UAE’s Recycling App is Turning Food Waste into Compost
Reloop is a recycling app that collects food waste from over 100 onboarded hotels and transforms it into compost, which is much needed for farming in the nation. The waste is sorted, mixed with waste from landscaping, screened, and allowed to decompose into organic fertilizers.
Every year in the UAE, $1.6 billion is wasted on food, and this food waste ends up in landfills, producing about 1,200,000 kg of carbon emissions. Reloop is driving sustainable practices in the food industry while making farming more accessible and greener.
The nation imports most of its food; therefore, reducing waste and promoting local farming is vital for food security. The UAE plans to reduce its food loss and waste by 50% in 2050, and innovative circular economy initiatives are getting it closer to achieving this reality.
Wild Monkeys Drown in a Well In India
In India, 32 Monkeys downed in a well while searching for water to recover from the extreme heat. The extreme temperatures recorded this summer worldwide are affecting both wildlife and human beings.
Water sources in the forests have dried up, so wild animals in this area have to cross over the villages in Jharkhand state in search of water. Other animals, like Jackals, have also fallen victim to the well’s steep sides as the heatwave drives them into human territory.
There are also reports of mass fruit-bat and fish deaths as the waters get too hot. Additionally, in about 20,000 officially reported cases, over 200 people have died from heatstroke.
The government is urging all states to implement their heat health action plans to keep people safe and prepare for more forest fires as India’s Meteorological Department warns of more heatwaves in June in the Northwest and Central regions.
New Electrochromic Window Film Offers Sunglass like protection
Technological advancements are bringing us closer to having electrochromic film coating for protection from solar radiation and excess light on our windows, which plays a similar role as sunglasses.
The electrochromic coating uses thin transparent films that change color when excited by an electrical stimulus, offering glare protection. This film displays a green color for glare protection or dark red for thermal insulation, depending on the voltage applied.
The new research reveals that innovative electrochromic films made from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) react quickly to electrical stimulation, are reliable, durable, and offer better precision color control.
Further research into this technology will advance eco-friendly smart Windows and other sensors and optical devices of this type.
Textile Recycling Is Becoming Compulsory In Czechia
Europe produces around 7 million tonnes of textile waste that ends up in landfills in developing countries. Czechia is implementing plans to make textile waste collection mandatory by 2025.
180,000 tonnes of textile waste is discarded in Czechia every year, with most of it ending up in mixed waste bins, rendering the textiles non-recyclable. The country’s waste management practices lack protocols that ensure textile waste is separated from other waste; however, Czechia wants to change its textile waste collection procedures.
Czechia’s 2025 roadmap requires the separation of textile waste to avoid contamination, increasing textile collection points, and making recycling compulsory to promote a more sustainable fashion lifestyle.
Half of the European states have made separate textile collections compulsory, but efforts still need to tackle sorting and recycling. Luxembourg and Belgium are doing well with the collection of separated textile waste. Still, more must be done to reduce the waste in landfills of developing countries.
UN Secretary-General Calls for a Worldwide Ban on Fossil Fuel Advertising
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for a global ban on fossil fuel advertising, saying coal, oil, and gas companies significantly contribute to climate change and usually obstruct climate change mitigation efforts.
His rebuke of the fossil fuel industry comes after research has revealed that over the last year, temperatures have been at a record high for all the months. Scientists say global temperatures have been constantly high over the previous year, exceeding the 1.5C warming threshold.
The warming mark threshold is a limit established in the 2015 Paris Agreement, where nations decided to keep global warming to 1.5 °C compared to the pre-industrial age. As the world faces harsh climate conditions this summer, the UN boss urges governments to take political action to crack down on fossil fuel companies that use lobbying and mass advertising to thwart climate action initiatives.
