Fireworks on New Year’s Eve. While most of us will have plenty of activities on the night itself, sipping champagne, watching the traditional tv-shows and playing games with family, there are quite a number of people who enjoy another recurring tradition: watching the fireworks. Fireworks: Undermines Your New Year's Good Intentions Fireworks are mesmerizing, dreamy, and very romantic. But at the same time, they are not exactly great for the environment. Whether you opt for looking out from behind the relative safety of your window, gawking at the professional show amidst thousands of others in a crowded square, or going out to light up the sky yourself.  Recommended:  India’s CO2, Pollution, Artificial Rain: How To Survive? Fireworks, Made in China And while it will not be a thing most of us are wanting to hear about fireworks, because 'it is tradition and a symbolic way of welcoming the new year…' Well, just hear me out if you want to optimize the number of new years that future generations will get to enjoy as well. Where did fireworks originally come from? China Some think that fireworks first originated in China around 2,000 years ago. The most popular legend has it that fireworks were discovered by accident when a Chinese cook working in a field kitchen happened to mix charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter (which were all common kitchen items at the time). The fireworks colorful, artistic lights flickering in the sky, accompanied by rhythmic booms reverberating in our hearts, will fill us with joy. With happy and perhaps not so happy memories of the year that we just said goodbye to. With hope and anticipation for the year to come. It will fill us with love and with good intentions.  And with harmful particulates and elements. {youtube}                                                   Fireworks: Undermines Your New Year's Good Intentions                                                             How bad are fireworks for the environment?   U nfortunately all the things that make fireworks so pretty and attractive are exactly those things that make them so bad for us. Gunpowder will help it lift off and reach the sky. Metallic compounds give it its gorgeous colors. All of these elements are made up of carcinogenic and hormone-disrupting substances, that can make its way into our soil, air, and water. Recommended:  Climate Change Efforts On Reducing CO2 Why Not Recycle It? Fireworks and it's 'dirty' chemistry How are fireworks produced? When a firework explodes mid-air thanks to the bursting charge and the black powder, the gas and the heat that are produced ignite the stars. The atoms of the metal powders in the stars absorb that heat energy and their electrons rearrange from their lower-energy ground state to a higher-energy 'excited' state Some of those really bad guys that are present in commonly used fireworks include perchlorates. These are responsible for the explosion, as they feed oxygen in the charcoal-sulfur fuel that powers up the explosive, serving as the so-called oxidizers. The pyrotechnics industry is particularly looking at two types of perchlorates for this: potassium perchlorate and ammonium perchlorate.   Fancy names for something so inherently bad, as they can cause all kind of health problems, most significantly hypothyroidism: an illness that limits the thyroid’s ability to ingest iodine, which will lead to a lack of hormones in the human body - hindering all kind of bodily functions and potentially giving rise to all kind of disorders, especially in children.   Recommended:  Fossil Fuel Will Dominate Energy Use Through 2050: Globally Fireworks have bad effects on children's health Then there are particulates in fireworks. These can be found in the smoke resulting from the burned charcoal and sulfur and will make their way to our lungs. This could pose an instant danger for those suffering from asthma-related diseases. Merely looking at an air-quality monitor spiking out in the hours after a fireworks show should get you concerned about the air that you are breathing.   Do fireworks make it rain? Nonetheless, fireworks are not found to be an actual cause for rain. The concentration of chemicals during even the busiest of firework nights alone are not enough to open the floodgates of the sky. The problem with the argument is that fireworks won't go high enough to introduce the particles into the clouds Fireworks which have been exploded There are even more rather ominous sounding elements that can be found in your firecrackers, flares and Roman candles. Strontium, aluminum, copper, barium, rubidium, cadmium: terms that you might remember from your chem class as being rather delicate and dangerous substances, yet that are freely used to color our fireworks. All of them carry nasty side-effects when ingested in high doses, including impairment of bone growth, mental disorders, Alzheimer’s, cancer, skin diseases, paralysis, heart problems and - in the worst case - death.   Is the smoke from fireworks toxic? Fireworks Can Be Toxic to Humans Depending on the effect sought, fireworks produce smoke and dust that contain various heavy metals, sulfur-coal compounds, and other noxious chemicals. Barium, for instance, is used to produce brilliant green colors in fireworks displays, despite Fireworks: Undermines Your New Year's Good Intentions. You Will Be Breathing Highly Toxic Particles Some will object at this point, claiming that it cannot be that bad. Fireworks are, after all, not an everyday event (that is, unless you work in Disney World). And are those one or two days per year that we shoot all kinds of garbage up in the atmosphere really something worth worrying over? Especially as the industrial sector keeps on regurgitating substances that are seemingly identical on a daily basis?   