Waste initiatives

meal worm burrowing through plastic

Could insect digestion solve the waste crisis?  

CSIRO researchers are peering into the digestive processes of insects to see what happens when they are exposed to plastics. Do insects consume plastic or is something else going on?

volunteers by a lake

Plastic pollution: how much is there?

Scientists and the Australian community are on the hunt for rubbish as part of a national plastic pollution survey. They’ve captured data on more than 270,000 items of rubbish so far. You can help too!

photo of waterway in Indonesia with lots of rubbish and the same area in the background cleaned up

Casting a global net to solve the plastic problem

CSIRO is working with Indonesia and other regional partners where COVID has exacerbated the plastic pollution issue.

biodegradable straws

Are bio-derived plastics the solution to plastic pollution?

Do you know your biodegradable from your compostable plastics? We give you the rundown on plastic packaging alternatives and their eco credentials.

Tractor in field harvesting carrots. Image by Kagome

Fighting food waste one carrot at a time

It's a case of down the hatch instead of down the drain for carrot pulp thanks to a new way of using it for burger patties.

A young female vendor sells plastic cans for carrying holy water at a market around the river Ganga, India.

Australia and India waste experts aim to put the fantastic back into plastic

An ambitious project between the two countries to reduce plastic waste could bring global solutions.

Supercharging Australia’s lithium-ion battery recycling industry

Australia could have a $3.1 billion industry in lithium-ion battery recycling, according to a new report.

CSIRO's Deborah Lau looking at the camera with her hands in a bag of small fragments of plastic

Reimagining the future of plastics

With our oceans littered with trillions of pieces of rubbish, how do we solve the plastic pollution crisis?

Pictures of discarded computer circuit boards. Biomining is an innovative way of mining valuable metals from printed circuit boards like these, which usually end up in landfill.

Motherboards as mother lode

Did you know there is up to 100 times more gold in a tonne of mobile phones than in a tonne of gold ore? Microbes could underpin a new urban biomining industry, where gold, silver, copper and other e-waste metals are extracted more cleanly and more economically than through conventional mining.