become profitable commercial products.
Lilliput forests, global certification
As global demand for timber certified as being sustainable is growing, European small forest owners are still reluctant to gain certification. But increasing economic advantages may shift their position.
Revamping nanotubes
Recycling carbon nanotube waste into nanocomposite plastic materials for industrial purposes may not be as easy as recycling plastic.
Under the weather, literally
How climate change is likely to increase the occurrence of stomach bugs
Ridding our diet of noxious substances
Scientist are scrutinising our daily exposure to food contaminants across the diversity of European diets—a first that could ultimately help change our eating habit for better health
Waste models as green crystal balls
To improve current resources use and decrease related waste, scientists are now building material consumption models focusing down to the national level
Shrub hub
In the fight against desertification, small areas of modest grasses and shrubs slow the soil loss more effectively than phalanxes of trees. Nevertheless, the human factor matters a great deal
Flood water in silico
Scientists are now using high-tech solutions to provide real-time forecast of the dangers of river floods caused by climate change and human activities to help avoid disasters
Sergio Sanz: low energy buildings, albeit at a reduced cost
How to limit the costs of energy buildings? Before technologies allowing energy consumption reduction are accepted by the market, their cost has to decrease
A holistic approach to energy saving in buildings
Adopting cost-effective energy efficiency solutions as standards
Nano Nose Smells Cancer
New methods relying on an electronic nose and optoacoustics to improve prostate cancer diagnosis techniques and avoid fatal treatment delays