Admittedly, the chances of attracting any of the diseases given above for the volumes going up in the air on New Years are so small that they could be considered insignificant. Yet we should not just think about ourselves (which might coincidentally just be another of your New Year’s resolutions), but consider the impact on our environment as well. Some cities will experience more smog and air pollution on New Year’s Day alone than in the previous year as a whole. That is a fact.   Recommended:  Sustainable Polluting Eating Tree Is Cleaning Cities Air Fireworks, distribution case These toxins will get in the atmosphere, in the soil, in the water. Aquatic life will suffer, cows eating polluted grass will pass it on to us through our hamburgers. With every piece of firework launched, a toxic rain will fall down on our lands that will impact all living beings. And the worst part? The majority of these chemicals are persistent, which means that they will not break down in nature, but stay in our ecosystems indefinitely.   Are fireworks bad for animals? Research studies show that the loud sounds of fireworks do have an adverse effect on wild animals as well as domestic animals. ... This fear often causes them to flee into roadways which results in more vehicle damage (from large animals such as deer) and an increase in dead animals. And no, there has not been enough research performed yet to be able to state with certainty that fireworks do actually pose an instant, immediate danger to us and the world around us. But the evidence as given above will, if anything, make perfectly clear that it cannot possibly be any good.   Only clinging onto it for the sake of tradition, would be silly - and hugely negligent. Recommended:  How An Artificial Leaf Sucks CO2 And Makes Fuel. Amazing! Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about 'fireworks'? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'

Yes, CO2 is on the rise since the start of the industrial revolution (1850). But we forget that the absorption ability from the ‘main CO2 sponge’ has halved since the 1980. In this year the CO2 was ‘only’ 338,75 ppm. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to have this number today? Half The Truth: Trees Produce Oxygen, Plankton More More than 70% of our oxygen is produced by tiny plants in the world’s oceans,  the plants are called plankton and they are also responsible from removing 50% of our carbon dioxide. All life on earth depends upon plankton for our atmosphere, for the climate and for most of our food, yet we have succeeded in destroying more than 50% of all the plankton in the world’s Oceans over the last 50 years. Recommended:  Climate Change Stop, Store CO2, Add Phytoplankton By Whales? The problems did not start with the industrial revolution, indeed an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide actually acts as a food for most plants, and if you increase the nutrient concentration with regards to nitrogen and phosphates, coupled with a slight increase in temperature, then these are perfect conditions for growing more plankton.  Yet in the last 50 years there has been a catastrophic decline in the plankton numbers, so this is not down to climate change, what has happened? Recommended:  Does Rising CO2 Benefit Plants? The decline in the plankton and the planets life support system did not start with the industrial revolution,  it started with the ‘chemical revolution’. After the 1940's, toxic chemical discharges included; herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, toxic cosmetics, industrial waste and plastic. It is impossible for ‘nature’ to evolve to deal with the most toxic of chemicals produced by man because they are not natural chemicals. The number of chemicals produced are also increasing by around 15,000 different ones every day, nature has no hope of surviving such as onslaught, this is not sustainable, the planet is not sustainable. {youtube}                              Plankton all life on earth depends upon plankton, and it will be dead in 25 years                                    Breaking: Did You Know, All You Read About CO2 Rise Is Half The Truth Recommended:  Monsanto Banned At European Parliament: Brussels, Strasbourg It takes a recognition that toxic, persistent pollutants such as Oxybenzone, PCBs, fire retardants such as PBDE, organic mercury and tin are so horribly toxic that there is actually no safe level. The chemicals simple keep accumulating in the oceans, in the marine life and in the sediment. The concentration of PCBs in the deepest part of the Ocean,  the Mariana Trench at more than 10km deep has a concentration of PCBs 50 times higher than the most toxic rivers in China. Animals or plants cannot survive these conditions.  When combined with micro plastic, the plastic acts like a sponge and will adsorb many of these chemicals and amplify their concentration by as much as a million times. Plastic particles smaller than 20nm are adsorbed directly into plants, larger micron sized particles may be eaten by plankton along with all the toxic chemicals in the plastic and chemicals that have been adsorbed by the plastic.  