The Carbon Rescuers: 20 Top Waste projects and breakthroughs that capture used carbon from the waste pile for new uses

In these top 20 projects, we usually say that we are using waste, but really we are converting something from a state of waste to a state of value — and that’s not just good for the project owners in question, it’s good for every stakeholder connected with that waste stream. A successful waste project is the beginning of the death of waste — where technology permits, that’s about the fastest path one can take to a more sustainable society and a more affluent one.

Here we look at the top 20 waste projects and R&D breakthroughs of the past year. They involve food waste, crop waste, municipal waste, orchard waste, forest waste, waste CO2, industrial wastewater, manufacturing waste gases and more. 

It’s a global effort – we’re profiling work throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia — typically, based on international partnerships.

From these previously useless and odious streams, they are making fuels, chemicals and materials for everyday use — only with an attractive low-carbon footprint since in most cases these are cases of “rescued carbon” where we are capturing old carbon for a new use.