Dutch maritime company, Port-Liner, has developed the world's first fully electric container ship. It will be powered by carbon-neutral batteries and it is designed to operate without a crew. The ship can travel for around 14 hours on a single charge, long enough to cover the popular Rotterdam/Antwerp/Duisburg shipping corridor. The barge can carry around 8 percent more cargo than a similarly-sized diesel vessel and has greater loading efficiency.
https://www.portliner.nl/
A 2023 start-up aiming to make recycling convenient and accessible to all is about to go national. The aim is to provide people with a home pick-up option for some of the "trickier" items the normal recycling bins can't handle - including soft plastics. https://wastemanagementreview.com.au/recyclesmart-goes-national/
A Kyushu University study (2021) estimated there were 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastics in the world's upper oceans or roughly 30 billion 500-ml plastic water bottles. Microplastics are tiny, toxic and very hard to remove from the environment. But researchers in the US have discovered that some Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) can attract and bind microplastics, making it easier to remove them from the environment. And the N in NADES is key - natural - in this instance, think extracts from plants. https://www.research.uky.edu/news/researchers-develop-eco-friendly-magnet-battle-microplastics
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