More than 1 in 15 of all life in the oceans now contain plastic and the associated toxic chemicals. What exactly is plankton? Phytoplankton are microscopic marine algae. Phytoplankton, also known as microalgae, are similar to terrestrial plants in that they contain chlorophyll and require sunlight in order to live and grow. Most phytoplankton are buoyant and float in the upper part of the ocean, where sunlight penetrates the water. CO2 Rise: 'Oceans' Absorb CO2 We have already lost 50% of  all the plankton and currently it is declining by 1% year on year because of plastic and persistent toxic chemicals. The oceans absorb carbon dioxide, plankton plants use the carbon dioxide and produce oxygen,  but because we have lost 50% of the plankton, carbon dioxide increases quicker, and when you dissolve carbon dioxide in water it forms carbonic acid which makes the water acidic. The pH or acidity of the world’s Oceans has declined from a pH of 8.24 during the 1940's, to pH 8.04 and in accordance with data from the IPCC it will be pH 7.95 over the next 25 years.  As marine biologists, we design and operate some of the largest public aquaria life support systems, we have experienced and know for sure that if the pH were to drop to pH 7.95 then carbonate life forms start to dissolve and this will initiate a trophic cascade destabilisation of the entire marine ecosystem.  Recommended:  COP25: Can Paris Accord Signatories Beat The Fossil Industry What Means All Carbonate Based Plankton Will Die? When the trophic cascade starts it will be very quick, everything will appear normal, and then over a period of perhaps only 3 years, all carbonate based plankton will die, most of the seals, birds and whales will die as well as most of the fish, and along with them, the food supply for 2 billion people. The seas will be colonised by toxic algae, bacteria, and jellyfish.  Atmospheric oxygen levels are currently dropping more than 4 times quicker than carbon dioxide is increasing,  if we lose the plankton then oxygen levels will rapidly start to decline, carbon dioxide will increase and we will have run-away climate change.  It is not a question of a different group of algae  taking over and making oxygen,  the oceanic water will gradually become more and more acidic and toxic.  Life is currently being destroyed 1000 times quicker than the last extinction event when a meteorite crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, but we all seem to be completely oblivious to what is happening like a suicide of lemmings falling off the edge of a flat earth. What is the difference between plankton and phytoplankton? The most significant difference between zooplankton and phytoplankton is that zooplankton are protozoans and animals, whereas phytoplankton are photosynthetic organisms, including algae (protists), blue-green algae or cyanobacteria (bacteria), and organisms such as dinoflagellates, which do not fit neatly into a single 'group'. Carbon dioxide and the burning of fossil fuels is certainly implicated, but it is unlikely that CO2 emissions are going to decline until around 2050 , even if we stopped all CO2 emissions tomorrow, it will slow down the process, but because we are destroying the oceans and planets life support system, the ocean ecosystem will still crash and we will still have climate change and life on earth will still become impossible.  The solution starts with a realisation that there is more to climate change than the burning of coal and oil, we need to live sustainable lives and this means zero discharge of toxic chemicals, it also means zero discharge of plastic in all its forms. Recommended:  Fossil Fuel Will Dominate Energy Use Through 2050: Globally If we can stop the discharge of plastic and toxic chemicals, then the oceanic ecosystem can recover, plankton productivity would bounce back and start to use more carbon dioxide. Indeed plankton productivity is 1000 times quicker than the growth of trees, so once we take the toxic brakes off the marine ecosystem life should return and we start down the road of reversing climate change. If we had not lost 50% of the plankton productivity then the oceans would have been absorbing up to 24 Giga tons of carbon dioxide, and we would not be experiencing climate change. Due to the inertia in the system we don't have 25 years, we only have about 10 years to eliminate plastic and toxic chemical pollution. What Happens When plankton die? When blooms eventually exhaust their nutrients, the phytoplankton die, sink and decompose. The decomposition process depletes surrounding waters of available oxygen, which marine animals need to survive. Some algae produce their own toxins and blooms of these species are harmful to people. Through the Oceans a Lifeline, stop the pollution, because in 10 years it will be too late! Before you go! Recommended:  Climate Change: Water Scarcity, Hunger, Agriculture And Food Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about sustainability? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'

