Today, industries are harnessing breakthrough technologies allowing previously untapped kinds of waste to be transformed into valuable resources. Waste repurposing isn’t new. What’s new are the technologies converting complex and unconventional byproducts—think non-recyclable plastics, agricultural remnants like shells, and even CO₂ emissions—into sustainable materials and ingredients essential to production. This evolution isn’t just reducing waste; it’s opening doors to an abundance of resources we didn’t think possible.
Sustainable Sourcing and Clear Skies
In agriculture, companies are moving beyond the usual composting or feedstock uses for waste and developing innovative solutions to difficult problems. One large yet2 client, for example, is experimenting with turning its carbon emissions into building blocks like fats, lipids, and proteins crucial in their chemical engineering. By taking CO2 out of the sky and sourcing material sustainably, this company is fighting the war against carbon on two fronts. By capturing and repurposing emissions, this approach redefines carbon wastes from the driver of a global crisis to a functional raw material. Though one company’s effort isn’t enough, its success shows that many innovative solutions for climate change will be rooted in answers that rethink the problem.
Milking What You Got
CO2 isn’t the only biowaste getting transformed. Food byproducts are being transformed into biodegradable alternatives to plastic packaging. One large company is using crab shells processed into bio-based packaging materials that break down naturally after use. This shift not only taps into an abundant and previously underutilized waste source but also offers a cost-effective, eco-friendly solution to reduce plastic reliance.
The technologies enabling this transformation are designed to create packaging that competes in durability and functionality with traditional materials, making bio-based products an attractive alternative for both producers and consumers.
From Landfills to Labs
New advancements in chemical recycling and material science are pushing the boundaries in the industrial sector as well. One organization is working on transforming low-grade plastic waste – once destined for the landfill – into various materials like carbon nano-tubes and graphene.
With over 4.9 billion tons of plastic improperly disposed of, such revolutionary work is making a great difference. Such efforts lower reliance on untapped materials, contribute to sustainable production practices and offer a way to deal with manufacturing waste.
Reshaping Our Vision
These advancements illustrate a larger movement toward valorization – the conversion of worthless waste into valuable resources. Before getting to market, testing, or even early R&D, a fundamental challenge needs to be overcome: placing value in the worthless. Enough value to dedicate resources to exploring what they could be. It is a challenge that once overcome, transforms the way we question and see the world, opening us to a new realm of solutions.
We’d do well if we remembered that it is the things we valued that have taken us to this point where the very health of the planet is suffering. It’s why yet2 is persistent when poring our scouting and connecting efforts into sustainable efforts. If you’re beginning to see value in what others have discarded, contact us and let us help you bring out that value.
Words by Carlos Pichardo
Image by Vecteezy
