Scientists reviewed 7,000 studies on microplastics. Their alarming conclusion puts humanity on notice

By Karen Raubenheimer, University of Wollongong It’s been 20 years since a paper in the journal Science showed the environmental accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres. It named the particles “microplastics”. The paper opened an entire research field. Since then, more than 7,000 published studies have shown the prevalence of microplastics in the environment,…

Scrapping the waste export levy threatens Australia’s emerging lithium battery recycling industry

By Yasir Arafat, Edith Cowan University and Daryoush Habibi, Edith Cowan University As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste. Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a…

‘Invisible’ consultants help companies write sustainability reports. Here’s why that’s a problem

By Hendri Yulius Wijaya, The University of Melbourne and Kate Macdonald, The University of Melbourne Around the world, more and more companies are publishing sustainability reports – public scorecards detailing their impacts on society and the environment. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reports outline the positive and negative effects of a company’s activities, and the…

Trapping forever chemicals with nutshells

Next up in our quest to seek out Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers, we speak to a startup that’s found a way to simultaneously add value to farming waste, address the environmental stain of PFAS, and sequester carbon dioxide. Brent Balinski speaks to Bygen founder Dr Lewis Dunnigan. A few years back, activated carbon/charcoal seemed…