We need not pause and ponder global warming. Hungry 'migrants' will flood communities long before the high tides. It will be caused by the loss of the 3Ps, plankton, pollinators, and plants all half gone in my lifetime. Hunger: Our Oceans Are Dying Our oceans are dying, PCB laced microplastic is displacing phytoplankton as the begining of the oceans food chain. Most of it washes off the millions of miles of American roadways into rivers and streams then into the oceans where it becomes homoginized and is impossiable to remove. Phytoplankton sequesters most of the CO2 we worry about and gives us most of the oxygen we breathe while feeding the oceans fish. The oceans are directly responsible for feeding 1 billion people but they also feed cows, pigs and chickens so many more will go hungry. {youtube}                                            Why are Plankton the Most Vital Organisms on Earth? | BBC Earth                                                      Hunger, Not Global Warming Will Impact Our Future Recommended:  Climate Change A Major Threat To Bumble Bees: Worldwide Add the loss of pollinators also from toxins also and its quite obvious billions of hungry migrants will cause war, chaos and mayham like the world has never seen. Add in the burning of the rain forests for Big Macs and a sprinkling of global warming and for sure hunger, mankinds greatest motivator will effect us all, its imminent and likely irreversable.  Before you go! Recommended:  Consumerism In ‘The West’: A Society Built On Exploitation Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about Food Insecurity? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'

The Paper Bottle Project and brewer Carlsberg think both that it is a great idea. Prototypes were produced from virgin pulp derived from the Scandinavian forests and are ‘fully recyclable’. Shaping a path towards a sustainable bio-based paper bottle solution. Challenge innovators and designers, they understand that packaging plays as much a role in the consumer experience as it does in creating waste. Today, we also know that we have the power to answer to both consumer and environmental demands by challenging conventional packaging and developing alternatives that will one day become the norm. Replacing materials that threaten our planet and minimise waste, ultimately, lending a hand to shape a path towards a more sustainable future. Are Paper Bottles A Sustainable Possibility? The Paper Bottle Project does and created a collaborative platform between BillerudKorsnäs, Grow, multi-disciplinary experts in tech and leading Brand Partners of various categories. Together we embark on an explorative journey with a mission to create a bio-based paper bottle solution that leaves a minimal to neutral environmental footprint for global benefit. For the design of this new bottle solution, it was important that the structural and graphic language not only mirror our collaborative process but also embody the natural harmony between material, design and manufacturing. The result became an interplay of form and identity that could appeal to a broad range of potential brand owners, and yet represent a unique visual language with characteristics that stay true to the origins of the material. What makes packaging sustainable? Sustainable Packaging Reduces Use Of Resources The use of sustainable packaging can also play a role in the amount of energy it takes to package a product or make the actual packaging itself. It can reduce solid waste, water usage, electricity and emissions. Made of virgin pulp derived from the Scandinavian forests, the visual direction for the concept’s design as we like to say, was born from the woods. Does Brewer Carlsberg Also Wants To Produce A ‘Paper Bottle’ For Its Beer? Carlsberg has released details of two new ‘paper bottle’ research prototypes it’s working on. In an announcement made during the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, the Danish brewing giant said the; ‘Green Fibre Bottle’ prototypes were produced from sustainably sourced wood fibres and ‘fully recyclable’. The business has been developing the idea since 2015, working with packaging experts and academics on the project. An ‘inner barrier’ is used to ensure the bottles can carry beer. One prototype uses a recycled polyethylene terephthalate polymer film barrier, which acts as a thin internal lining. The other uses what Carlsberg described as a ‘100% bio-based’ polyethylene furanoate polymer film barrier. The prototypes will now be tested, with Carlsberg stating that its eventual aim was to produce a ‘100% bio-based bottle without polymers’. Carlsberg is ‘pleased with the progress on the Green Fibre Bottle so far’. {youtube}                                                      Are Bio Based Bottles Good For The Environment?                           Carlsberg Unveils PAPER Beer Bottles Made from Sustainably Sourced Recyclable Wood While we are not completely there yet, the two prototypes are an important step towards realizing our ultimate ambition of bringing this breakthrough to market. The company would continue to work with experts to ‘overcome remaining technical challenges’. Carlsberg is one of many major international firms looking to change the way it packages products. Is Eco-friendly Packaging, The Next Thing In Craft Beer? For a research team in Scotland designing an environmentally friendly packaging for craft beer made with an unusual material is this the case! Cuantec - a bio-tech firm backed by the University of Strathclyde alongside three investors including the Scottish Investment Bank - says it is using the remains of shellfish to manufacture bio-degradable six-pack rings, potentially saving millions of animals each year which are killed by entanglement. Recommended:  Sustainability Single-Use Care Products: Glorified Garbage The scientists in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, were originally working towards a degradable alternative to food packaging, but believe they are just months away from a breakthrough which could see beer firms adopting the new ‘plastic rings’ later this year. Cuantec partnered with local brewery Jaw Brew to create