All posts tagged: recycled

Apple Hits Record 30% Recycled Content Across All Products in 2025

Apple Hits Record 30% Recycled Content Across All Products in 2025

Published by skeptic

Apple today announced that a record 30% of material across all products it shipped in 2025 came from recycled content, alongside a series of other environmental milestones published in its annual Environmental Progress Report. The achievement marks new highs across several specific components. All batteries designed by Apple now use 100% recycled cobalt, all magnets use 100% recycled rare earth elements, and all Apple-designed printed circuit boards use 100% recycled gold plating and tin soldering. Apple also completed the transition to fully fiber-based packaging, fulfilling a pledge to remove all plastic from packaging by 2025, a goal the company says it reached across every package manufactured today. Apple’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2025 remain down over 60% compared to 2015 levels, holding constant from 2024 despite significant business growth. The company is working toward its Apple 2030 goal of carbon neutrality across its entire footprint by the end of the decade. MacBook Neo leads the lineup on recycled material. It contains 60% recycled content overall, which is the most of any Apple device to date, …

Mushy bourbon sludge recycled into battery electrodes

Mushy bourbon sludge recycled into battery electrodes

Published by Jenni Sidey

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. It’s generally not a great idea to mix bourbon with high-voltage electricity. That said, chemists at the University of Kentucky discovered a potentially powerful use for one of whiskey’s most annoying—and plentiful—byproducts. According to the team , the liquor’s waste grains can be recycled into supercapacitors that rival commercially available options. Behind every bottle of bourbon are vats of waste materials. Most of that unwanted trash is stillage—a goopy, mushy mixture of grains and corn. And in Kentucky—where 95 percent of the world’s bourbon is produced— there is a lot of stillage. “From the final volume of bourbon produced, you get 6 to 10 times that amount of stillage as waste,” University of Kentucky chemist Josiel Barrios Cossio explained in a statement. “So it’s a big deal.”  Although stillage is often sold to farmers for livestock feed and soil enrichment, it’s a tricky material to handle. Transporting it is difficult given how watery it is, but it’s also exorbitantly …

Fishing nets and recycled plastic trash are being paved into Hawaii’s roads

Fishing nets and recycled plastic trash are being paved into Hawaii’s roads

Published by Jenni Sidey

Sand, rock, and melted plastic now sit beneath the tires on a quiet residential street in Oahu. For nearly a year, cars have rolled over an experiment that could reshape how Hawaii deals with its mounting plastic waste. The test road looks ordinary. What sets it apart is what holds it together. Researchers at the Center for Marine Debris Research at Hawaiʻi Pacific University have been working with the Hawaii Department of Transportation to turn discarded plastic, including fishing nets pulled from the Pacific, into asphalt. Early results suggest the idea may be more than a symbolic fix. “This work investigates whether it’s responsible to use recycled plastics in Hawaii’s roads,” said Jeremy Axworthy, a researcher involved in the project. “By reusing plastic waste that is already in Hawaii, we can reduce the environmental and economic impacts of transporting waste plastics from the islands, incinerating it or dumping it in Hawaii’s overflowing landfills.” In Hawaii, researchers turn discarded plastic, including fishing nets pulled from the Pacific, into asphalt. (CREDIT: Wikimedia / CC BY-SA 4.0) Roads …

Recycled waste could make the moon or Mars suitable for growing food

Recycled waste could make the moon or Mars suitable for growing food

Published by Jenni Sidey

Tiny pits, webbing patterns, and a dusting of nanoparticles are not what most people picture when they think about farming. Yet those small scars may end up mattering if you ever try to grow food on the Moon or Mars. In a study described in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, researchers tested what happens when a nutrient-rich liquid made from recycled waste meets fake Moon and Mars dirt. The short version is this: the “soil” starts to change. Also, the liquid starts picking up useful elements that plants need. “In lunar and Martian outposts, organic wastes will be key to generating healthy, productive soils,” said Harrison Coker, the study’s first author from the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife. “By weathering simulant soils from the moon and Mars with organic waste streams, it was revealed that many essential plant nutrients can be harvested from surface minerals.” A hard problem: dirt that is not soil The Moon and Mars are covered in regolith, a dry mix of dust and …

