Norway’s waste policy falls short of its goals because of inaccurate measurement methods, unreliable data and a lack of transparency about where Norwegian waste ends up, researchers say.
It looks as though they might be. According to SINTEF, many of them exhibit properties that are at least as good as new timber. This is good news for materials reuse.
Plastic, and plastic pollution, are a huge problem for both human health and the environment. An interdisciplinary panel of experts suggests that politicians take three concrete steps to better understand and rein in this growing problem.
Here’s how Norway can limit the loss of an all-important substance, phosphorus.
Norway’s coastline is littered with plastics from around the world. Plastic pollution is a global problem, but Norway can be a role model in putting an end to it.
Researchers are testing and protecting old brickwork as their contribution to the renovation of the heritage building Sophies Minde in Oslo. Results indicate that much of this material can be reused.
For the first time, researchers have investigated how ropes and fishing lines are handled by the Norwegian commercial fishing industry. The fishing fleet loses almost 400 tonnes of rope in Norwegian waters every year.
Groundbreaking projects funded by Norway demonstrate that foreign aid can help to combat both poverty and environmental problems. One result is that uncontrolled plastic waste may become a resource for the cement industry.
Norway has declared ambitious targets for waste reduction in the building industry. Researchers have been asking sector representatives what needs to be done to achieve them. This article lets you in on some of the answers.
Unless we acquire greater knowledge about what happens at the atomic and molecular scale during materials recycling, progress towards a truly circular economy will grind to a halt.
There is enormous potential in the aquaculture sector to generate circular economy initiatives when it comes to its use of plastics. But can these be made commercially viable? Researchers believe that they can.
Everlasting concrete is here! It requires no maintenance, and its manufacture emits 80 per cent less CO2 than current products. And just recently, its inventors have been awarded a research prize for their achievement.
Fossil fuel vehicles gulp down petrol, and electric cars gobble up minerals. The battery industry is so ravenous for lithium as a raw material that researchers believe the demand could threaten climate goals.
Electric cars are a growing market, and so are the large batteries they use. Often these batteries are difficult to recycle. But help is on its way.
The magnets in wind turbines come from China, and the materials in our electric car batteries are for the most part sourced from Congo. Today, key minerals and metals are being transported to Europe from politically unstable countries far away. Is it possible to safeguard access to these raw materials here in Norway? In this article, we present three research-based strategies for addressing the problem.
Christian John Engelsen at SINTEF is teaching the world to recycle demolition rubble to make new concrete. Anything and everything can be recycled, he says. What takes time is getting people on board.
NTNU has tested a system to predict the heating needs on the Gløshaugen campus. The results show that we can save even more where surplus heat is already in use.
Don’t tell me that you haven’t noticed them. Empty snuff boxes littered all over our streets and parks. But instead of being just rubbish, they can now be recycled to make new products.
Researchers are currently working to improve the recycling system for agricultural plastics. Their aim is that more plastic shall be recovered and recycling made simpler and more effective.
Waste slags from the metallurgy industries often contain valuable materials, but in very small concentrations. This means that large areas of valuable land are used to accommodate reservoirs filled with what is sometimes toxic waste. We now want to use hydrogen to convert this waste into a resource.
How to know whether building materials are fit for reuse? A new guide can tell.
It is difficult to recycle artificial turf and there are no obvious deposit-return systems for these plastics on the market. But researchers are now looking to find a solution to the problem.
Very soon, there will be enormous numbers of used EV batteries available, but we have yet to work out how we will be organising the reuse of this massive resource.
Capping production of new plastics will help cut their release to the environment — and brings other benefits, from boosting the value of plastics to helping tackle climate change.