the new can connectors, and says success would turn the business ‘from a research company into a production company’. If they get the science right in the next six months, they could be available by the end of the year. Tests are done in the lab and resulted in strong ideas for the formulation. The firm’s chief operating officer Dr Ryan Taylor, an analytical chemist and alumnus of Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, began working on the project in Spring 2017. He received support in establishing the company from his alma mater through the Strathclyde Entrepreneurs Fund, which invests in business ventures by the University community. Around 100 million marine mammals are affected each year by plastic waste, according to a study by the University of Plymouth, while hundreds of thousands of animals die as a result of being caught in plastic rings. Recommended:  Plastic Waste And Turtles: A Worldwide Fatal Attraction The firm intends to launch the bio degradable rings in the drinks market by 2020, and recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to secure € 173,000 worth of investment to hire more staff and expand its facilities. Murray-Green said the firm already has customers lined up. Plastic pollution has hit the headlines and people are starting to realise that everything they do has an impact. We bring home more plastic than we do food, it’s ridiculous. Everything is packaged and wrapped in some form of it. We can’t change the food industry overnight, but at least we can make a contribution to stopping the damage that these choices have done. What packaging is the most environmentally friendly? Recycled cardboard environmental packaging. For bulk packaging and items of all shapes and sizes, cardboard may still be the answer. However, cardboard can still be environmentally friendly, providing you choose cardboard from sustainable sources. Are there Wine Producers Who Are Interested In Eco Friendly Packaging? In the world of wine, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. But as this collection proves, it is still possible to reinvent the wheel (or bottle) and push the boundaries of design in innovative and eco-friendly inventive ways. While most producers will tell you that the liquid is the most important part of the production process (and it ultimately is), packaging plays a vital role in the marketing of a brand, even more so considering today’s tech-savvy, choice-rich, brand-hopping consumer base. Making wine more accessible, interesting and appealing should be a priority for any brand, with the label and packaging one of the most effective tools in a producer’s arsenal. Rather than being a short-lived novelty or gimmick, the most successful and original designs are executed with a specific need in mind, whether its accessibility, education, convenience, fighting for an eco-minded cause, or even fulfilling the needs of the admittedly niche space travelling wine lover. Extravagant design for design’s sake of course has its place, as does tradition. But the most memorable products are those that push the boundaries of expectation with a clear purpose, resulting in a truly unique, striking or practical design – either fabulously flamboyant or so simple you wonder why no-one thought of it sooner. Omdesign 2016 Acorn Port Planter This clever, eco-friendly packaging comes from Portuguese design agency Omdesign.  In keeping with its ethos of wanting to give back to nature, its latest design comprises a bottle of 2012 LBV Port inside a cork gift tube. Inside the tube is a real acorn, covered with soil, encouraging consumers to take part in. Portugal’s Cork Oak Forest Preservation Efforts. Once the tree begins to grow, the recipient can replant it to a permanent position in the ground and mark the area with the wooden ring from the centre of the package, creating a lasting monument to its design. The base can later be reused to collect more acorns and renew the cycle. Omdesign has won the award for Best Sustainable Packaging at the Drinks Business Awards. Blossom Cava Bouquet Sustainable Package Turning design on its head, quite literally, this wine bottle design from Norway’s PackLab for Sweden’s Stella Wines, part of the Solera Beverage Group, is intended to be upended and carried by the neck, mimicking a bunch of flowers. Why bother to take a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine to a dinner party when you gift both in one handy package? Garcon Wines Flattened Wine Bottle Garcon Wines is a start-up company, launched by entrepreneur Joe Revell, which claims to be the first wine home delivery service that is able to post wine through a customers’ letterbox thanks to its flattened wine bottle design. The bottles, which are 100% recyclable, have the same 750ml volume of a conventional glass wine bottle but have been flattened and made longer so they can fit through a letterbox. The bottle itself is 34 centimetre in length, about 5 centimetre taller than a regular wine bottle but around half as thick. The bottles are packed in cardboard boxes. Earlier this year, the company officially  launched its flat ‘letterbox-friendly’ wine bottle in the UK, having partnered with online florist, Bloom & Wild. Customers can purchase a flattened bottle of Merlot or Sauvignon Blanc, both from Chile, along with a bunch of flowers, if they wish. Wasem Double Insulated Wine Bottle  A German design company unveiled what is claims is the ‘world’s first double-layer wine bottle’ which keeps wine cold without the need to put it back in the