A Waste Management truck taking care of trash on Christmas morning

Just shortly before 8 AM on 12/25/2025 Christmas, a Waste Management truck showed up in our community.

I hope these employees will be handsomely rewarded for working on Christmas day!

Wow! Dedication! Bravo!

How Mill closed the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods to deploy its commercial food waste bins in grocery stores throughout the U.S.

I believe something similar was tried in Germany several decades ago, but for waste by consumers, but not waste generated by grocery stores itself. If my memory serves me well, this German approach was not too successful. 

Maybe at the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, this kind of food waste processing will be more successful.

"Matt Rogers's food waste startup will soon deploy its commercial food waste bins in grocery stores throughout the U.S."

"... Now, with an official deal locked in with Amazon and Whole Foods the company’s plan to profit from handling other people’s food waste is a bit more public.

Whole Foods will deploy a commercial-scale version of Mill’s food waste bin in each of its grocery stores beginning in 2027. The bins will grind and dehydrate waste from the produce department, reducing costly landfill fees while also providing feed for the company’s egg producers. Both trim the company’s overhead. ..."

How Mill closed the deal with Amazon and Whole Foods | TechCrunch

Mill and Amazon team up to launch industry-first food waste innovation at Whole Foods Market stores (original news release)

New, cheap catalyst improves mixed plastic waste recycling efficiency with no sorting

Good news! This could be a breakthrough!

"Researchers ... might have a way to largely skip sorting plastic. Their process uses an inexpensive catalyst that selectively breaks down the most common single-use kind of plastics into liquid oils and waxes that can be upcycled into lubricants and fuels. ...

The polyolefins ... are what trash bags, plastic wrap, squeeze bottles, and other disposable single-use packaging are made of. It's estimated that more than 220 million tons of polyolefin products are manufactured annually around the world – but only 1% to 10% of it is recycled globally, in part because this material is awfully hard to break down. ...

With its single-site design, the nickel-based catalyst preferentially cuts carbon-carbon bonds when used in plastic recycling processes. As such, it selectively breaks down only branched polyolefins for easier upcycling. It's especially remarkable because ... "polyolefins don’t have any weak links. Every bond is incredibly strong and chemically unreactive.”

This catalyst also happens to operate at a lower temperature and require less hydrogen gas to act on plastics. It also remains stable when exposed to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a compound commonly found in pipes and flooring that contaminates plastics in the recycling process to the point where the entire batch becomes unusable and must be discarded. In fact, the inclusion of PVC actually accelerated the catalyst-driven process further. ..."

"... “Compared to other nickel-based catalysts, our process uses a single-site catalyst that operates at a temperature 100 degrees lower and at half the hydrogen gas pressure,” ... “We also use 10 times less catalyst loading, and our activity is 10 times greater. So, we are winning across all categories.” ...

Amazingly, not only did ... catalyst withstand PVC contamination, PVC actually accelerated its activity. Even when the total weight of the waste mixture is made up of 25% PVC, the scientists found their catalyst still worked with improved performance. This unexpected result suggests the team’s method might overcome one of the biggest hurdles in mixed plastic recycling — breaking down waste currently deemed “unrecyclable” due to PVC contamination. ..."

From the abstract:

"Current methods of processing accumulated polyolefin waste typically require harsh conditions, precious metals or high metal loadings to achieve appreciable activities.

Here we examined supported, single-site organonickel catalysts for polyolefin upcycling. Chemisorption of Ni(COD)2 (COD, 1,5-cyclooctadiene) onto Brønsted acidic sulfated alumina (AlS) yields a highly electrophilic Ni(I) precatalyst, AlS/Ni(COD)2, which is converted under H2 to the active AlS/NiIIH catalyst.

This single-site system exhibits unique hydrogenolysis selectivity that favours cleaving branched polyolefin C–C linkages, enabling the hydrogenolytic separation of polyethylene and isotactic polypropylene (iPP) mixtures.

Moreover, AlS/NiIIH remains highly selective and active for hydrogenolysis of iPP admixed with polyvinyl chloride, and the spent catalyst can be repeatedly regenerated by AlEt3 treatment.

Experimental mechanistic analysis and density functional theory modelling reveal a turnover-limiting C–C scission pathway featuring β-alkyl transfer and strong olefin binding. These results highlight the potential of nickel-based systems for the selective upcycling of complex plastic waste streams."

