AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population.

AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population. "For every 30-40 mobile phones that are recycled, on average, one gram of gold can be recovered," Dr Litchfield says. "Just as mobile phone sales are soaring, and gold content is increasing in some smartphones, natural sources of gold are expected to run out by 2030." UniSA Conservation Psychologist and Great Ape expert Dr Carla Litchfield, the paper's lead author, says if 'conflict' elements -- including gold and coltan -- can be recovered from old mobile phones, there is less incentive to mine gorilla habitats for the same minerals. In Germany, by 2035 it is predicted that more than 8000 tonnes of precious metals will lie in unrecycled mobile and smartphones, and in China, by 2025 an estimated nine tonnes of gold, 15 tonnes of silver and 3100 tonnes of copper will also be out of the supply loop in 0.35 billion unrecycled phones. AGRIBUSINESS: : How to recycle old mobile phones to extract gold and save gorilla population. The link between hoarding disused mobile phones and the decimation of Grauer gorilla habitats is explored in a paper published today in PLOS ONE, authored by University of South Australia researchers and Zoos Victoria. Zoo visitors and the broader Victorian community were educated about the value of recycling discarded phones to extract special metals used in their construction as the same metals which are being mined in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), not only destroying gorilla habitats but also funding wars and human rights abuses. The authors point out the barriers to recycling used phones, including lack of e-waste recycling points in many countries, secrecy around the phones' mineral composition, privacy concerns around accessing old data, and just plain hoarding. Hoarding is a problem since precious metals are not extracted and returned to the circular economy, creating the need to mine these metals in wilderness areas and when people do discard their old phones, most dispose of them in their household waste, ending up in landfill, where they leach toxic metals.

AGRIBUSINESS : Agricultural waste is driving us towards greener transport.

AGRIBUSINESS : Agricultural waste is driving us towards greener transport.Composite materials made from agricultural waste could be used to produce sustainable, lightweight and low-cost applications in the automotive and marine industries. A team of researchers, led by the University of Portsmouth, have developed a bio-composite material using date palm fibre biomass (biomass is a term that includes waste material from plants, food waste and sewage) that can be used in non-structural parts, such as car bumpers and door linings. The date palm fibre polycaprolactone (PCL) bio-composite is completely biodegradable, renewable, sustainable and recyclable, unlike synthetic composites reinforced by glass and carbon fibres. In a study, published in the journal Industrial Crops and Products, the researchers tested the mechanical properties of the bio-composite. They found that the date palm fibre PCL had increased tensile strength and achieved better low-velocity impact resistance than traditional human-made composites.

AGRIBUSINESS: How to Turn Disengaged Employees into Brand Ambassadors.