cooler. Called ‘Cooleo’, the bottle has already been adopted by German winery Wasem, which has ordered 6,000 bottles to house its Pinot Noir rosé and dry Riesling. The double-walled bottle provides an insulating layer which helps to keep drinks cold, removing the need to put the bottle back in the fridge, the brand claims. It is made from hand-blown Borosilicate glass, which ‘has outstanding clarity and scratch-resistant durability’ flattened wine bottle. It is sealed with a glass Vinolok closure meaning that the bottle can be up-cycled and reused. Kim Soohee, founder and CEO of the design company Our Wonderful World, which has launched the product, hopes that people will also customise the bottle using different designs, graphics, artwork and wines. Recommended:  Hydrogen Powered Gin: Sustainable Gin Could Become Reality Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about Bio Based Package Material? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'

There is a new sustainable raw material available, taken from the excess granular sludge released during the treatment of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in Epe, the Netherlands. This new sustainable raw material is made possible by the Dutch Water Authority Vallei en Veluwe. Construction Of The Installation The board of Vallei en Veluwe has given the green light for the development of an installation who can carry out this process. In the spring of 2020, it has to be finished and working. Material From Sewage Has Unique Features {youtube}                                                            This video is only available in the Dutch language                                                    Waste: The Netherlands Creates New Material From Sewage                                                     Kaumera Nereda Gum - samenwerkende partners in beeld   The sustainable and biological raw material, Kaumera Nereda Gum, has a few exceptional qualities. It can retain water, but also repel it. This offers various possibilities for its use in the agriculture and horticulture, the paper industry and the construction sector.  For example, if you add Kaumera to the soil, fertilisers can be retained much longer. But you can add Kaumera as well to concrete floors, for a better coating. It last longer and its hardening better. Recommended:  Bioplastic From Fish Scale And Skin Composts Quickly: UK Circular Economy What is a circular economy? A circular economy (often referred to simply as ‘circularity’) is an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources. Circular systems employ reuse, sharing, repair, remanufacturing and recycling to create a close-loop system, minimising the use of resource inputs and the creation of waste, pollution and carbon emissions The goal of the national government is to have a completely circular economy by 2050 in the country. To achieve that goal, Kaumera could play an important role as raw material. Tanja Klip-Martin, chair of the Water Authority, says: "together with our partners, we are fully committed to the research, production and application of Kaumera to achieve this goal". Sewage Purification Technology What are the different types of wastewater? Types of wastewater: Wastewater comes in three main types namely Blackwater, Graywater and Yellow water. This is wastewater that originates from toilet fixtures, dishwashers, and food preparation sinks. It is made up of all the things that you can imagine going down the toilets, bath and sink drains. The raw material is obtained from the sewage sludge generated by Nereda's sewage technology. In 2012, the Vallei en Veluwe Water Board was the world' s first to start utilising this technology in Epe. There is way less energy needed to purify the sewage water. This innovative and organic method of wastewater treatment is now used in more and more installations all over the world. Recommended:  Agriculture, Using Wastewater As Natural Fertilizer: Mexico Creating New Material From Sewage In Two factories Within a year, the Vallei en Veluwe Water Authority and the Rijn en IJssel Water Authority work together to build two factories. A factory will open in Zutphen in the autumn of 2019. This factory will take Kaumera from wastewater from the dairy industry. Next to the factory in Zutphen, there will be an operational factory in Epe in the spring of 2020. They also extract Kaumera, but then from municipal sewage water. A lot of people are happy with this innovation; the extraction of Kaumera from wastewater is widely supported in this sector. Next to Rijn en IJssel, Vallei en Veluwe, the water authorities of Noorderzijlvest, Vechtstromen, Waterbedrijf Limburg and Hoogheemraadschap de Stichtse Rijnlanden are also involved. Working Together A lot of companies worked together to make it possible to extract Kaumera. They all have their knowledge and expertise to recover, process and market this new raw material. At this way, they are all working together to create a sustainable, circular economy. This all can be created and developed, thanks to the financial contributions of the Province of Gelderland, the European Union (LIFE), and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (DEI). Collaboration and innovation are essential to make things happen. Before you go! Recommended:  Climate Change Efforts On Reducing CO2 Why Not Recycle It? Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day. Like to write your own article about sustainability? Click on  'Register'  or push the button 'Write An Article' on the  'HomePage'