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A new residential, office and commercial development in Los Angeles is being built from more than 90 per cent recycled construction and demolition waste. Some 75,000 tons of used concrete from old runways, steel and wood have been used in the development so far. More recycled materials are in store, …

A super-iron battery developed at the Technion-Israel institute of technology in Haifa, Israel has received a Technology of the year award from the US Industry week magazine. The battery lasts 50 per cent longer than conventional batteries and reduces the environmental impacts which can be caused by chemicals in alkaline …

A California, US company is testing a prototype wsate processing system which cooks garbage at 140°C in a rotating steam autoclave. Unopened bags of rubbish are said to be transformed – paper products are pulped for cleaning re-use, while food waste generate methane gas. Labels are stripped from glass bottles, …

” The Swedish Environment Agency – Naturvardsverket – has concluded that the benefits of recycling packaging materials outweight the environmental costs. The agency found that the balance recycling came out ahead of the other waste management options.”

“By the millennium, some 30 million tonnes of waste packaging will be recycled or recovered as energy across the Europe, reports Euwid Recycling &. This is around half the total and indicates some success in complying with EU legislative targets. The cost of recycling is said to range between DM …

“In 1997, Brazil recycled a record 64 per cent of aluminium cans, ahead of wealthier countries such as France, UK and Australia. Brazilian non-profit recycling association Cempre reports that 61.700 tons of aluminium (4,1 billions cans) were collected in 1997, a growth of 50 per cent in a single year …

In Illinois, USA, a scientist intends to feed cattle with recycled newspaper. He believes it can be transformed into forage that would satisfy over 30% of cattle nourishment needs. A large-sized animal, according to the centrist, could eat up to 4,5 kg of paper daily

Some American cities have been using recovered glass to pave their streets: it’s the so-called “glasphalt”, which substitutes the aggregate with glass fragments. It is estimated that the City of New Jersey, which generates 50.000 tons of mixed glass per year, can use a maximum of 150.000 tons in that process, …

According to the Department of Energy, paper incineration produces 8.000 Btu/pound while recycling recovers only 2.000 Btu/pound. That means that in order to obtain a balance between the two methods, the paper would have to be recovered as pulp for four times at least, compromising the quality of the fibers

To give an idea of the amount of nondurable products consumed in the US and consequently of the potential for solid waste recovery, we shall quote some bits of information from Tom Heyman’s “In an Average Lifetime”: “During his life, the average American will consume 20.301 bottles of beer, 460 …