In a scientific advance literally plucked from the waste heap, scientists have described a key step towards using the billions of waste chicken feathers produced each year to make one of the more important kinds of plastic. They described the new method at the 241st National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, which was held in Anaheim in March 2011.

The Gillard Government has established a national Clean 21 Technology Innovation Network to help small and medium businesses reduce running costs and become more competitive, sustainable and help protect the environment.

A meat processor and a dairy manufacturer are among 16 Australian manufacturers going green to tackle climate change and ensure a healthier future for all Australians.

The pristine waters of the scenic Fraser coast, about 250 km north of Brisbane, are a popular playground for migrating humpback whales and dolphins. The UNESCO World Heritage-listed Fraser Island is the largest coastal dune system and sand island in the world and home to myriad rare and protected wildlife species. And Hervey Bay, an internationally renowned holiday destination, has an aquatic environment teeming with marine life.

PepsiCo announced last month a beverage container packaging called the Green bottle to compete with the PlantBottle which was announced by Coca-Cola Company in 2009 and is already in use. Both the bottles are being made from by-products of each company’s food production facilities.

The Green IT: The Financial Services Industry Benchmark report, launched globally by Fujitsu, contains the findings of the first multicountry survey to determine the maturity of green IT practices and technologies within banking, finance and insurance organisations in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and India.

Moore Industries-International has helped a water plant in central New York to maximise its effectiveness while reducing costs. The company’s NET Concentrator System helped the Onondaga County Water Authority (OCWA) modernise the control system at its water treatment plant in Marcellus, NY. Through the use of this distributed I/O and remote I/O solution, the OCWA has achieved improved efficiency.

Ku-ring-gai Council and Sydney Water have joined forces to switch on a new water recycling plant that will ensure Gordon golf course is always green.

A decade of drought and extreme rainfall unpredictability has left councils across Australia in no doubt of the pressing need to plan for infrastructure to secure future water supply.

A new generation of nanoscale cathode materials, developed by Australian scientists, is set to revolutionise electric vehicles globally. This technological innovation will enable electric vehicles to be recharged in about the same time as it takes to fill a tank of petrol.

SITA-ResourceCo has signed a 15-year offtake agreement to supply 75,000 tonnes per annum of process engineered fuel (PEF) to the Adelaide Brighton Cement kiln in Birkenhead, South Australia.

Clean water and green energy technology from Global Water Engineering (GWE) has been used by Chokyuenyong Industrial in Thailand to cut effluent COD pollution levels at its cassava production plant by more than 95%. The gas from its wastewater has also been extracted to power its boilers and generate electricity for its own use and to sell back to the provincial grid.

Two hundred and fifty tonnes of waste will be recycled per year at Erina Fair through an on-site organic waste management system, taking the retail centre one step closer to achieving its ‘zero net waste’ goal.

Convenience food manufacturer Greencore Group has achieved significant savings in downtime and repair costs on the water treatment plant, thanks to the installation of a Bredel SPX50 high-pressure peristaltic hose pump from Watson-Marlow Pumps Group.

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