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Sustainable steel manufacturing
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January 2019: Achieving climate change goals will require decarbonising the steel industry, since it is one of the largest CO2 emitters. A shift towards greener but still experimental technologies such as the use of hydrogen as a reductant agent could fully decarbonise the steel industry. However, concerns remain over the economic feasibility of new steel making technologies.
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January 2019
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Economy of Borneo’s rainforest
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November 2019: Infrastructure plans for creating a Pan-Borneo Highway are placing the region’s biodiversity at risk. Recent findings suggest that there are greater economic benefits in maintaining biodiversity and supporting emerging bio-economies than in depletion of natural resources.
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November 2019
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Waste exports
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June 2019: An increasing number of South-East Asian countries are restricting waste imports, leading to spikes in landfill deposits and waste incineration in developed nations. However, this could encourage efforts to create a global governance framework for ‘circular’ resource management practices in the long-run.
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June 2019
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Smart yarn
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December 2019: Flexible, electrochemically, and electromechanically active yarns could allow for the scalable production of textile-based devices. Such smart garments have a wide range of applications from public health to military defence and could produce clothing that responds to outside conditions while retaining wearability
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December 2019
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Recycling plastic waste
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December 2019: Developments in steam cracking and pressure technology now enable the production of ‘virgin’ quality plastics from recycled plastic waste. This could allow for plastic manufacturing sites to transition to plastic collection and refineries within the framework of their existing infrastructures.
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December 2019
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Impacts of single use bioplastics
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December 2019: Swapping conventional plastics for bioplastics may have adverse effects on waste generation and further incentivise a culture of single use. Instead, new research recommends to rather reduce the general consumption of plastics and to only substitute plastic for bioplastics in food packaging. This could generate a waste stream that does not contribute to landfills and reduces the amount of non-recyclable plastics due to food contamination.
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December 2019
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Acceptance of recycled drinking water
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January 2020: Recycled drinking water may contribute to circular water consumption and address increasing water scarcity. However, public acceptance remains low and forms a key barrier to successfully implementing water recycling strategies.
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January 2020