The Average American Would Pay Per Month to Drink Recycled Toilet Water, Study Finds

The Average American Would Pay $49 Per Month to Drink Recycled Toilet Water, Study Finds

Published by José Betancourt

Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Getty Images Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Similarly, the water in your toilet bowl could be another person’s drink — after it’s rigorously filtered and becomes so pure that treatment facilities actually need to manually add minerals back into the water so it doesn’t, dare we say, flush important nutrients out of your own system. Icky as it may sound on paper, recycled sewage or waste water may be the next game changer for water conservation, with many cities across the US already depending on these systems.  And encouragingly, a new study highlighted by Grist shows the public is open to the idea of drinking water recycled from their own sewage. In a survey of small communities of fewer than 10,000 people published in the journal Water Resources Research, residents said they’d be willing to pay an average of $49 per month to have access to reused water. And …

Kate Middleton is a BAFTA red carpet bombshell in recycled Gucci gown

Kate Middleton is a BAFTA red carpet bombshell in recycled Gucci gown

Published by Daniella Wilson

The Princess of Wales looked truly spectacular on 22 February as she arrived at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the 79th British Academy Film Awards. Attending alongside Prince William, the President of BAFTA, for the first time in three years, Kate, 44, oozed style and sophistication in a Gucci gown from 2019. Kate’s dress featured a soft mauve and pink colour palette with a cinched waistline, shoulder-grazing V-neck bodice, and the floatiest skirt. The sheer number was accessorised to perfection with a burgundy velvet clutch bag to match the waistline of her dress and killer heels. © WireImagePrincess Kate and Prince William arrive at the 2026 EE BAFTA Film Awards at The Royal Festival Hall in London Meanwhile, the princess wore her tumbling brunette locks in loose waves. Her makeup look completed her red carpet moment beautifully. She opted for her classic warm brown smokey eye and a wash of rosy lipstick.  © WireImagePrincess Kate looked gorgeous in Gucci Kate previously wore the exact gown in 2019 as she stepped out at the V&A Museum …

Paper and cardboard will be recycled separately from March in household bins change – here’s why

Paper and cardboard will be recycled separately from March in household bins change – here’s why

Published by Sam Flores

Many households will see changes to how they recycle cardboard and paper in the coming weeks, when the next phase of the government’s new recycling scheme comes into force. From 31 March, new rules will roll out across England as part of the ‘Simpler Recycling’ scheme, with the aim of enabling consistent, streamlined collections from all households in a bid to boost recycling rates. It means local councils will collect a standardised four bins from most households, consisting of: residual (non-recyclable) waste food waste (mixed with garden waste if appropriate) all other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal and glass) Government statistics show that recycling rates have effectively ‘flatlined’ since 2015 – stuck at around 44%-45%. The government hopes to raise that figure to 65% of municipal waste by 2035, and separating paper and cardboard is a key part of this. The changes mean that any household that currently recycles paper and cardboard in a main recycling bin will soon need to put into a dedicated container. Why are paper and cardboard separated? Paper can become …

Very little plastic being recycled in California as state efforts falter

Very little plastic being recycled in California as state efforts falter

Published by Sam Flores

California touts itself as a leader on the problem of plastic garbage, but recent developments suggest otherwise. A new report issued by the state’s waste agency shows plastic yogurt containers, shampoo bottles and restaurant takeout trays are being recycled at rates only in the single digits. Share via Close extra sharing options Polypropylene, labeled as #5 on packaging, is used for yogurt containers, margarine tubs and microwavable trays. Only 2% of it is getting recycled. Colored shampoo and detergent bottles, made from polyethylene, or #1 plastic, are getting recycled at a rate of just 5%. Other plastics, including ones promoted as highly recyclable, such as clear polyethylene bottles, which hold some medications, or hard water bottles, are being recycled at just 16%. No plastic in the report exceeds a recycling rate of 23%, with the majority reported in just the single digits. Adding to this disquieting assessment, CalRecycle also just pulled back regulations that were supposed to finalize a landmark single-use plastic law known as Senate Bill 54 — a law designed to make the …