In 2017, a report on global e-waste predicted the amount of e-waste would increase to 52.2 million metric tonnes by 2021—but we already passed 53 million metric tonnes in 2019 alone, according to a new report released this month. Learn more about why e-waste amounts are surging, why current recycling systems are not keeping up, and what can be done to combat the problem.
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Humans’ voracious sand consumption for infrastructure activities threatens global supply of this critical natural resource. But do we even know how much sand we are consuming worldwide? New research shows that we’ve been calculating the basic unit all wrong.
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Carbon capture and storage is one method the global cement industry is investigating to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. An ongoing study in Norway could become the world’s first cement plant to use this technology at full scale.
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Ceramic nanocontainers, known for their potential as drug carriers in medical applications, are being investigated in a variety of other fields as well. In two recent JACerS articles, George Kordas investigates the potential of ceramic nanocontainers in energy and anticorrosion applications.
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Making clean, drinkable water is not an easy process, and researchers are working diligently to simplify the process. Two articles published in ACerS journals demonstrate new developments in using ceramic materials as photocatalysts.
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Today is the 50th anniversary of Earth Day! Materials scientists have played a big role in helping the environment by developing new environmentally friendly materials, processes, and technologies. Check out some of the ways ceramic and glass materials have helped in recent years.
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The unpredictable nature of fracture formation in rocks makes it difficult to ensure reproducible measurements across different samples. Researchers at Purdue University 3D-printed gypsum rocks to overcome this problem and clearly investigate the effect of mineral fabric and layering on fracture formation.
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Food waste is a major problem in the United States. To combat this problem, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a sensor that monitors the plant hormone ethylene, which could reveal when fruits and vegetables are about to spoil.
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Recycling is currently a materials dead end—but what does that mean for other container materials? Glass could capitalize on the void left by discarded single-use plastics.
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Plastic straws cannot be recycled to make new straws, but that does not mean straws are nonrecyclable. Researchers in Brazil looked at turning straws into anti-spalling fibers for refractory castables.
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