sustainable

In Nepal they have begun to fill their streets with tons of plastic waste. Their goal: to be more sustainable

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In Nepal they have begun to fill their streets with garbage. Kilos and more kilos of discarded plastic, old open noodle packages, cookie containers and other synthetic waste that (due to their characteristics) it’s not always easy recycle. The prospect of walking or driving on trash-strewn asphalt may not seem too appealing, but it makes perfect sense and is something that has been done before (or at least tried out) in other parts of the world. Asia, Europe, Africa either America. Of course, usually in a timid way. The key is that plastic waste is not dispersed directly on the pavement. No. They are part of it, of its structure. Even there are those who maintain that improves it. Pavement with garbage? Exact. If every year we produce more than 400 million tons of plastic, much of it destined for single-use packaging and which is then difficult to recycle, and we also build (and repave) kilometers and kilometers of roads every year… Why not connect both things? What if we used the most difficult to recycle synthetic waste to make pavement? What if this material was also better than conventional asphalt? The idea It’s not entirely new and there are those who question whether it is really as sustainable and good as it seems, but the truth is that over the last few years it has attracted the interest of entrepreneurs and institutions from different countries. Usually (not always) in a timid, almost experimental way, with pilot projects and in more or less short periods, but it has managed to stay in the limelight. Click on the image to go to the tweet. Where has it been tested? A quick search on Google shows that over the last five years, “plastic paving” has convinced a few entrepreneurs and institutions from around the world. We see examples in Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, Netherlands, USA, Singapore either Indiaone of the countries that has opted most decisively for this solution. In 2024 Business Standard informed that in the Asian country they had built almost 40,000 kilometers of rural tracks that included plastic waste, 13,000 of them completed in recent years. In Singapore the idea too seems to have curdled and has received the endorsement of the Public Works area. And Nepal arrived. Nepal is one of the latest to join the list. In 2025 the AFP agency published an extensive report in which he explained how the idea has reached the Asian republic, where it has already been used on at least one highway in Pokharaa city of 600,000 inhabitants that serves as the capital of Gandaki province. There the plastic flooring formula has the support of Green Road Waste Managementan organization that is trying to expand it in Nepal. Step by step. In 2025, the founder of the entity, Bimal Bastola, he assured AFP who had completed around a dozen projects totaling just over a mile. It’s not much, but the organization maintains that each kilometer of pavement uses about two metric tons of shredded plastic to build. Bastola advocates going further and carrying out projects at the government level. “We try to collaborate with the highway office.” A priori it seems that the Government does not take a dim view of the measure. Arjun Nepal, an engineer at the capital’s highway department recognize that the country “is interested in testing the technology in pilot projects,” but warns that to move forward it is necessary to first guarantee a series of quality standards. Hence the authorities wanted to carry out a test in Kathmandu. “We saw possibilities”. Bastola defends the virtues of paving with synthetic waste and remembers that it even allows lower value waste to be reused. “We saw possibilities in using these plastics as raw materials, partially replacing tar in road construction,” argues to AFP. The new system does not dispense with this material, but first covers the pavement components with crushed plastic. In addition to providing an outlet for part of the tons of plastic that are generated every day in Nepalese urban areas, Bastola assures that the system saves certain materials, reduces costs and has extra advantages for the pavement itself. “It prevents water infiltration and increases the useful life of the track,” claims. There are studies that endorse These surfaces can last longer than normal ones. Perfect, right? Depends. Although the system has sparked interest in several countries, including Nepal and its neighbors Bhutan and Bangladesh, not everyone is sure it is such a good option. Or at least it has proven to be so. From the World Bank have admitted that there are “promising” pilot studies, but they lack more research: What and how many emissions are produced during the production of the pavement? How does it actually behave in practice? Does it release microplastics? What is their impact once the plastic tracks are removed? “Garbage in for garbage out”, they warned in 2020 at GAIA on solutions such as asphalt and cement with crushed plastic remains. Images | Laurentiu Morariu (Unsplash) In Xataka | We have been thinking for decades that plastic recycling was worth something. Maybe we were wrong

The almadraba has a reputation for being an ancient, artisanal and sustainable art. But behind it lies one of the wildest industrializations of the sea

