Across Nigeria’s bustling cities and growing peri-urban communities, the signs of progress are everywhere – expanding markets, rising consumption, and a youthful population driving demand. Yet this growth brings with it a familiar challenge: plastic waste. From busy Lagos streets to the creeks of the Niger Delta, discarded packaging often
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Aerospace engineering and materials science researchers at Texas A&M University have uncovered new properties of an ultra-durable, recyclable, smart plastic—paving the way for transformative applications in the defense, aerospace and automotive industries. The research, published in Macromolecules and the Journal of Composite Materials, was led by Dr. Mohammad Naraghi, director of the Nanostructured Materials
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Microplastics exposure indoors could be 100 times higher than previously estimated, according to a study. It is well known that microplastics are circulating in our oceans. Measuring less than 5mm, these tiny particles are consumed by seafood and in turn find their way into our bodies. Microplastics have also been found to evade wastewater treatment plants,
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In response to the millions of tons of marine litter, mostly plastics, floating on the oceans, the need to manage this waste effectively is more urgent than ever. Faced with this reality, the UPV/EHU's Materials + Technologies research group decided to take a first step. "We assessed a practical approach: the
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A national bottle deposit fee could make a dramatic difference in reducing plastic waste, MIT researchers report. While recycling systems and bottle deposits have become increasingly widespread in the U.S., actual rates of recycling are “abysmal,” according to a team of MIT researchers who studied the rates for recycling of PET,
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The French Embassy, through the Cooperation and Cultural Department, on Thursday, launched a plastic waste management project under its French Embassy Fund. The project worth €753,000 involves 13 Nigerian universities, focusing on developing innovative and adaptive ideas for the reduction of plastic waste and enhancing campus sustainable practices. The participating universities include
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Synthetic, non-biodegradable plastics are major sources of environmental pollution and have prompted a rising interest in sustainable, biodegradable alternatives derived from natural polymers. “Tara gum,” derived from the seeds of the tara tree (Caesalpinia spinosa), stands out as a promising solution. This natural, water-soluble substance contains polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates), including
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Researchers have developed a process that uses insects as a source of chemicals to make biodegradable plastics. A team from Texas A&M University have been utilising waste products left over from farming black soldier flies. The larvae of these flies contain many proteins and other nutritious compounds, so the immature insects
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The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, an international network working towards a waste-free world without incineration, has called on the Nigerian government to ban single-use plastics in order to effectively reduce the rise in plastic pollution. It made the call in Abuja during the INC-2 stakeholders engagement workshop that involved the
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In 2019, MIT’s Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Office collaborated with several research labs in the Department of Biology to determine the feasibility of recycling clean lab plastics. Based on early successes with waste isolation and plastics collection, EHS collaborated with GreenLabs Recycling, a local startup, to remove and recycle
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