New catalyst improves plastic recycling efficiency

No-sort plastic recycling is near (original news release) "New catalyst could make mixed plastic recycling a reality"

Stable single-site organonickel catalyst preferentially hydrogenolyses branched polyolefin C–C bonds (no public access)

India is using robots to clean sewer pipes so humans no longer have to

Good news! Does anyone mind robots stealing this job? 😊

"More than 220 Bandicoot robots have been deployed in India ... The company’s reach, he says, enables “even resource-constrained municipalities” to deploy the technology effectively.

Despite these technological options, a 2021 report by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment found that there are still more than 58,000 manual scavengers across India. Independent observers say the numbers are even higher. ..."

India is using robots to clean sewer pipes so humans no longer have to | MIT Technology Review

An operator cleaning a manhole near Mysore Palace with a Bandicoot robot. (Source)

Global plastic pollution treaty negotiations fail again as countries clash over production limits and chemical regulations

Good news! These top down solutions by Big Government are suspect anyway!

Alert: Plastophobia is a serious disorder. Please seek immediate medical help! (Caution: satire)

What about all the benefits of plastics in our lives? What are the substitutes?

"UN-led negotiations for a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution have again failed to reach an agreement. The latest meeting, held over the last 10 days in Geneva, was itself an extension of talks that have been going on for three years, and which had previously failed to agree the treaty text when the original deadline passed last December. ..."

Global plastic pollution treaty negotiations fail as countries clash over production limits and chemical regulations | Chemistry World

Ambitious London "super sewer" finally complete after decade of construction

Good news! What goes on beneath! 

"... The super sewer has a length of 25 km (15.5 miles). Its main tunnel is 7.2 m in diameter (23.7 ft), the equivalent of three London double decker buses, while its connection tunnels are either 5 m (16.4 ft) in diameter or 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter. It has a capacity of 1.6 million cubic m (roughly 56.5 million cubic ft), which is a whole lot of sewage.

Construction on the project began in earnest in 2016 at 24 sites around London. Over 20 deep shafts – some as wide as the dome of St Paul's Cathedral – were constructed across the city. Six tunneling machines were used in all ..."

Ambitious "super sewer" finally complete after decade of construction "A decade after it was first revealed, London's "super sewer" is now finally complete. The £5 billion (US$6.3 billion) project is expected to revolutionize the handling of human waste in the British capital."

The Tunnel

Decommissioned wind turbine blades recycled into asphalt for new roads in China. Really!

How much does that cost? Most likely another government boondoggle paid for by taxpayers!

Unreliable, environmentally harmful wind power is the greatest scam of the last 50 years or so!

"... In 2023, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Denver, Colorado, estimated that between 3,000 and 9,000 turbine blades will be retired each year for the next 5 years in the US alone; that figure would then increase to between 10,000 and 20,000 until 2040.

Now consider how big the problem could be across Europe and China, which have the world's largest wind turbines. The largest turbine we know of, a 26-MW-generating behemoth set to be completed in China by Dongfang, has a blade diameter of 1,107 ft (310 m). ...

A team from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has devised a process of crushing and chemically treating old blades so they can be combined into asphalt mixtures and cement concrete for constructing roads. ..."

Decommissioned wind turbine blades recycled into asphalt for new roads

Microbes could convert industrial wastewater into ecofriendly products

Good news! Recommendable! Let the microbes do the dirty work!

Microbes could convert industrial wastewater into ecofriendly products | PNAS

Amp Robotics to build more robot-filled waste-sorting facilities

Good news! Let the robots do the dirty work of waste sorting! One man's trash is another robot'😊s treasure!  

"... It would be a lot easier if people could dump everything into one bin and let the waste-management companies deal with it, but that’s proven to be too expensive with humans in the loop.  ...

Enter robots. Myriad [of] companies, from small startups like Glacier to large multinationals like Apple, have been working to automate recycling. Most of that work has centered on the robots, placing them in existing facilities to help humans recover more waste. 

More recently, Amp Robotics, an early entrant, changed its business model to focus on running entire facilities.  ...

The decade-old company has deployed around 400 robots, and it operates three facilities with another in the works. Companies can specify how many sorting modules depending on how much trash they need to sort or which material they’re looking for. Inside, cameras watch the flow of trash, using AI to identify what can be recycled, and robotic arms pluck bits from the conveyor belt. ..."