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The Phoenicians arrived on the coasts of Andalusia about 3,000 years ago looking for gold, silver and copper. They stayed for everything else. By the 5th century BC, the factories on the coast of the Strait were already shipping amphorae and amphorae filled with salted tuna throughout the Mediterranean. As we believe, that was when the almadraba was invented. Or so we think. It’s only half the story. The other half is what happens with the tunas that, despite falling into the codend, do not die that day. Many of these tunas (the smallest ones) end up captured and, while still alive, are transferred to marine cages where they remain for up to four months feeding on fish (sardines, mackerel, horse mackerel or chinarros) until they reach the ideal level of fat required by the market. In contrast to the three-millennial trap that enters the codend “with blood and fire” and sacrifices the tuna (to deep-freeze it), there is another that borders on the world of aquaculture, de-seasonalizes the supply and improves the quality of the product. The second, without a doubt, is the most unknown. And that fattening system images They are spectacular. But it’s a logical move. After all, Cádiz traps only catch fish in a short window of time. Normally between the end of April and mid-June. By reserving the smallest tuna and baiting it until September, the product can be sold much more expensive. And it is the only reason to do so because the feed conversion ratio of bluefin tuna in cages is the highest of any species raised or fattened in captivity. While our tunas need between 20 and 30 kilos of oily fish to gain a kilo (20:1-30:1), salmon only need one kilo and pork three. It is not without problems, of course. We already know that filling the sea with fish farms It is a huge source of ecological problems. It is true that it has had a brutal effect on the democratization of fish consumption, but the cost is decimating wild fish populations. However, the case of tuna is different. Its impact on the populations of oily fish that serve as food is great, of course. But it is still small, simply because we have not learned to raise it from scratch: you have to fish to fatten it up. If the efforts of institutions like the CSIC are successful, the Strait will have a problem that will be counted in thousands of tons of exports. Image | SLADE | Big Dodzy In Xataka | Spain is going to continue fishing for eels until we have no more eels to catch

We thought we had found a safe and sustainable alternative to oil derived. We have to keep looking

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Many years ago, long before “Do you want a bag?” and The new European plugsI got a small summer job distributing potato starch bags by Media Granada. The world had begun to account for the huge problem of plastic bags and prepared to The day later. In that sense, the potato starch was an extraordinary thing. First, because it was ridiculous, extravagant and left everyone out of play (a bag of what?); But above all because starch -based bioplastic seemed like a much more sustainable and renewable material. The issue is that we begin to discover that they have problems. What is a starch -based bioplastic …? Because, although potato bags will always be in our hearts, the true revolution of this family of products occurred when They reached the world of the container for food, disposable utensils, films to cover or even single -use medical products. … And why are they a problem? A newly published study in it Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry He has just shown how “animals that consume particles of this alternative material develop health problems such as liver damage and imbalances in intestinal microbioma.” That is, by Use the exact words of the authors of this study“Biodegradable plastics based on starch may not be as safe or beneficial for health as originally supposed.” Eat plastic. The researchers They compared three groups of five mice: a group (control) consumed normal feed; The other two groups that consumed foods with particles derived from the ‘biodegradation’ of starch -based microplastics. There are two because each one had a dose (low and high) calculated and climbing from the planned daily consumption for a normal human being. They monitored them, studied them and there the problems began. What did they find? In the mice that consumed high doses of bioplastics They presented Damaged organs (including liver and ovaries), problems when handling glucose and even deregulated genetic pathways. “Prolonged exposure to low dose of starch -based microplastics can cause a broad spectrum of health impacts, in particular the alteration of circadian rhythms and the alteration of glucose metabolism and lipids,” explained in the American Society of Chemistry Yongfeng Dengmain author of the study. Should we worry? Well yes and no. Obviously, the results of the investigation are peliagudos, but not alarming in excess. Actually, if confirmed, the results are very similar to those of conventional plastics. In addition, the study is small and the investigation is in a very initial phase. To put it in a summary way: we still do not know how much there are in these results. There is much to work, investigate and regulate. And, deep down, the most interesting thing about this work is not its provisional results. It is the need not to give anything for granted and take care of the movements that we are doing in the development of new materials. It is, in short, a reminder that everything remains to be done. Image | Raymond Petrik In Xataka | We have a new type of plastic, with the durability of traditional plastics and what is more important: recyclable

The AI ​​industry is only sustainable violating Copyright laws. So you are trying to eradicate them

