Innovation

Analysis of 13 national strategies and 18 bio-based frameworks reveals two policy agendas running in parallel but rarely intersecting, costing billions in lost value.

Backed by Denmark's environmental protection agency, the CIRCUIT project pairs a low-temperature molten-salt recovery method with component reuse and design changes spanning the whole circuit board value chain.

The trade body warns the UK is the only G7 nation without a national bioeconomy plan, and points to research valuing a 30 per cent switch to biomass feedstock at up to £204 billion a year.

Malaysia has banned e-waste imports and projects domestic volumes could reach 1.4 million tonnes a year by 2030, with around 75 per cent currently handled by an informal recycling sector.

Clean Growth Fund leads round for female-founded company growing partition walls from mycelium and agricultural waste, with £338m in supply agreements secured.

Project backed by H&M Group, C&A and Reformation produced T-shirts, sweaters and blouses from Indian wheat straw that would otherwise be burned.

EPSRC and Defra-funded project will develop chemical processes to recover usable components from products too complex for conventional recycling systems.

One-step chemical process replaces oxygen with sulphur in polyester bonds, creating materials that degrade faster and can be recycled back to their original building blocks.

University of Bath engineers grew turkey tail fungus on resin-bonded oriented strand board waste, producing a bio-composite with thermal performance matching conventional insulation at a fraction of the carbon cost.

Zero Waste Scotland's first priority sector roadmap sets out nine interventions to retain the value of materials from wind, nuclear and oil and gas assets.

Bangladesh-based Tier 2 manufacturer partners with five materials innovators to supply recycled and biodegradable trims to fashion brands without a price premium.

Wastebuster's Recycle to Read programme has expands into 167 Tesco stores, where broken hard plastic toys will be mechanically recycled and schools earn book vouchers.

Epoch Biodesign's $50m-backed demonstration plant will process hundreds of tonnes of post-consumer nylon 6,6 a year, from airbag fabric to activewear.