One of the biggest banana and pineapple companies in the world is exploring new ways to turn pineapple peels and banana leaves into packaging, and developing new snacks derived from parts of the fruit that grocery stores don't buy. It will also process excess waste in biogas facilities that turn waste into electricity to power its production plants.
Among the industrial giants producing chemicals used in agriculture, the Syngenta group has recently stated that it wants to reduce the production of conventional chemical products, focusing on substances that are less harmful to humans and more resilient to climate change. As part of its Good Growth Plan, the company says it intends to invest 2 billion dollars in sustainable agriculture by 2025, aiming todeliver two technological breakthroughs every year.
Known as the “Frugal Bottle” it is the first paper wine bottle launched as a sustainable alternative to glass and plastic. The bottle is made from 94 percent recycled paperboard and designed to hold food. At 83g, it is five times lighter than the average glass wine bottle It also boasts a carbon footprint that is six times smaller than a glass bottle and more than a third smaller than a bottle made of recycled plastic.
The western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia said on Monday that it had extended a lockdown in one of two districts affected by an outbreak of the coronavirus at a slaughterhouse by one week. Around 600,000 people are now in lockdown after more than 1,500 workers at a meat processing plant tested positive for COVID-19.
A recent study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has made this estimate based on health data for 188 countries and UN population projections for 2020. About one in 20 people worldwide - approximately 349 million - who are at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19 will need hospital treatment such as oxygen therapy if they contract the disease
Chemical company Enko Chem has announced that it has received 45 million dollars of financing from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to study new alternative herbicides to glyphosate. Nearly one third of the global food supply is lost or wasted each year due to weeds and other pests.