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Last Saturday Jack DORSEY, Twitter co -founder (now X) and Square (now Block), published a message in x With a overwhelming phrase: “Eliminate all intellectual property laws.” Elon Musk would answer shortly after adding to the idea with a “I agree.” The message has unleashed a debate on intellectual property laws, and does so at a particularly unique time. AFFORE Copyright. Jack DORSEY’s proposal is just the last of the movements in that same direction. Some companies and technology personalities in the United States are asking that the country discarding laws related to intellectual property, something that would be fantastic for those who have trained AI models with works protected by intellectual property. Demands everywhere. Comments arrive in fact just at a time when AI companies They do not stop being sued for copyright rape. The origin of these legal cases is always the same: these companies have been accused of training their models with works and contents Protected by copyright. “Fair use”. Goal, which downloaded More than 80 TB of bookssome of them protected by the laws of Copyright and intellectual property, recently participated in a trial for an older demand For this same subject. Your lawyers They assured that the company did not violate the laws of Copyright, and that they had made A “fair use” Of those books to be able to develop their AI model, call. OpenAi already asked for a white letter. The company led by Sam Altman is one of the most affected by these demands. In a proposal published just a month ago Openai requested that the laws of Copyright in the US be eradicated with the objective of “preserving the ability of American models to learn from materials with copyright.” For Altman, the training of AI models should be free of possible demands for copyright rape, and the same now express Dorsy and Musk. And Google also bothers the copyright. Google has also been accused of using content protected by copyright to train its AI models. In A statement last March the company requested “balanced copyright rules” and explicitly appointed “fair use and text mining and data” as exceptions for these laws. Justice is barely pronounced. The truth is that demands on copyright violation by AI models They started arriving Shortly after the launch of Chatgpt, but at the moment there have been few judicial sentences. Those that have, by the way, have been small victories for IA companies. And they continue, and continue. And the situation does not help control this legal collapse in which the world of AI is located. There have been no punishments or consequences for companies, which at most have been protected by reaching agreements with some editorial groups either Content platforms. However, the implications of these violations are clear for artists in all kinds of disciplines and content creators, who see how their works are used without consent –and without compensation– For something they can’t control while the world seems to turn a blind eye. In Xataka | 5,000 “tokens” of my blog are being used to train an AI. I have not given my permission

Salt water, CO2 and electricity are the new recipe to create more sustainable cement and concrete

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Cement is one of the most used artificial materials on the planet, but has two problems. The first, environmentalsince its production emits a remarkable amount of greenhouse gases. The second, the shortage of raw materials such as sand, whose mined also has an environmental impact. A new material. A team of researchers from the Northwestern University and the company ️Cemex Innovation Holding has developed A new construction material through a process that combines marine water, carbon dioxide (CO2) and electricity. This new material can be used in the production of cement and concrete and, according to its developers, in its production more CO2 than it emits. That is why the new material has the ability to make the most sustainable cement and concrete production. Salt water, CO2 and current. The method to create the new material begins by introducing electrodes in the salt water to circulate an electric current that separates water molecules into hydrogen gas and hydroxide ions. As explained by the development responsibleWhile the current circulates, CO2 bubbles are added to the water in order to change the chemical composition of the water by increasing the concentration of bicarbonate ions. The ions of these two compounds (hydroxide and bicarbonate) react with other ions that can be dissolved in marine water, such as calcium and magnesium. From these chemical reactions both calcium carbonate (CACO3) and magnesium hydroxide arise. The first compound, Continue explaining the teamit is in itself a carbon sink; The second, on the other hand, is able to capture additional carbon interacting with CO2 molecules. Copying nature. According to its developers, the process is similar to that used by corals and mollusks to build their structures and shells. The key difference is that these animals use their own metabolism instead of electrical energy to detonate the chemical process. Different uses. The resulting material, a Mixture of calcium carbonate and magnesium hydroxidecan be used as a substitute for the sand or gravel used in concrete manufacturing, but can also be used to produce cement, plaster and even paint. More control. The resulting material has an important advantage and that its properties can be altered by introducing small changes in the elaboration process such as the current and its voltage, or the duration of the injection of CO2, among others. Thus it is possible to achieve a more porous or more dense and hard substance. The details of the process and its results were published In an article In the magazine Advanced Sustainable Systems. Optimizing the capture of CO2. Another important factor is the calcium carbonate ratio and magnesium hydroxide obtained in the resulting material. This ratio depends, for example, the captured amount of carbon dioxide. According to The developers explaina 50/50 mixture of the compounds can allow to capture a ton of CO2 for every two tons of material. A more harmless waste. The process, as we indicated at the beginning, begins with the separation of water molecules. This generates, in addition to the ions used to unleash the subsequent chemical, hydrogen reactions. This gas is not only harmless but can also be used as an energy reserve. Of course, because electricity is part of the manufacturing process of this material, it must be taken into account that the net emissions of its production will depend on the mix energetic. That is, if the energy used in the process emits CO2 that is not captured, part of the capture would be lost. Another detail to keep in mind is that a good part of CO2 emissions associated with cement production They are generated at a different stage of its manufacture, when the sand is crushed with the limestone and heated at high temperatures capable of decomposing calcium carbonate. This problem occurs if the material is used in the creation of the cement and not when it is mixed later with it in the production of concrete. In Xataka | Construction has a gigantic environmental problem. Its solution: Solar cement plants Image | Northwestern University

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