Amp Robotics raises $91M to build more robot-filled waste-sorting facilities | TechCrunch

Negotiators fail to reach global agreement on plastic pollution treaty. Cheers! Two thumbs up!

Excellent news!

As I have e.g. described here this plastic alarmism and hysteria would be used like climate change as another pretext for Big Government to step in!

As Hayek reminded us decades ago in the Road to Serfdom (published 1944), there are always plenty of little, obsessed tyrants trying to take control over our lives pretending to do this in our best interest!

Or another case when the cure is much worse than the disease!

Alert: Plastophobia is a serious disorder. Please seek immediate medical help! (Caution: satire)

Negotiators fail to reach agreement on plastic pollution treaty | AP News

As Mali's capital drowns in trash, residents turn to donkeys carts for help

Recommendable! We still have a long way to go!

Caution: Some of the imagery could be disturbing!

"In Bamako, Mali’s sprawling and rapidly growing capital, one piece of the city’s sparse skyline stands out from the rest: a giant mountain of trash, which has grown uncontrollably in recent months. Bamako, like many African capitals, has grown so quickly as people leave rural areas for the city that infrastructure has been unable to keep up."

Waste watchers: Using AI to minimize food waste in Yale University’s dining halls

Headline of the day! Nice pun on Weight Watchers!

Waste watchers: Using AI to minimize food waste in Yale’s dining halls | YaleNews "This fall, new artificial-intelligence technology will help further Yale Hospitality’s sustainability efforts by finding ways to reduce food waste."

ZenRobotics brings new AI-powered robot to automated garbage-sorting able to identify over 500 waste categories

Good news! Let robots do the dirty, but valuable work! One man's trash is another robot's treasure! 😊

"... That's why ZenRobotics makes robots that do the job. The company's latest generation is particularly trash-savvy, as it can ID over 500 types of waste. ..."

"... Upgraded AI has also improved motion control and given the Heavy Picker 4.0 the ability to prioritise picking the resource that has the most value to the customer. The Heavy Picker 4.0 also has reduced power consumption improving the cost effectiveness of the customer’s operations. Finally, the gripper and manipulator has now been improved with 90% new or redesigned components. Customers will benefit from less robot downtime, improved efficiency and reliability, and more cost effective and faster maintenance with less wear parts. ..."

ZenRobotics 4.0 brings new smarts to automated garbage-picking

New AI-powered waste-sorting robot identifies over 500 waste categories ZenRobotics 4.0 revolutionizes waste sorting with AI-driven robots, enhancing efficiency and sustainability in recycling operations worldwide.

ZenRobotics Launch Fourth Generation of Waste Sorting Robots (company)

From Trash to Table: Upcycled Food Becomes Global Rage with Palki Sharma. Really!

I believe this has been tried before multiple time in Germany over the past several decades with mixed results. Is it not easier to waste less? Trash separation like suggested in this video is tricky business. Lack of lasting discipline and so forth don't make it easier.

Fungus makes plastic packaging protective and recyclable

I have not the slightest doubt that human ingenuity will solve the plastic waste issue faster than expected!

Everything else is alarmism & hysteria or worse propaganda and demagoguery!

Here is another example of human ingenuity at work:

Fungus makes plastic packaging protective and recyclable - ISRAEL21c Startup grows fungi on top of industrial organic waste, leading to biomaterials that replace chemical additives in plastic packaging.

Super-propulsion: How sharpshooting insects flick their pee

Very recommendable! Amazing stuff! Great images!

Why Wall Street Is Investing in Trash and Waste Management

Recommendable! But why the federal government subsidizes energy generation from methane gas released by wate is dubious like large federal tax incentives for affluent people to buy Tesla cars.

How Finland is betting on storing nuclear waste from around the world

Good news! Clever business idea! Great common sense! However, to encase the nuclear rods with 5 cm thick copper is a huge waste of copper. I think, the Fins are going overboard in protecting the nuclear waste.

Poland's Legal Action Against Illegal Waste from Germany

Incredible! Germany is also the top exporter of waste in the EU? What! 

China, Elon Musk and the Space Race to Launch Thousands of Satellites

Recommendable!

By 2030, there will be an estimated 50,000 satellites in low earth orbit. What to do with all that space debris over the years? We need waste management in space!