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The “Rhizo-Lentil" EIP-AGRI project - 20/05/2020
NovoCarbo GmbH produces biochar from plant residues such as wood chips, nutshells and manure. Different feedstocks, and the way these materials are processed, create biochars with different properties. This makes biochar suitable for different uses, including as a soil conditioner, in biogas plants or as bedding for stables and cowsheds. The Rhizo-Linse project is currently investigating whether biochar is also suitable as inoculant carrier for…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/novocarbo-turns-plant-waste-into-biochar
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Press release - 02/11/2022
Whether in drinking water, food or even in the air: plastic is a global problem - and the full extent of this pollution may go beyond of what we know yet. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), together with partners from the Netherlands and Australia, have reviewed conventional assumptions for the transport of plastic in rivers.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/blind-spots-monitoring-plastic-waste
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Specialized in Sustainability - 30/09/2021
The research project RUN (Rural Urban Nutrient Partnership) explores how waste might be used more efficiently as a resource. In this project, Veronika Fendel investigates how recyclable materials from biowaste and domestic wastewater can be fed back into the material cycle in the best possible way.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/circular-economy-future
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Press release - 03/05/2021
The amount of plastic waste increases every year. Some of this waste is due to plastic packaging used to protect food. As part of the “BioActiveMaterials” project, researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft have developed an eco-friendly coating for paper packaging. With this, not only is plastic saved, but the coating of plant-based proteins and waxes also extends the shelf life of the food.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/bioactive-paper-coatings-replace-plastic-packaging-foods
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Plastics from the field - 12/08/2021
Huge amounts of waste are produced both during food production and by consumers. The Conversion Technologies of Biobased Resources group at the University of Hohenheim’s Institute of Agricultural Engineering has developed a process to convert this biomass into hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), the highly potent basic chemical that is used to produce plastics.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/great-potential-biological-residues
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Biosensors - 09/04/2020
Sensor networks are one of the keys to achieving digitalisation of the bioeconomy. Sensor networks are on the way to becoming important analysis and control instruments for energy-efficient and sustainable material cycles. Dieter Hertweck, Professor of Business Information Systems at Reutlingen University of Applied Sciences, shows what is already possible in digital agriculture and waste recycling and what is feasible for the future.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/Sensors-for-the-bioeconomy
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Dossier - 15/11/2019
The negative image of plastic persists and is not getting any better in the face of the ongoing debate about microplastics which are basically everywhere. Plastic pollutes the environment. The globe is littered with huge quantities. We have to modify the production and utilisation of macroplastics as well as fundamentally rethink the way we dispose of them. ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ mentality must become a thing of the past.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/dossiers/waste-valuable-resource-wrong-place
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Press release - 27/05/2021
The pulp of coffee beans is considered a waste product on coffee plantations, which is usually thrown away or dumped into rivers - with significant negative consequences for climate change and the environment. Macarena San Martín-Ruiz from the University of Stuttgart is working with Coopetarrazú, the largest coffee cooperative in Costa Rica, to find out how the mixture of pulp and husks can be turned into organic compost and thus protect the…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/coffee-s-pulp-waste-becomes-organic-compost
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Dossier - 15/04/2019
Plastic waste takes years to decompose and pollutes the environment. Nevertheless, plastics are an indispensable part of everyday life. It is therefore all the more important to find a meaningful alternative that is sustainable, environmentally friendly and has better properties and more functionality than conventional plastics. In addition, such an alternative should not be dependent in any way on fossil resources.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/dossiers/the-alternative-bioplastics
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Article - 01/08/2019
He swam the entire length of the River Rhine to draw attention to the contamination of rivers and oceans with plastic waste. After completing his mammoth swim, Prof. Dr. Andreas Fath decided to kill two birds with one stone and do something useful with microplastics. At the Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences campus in Villingen-Schwenningen, Fath is working on a filter system made of plastic waste that can be used to remove pollutants from…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/Clean-water-thanks-to-microplastics
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Preventing waste from instant meals - 05/10/2023
Many instant meals such as ramen soups have both a protective outer packaging and individual ingredients in small plastic sachets. To prevent this environmentally harmful waste, five students at the University of Hohenheim have developed a sustainable film based on eggshells and plant proteins that dissolves in hot water and is edible.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/edggy-edible-packaging-film-made-eggshell-waste
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Press release - 18/05/2021
The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has signed the grant agreements with 18 new projects, selected for funding under the 2020 Call for proposals. 199 beneficiaries from 26 countries across the EU and beyond will receive BBI JU’s financial support worth €104.5 million. This is the seventh and last BBI JU call which will bring the total investment of the initiative to €821.6 million and the BBI JU’s portfolio to 142 projects.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/pm/bbi-ju-invest-eur1045-million-circular-bio-based-projects
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Dossier - 16/12/2013
While the use of biotechnological methods for the purification of water, soil and air has already been state of the art for quite a few years, the use of microorganisms for the recovery of metal and mineral raw materials from industrial and agricultural waste has also started to attract the interest of scientists. This dossier addresses this topic, explains what geobiotechnology and urban mining are all about.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/dossiers/microbial-raw-material-recycling
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pre-start-up company Wheyfinery - 13/04/2022
There is not much you can do with acid whey, which is why several million litres of it are disposed of every year. This is both costly and not sustainable. However, researchers at Tübingen University have shown: acid whey can be used to produce precursors for biofuels, fine chemicals and antimicrobial livestock feed additives. They have set up the pre-start-up company Wheyfinery in an endeavour to make their scalable biorefinery concept…
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/acid-whey-valuable-raw-material-platform-chemicals-and-more
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Sustainable binder alternative - 18/12/2023
Plastic is all around us; and unfortunately, it is not going away any time soon. The search for more sustainable solutions is fully underway. However, binders that degrade only with difficulty or not at all are still used to bond natural materials such as wood and straw - not yet truly environmentally friendly. Fraunhofer researchers are working on an insect-inspired wood binder that makes bonded wood products both resistant and biodegradable.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/copied-insects-new-biological-wood-binder-under-development
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Wasser 3.0: #detect|remove|reuse - 31/10/2023
We all pollute our water with things we use in our everyday lives. In the process, microplastics and micropollutants accumulate in sometimes significant quantities and are difficult to remove. This has increasingly devastating consequences for our health and the environment. Wasser 3.0, a non-profit start-up from Karlsruhe, has declared war on this problem by developing a customisable process to detect, remove and even recycle these pollutants.
https://www.biooekonomie-bw.de/en/articles/news/how-sustainably-remove-and-recycle-microplastics-water
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