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Single.Earth to Replace Carbon Credits in Blockchain
With the future of blockchain-based carbon credits in doubt, EQT-backed Estonian company Single.Earth launched a new standard of biodiversity and carbon credits, coming out of stealth mode with its science platform. With an international team of more than 20 interdisciplinary scientists, including ecologists, environmental scientists, and physicists, the company has focused on sorting out the shortcomings of today’s carbon credits. More importantly, the team has tackled the questions about biodiversity loss and why net-zero policies are still translating to mass extinction, although possibly on a somewhat less overheated planet. “At one point, we understood that classical carbon credits will not save the planet. Climate, maybe. Biosphere – not!” Merit Valdsalu,…
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Report: PET is far from real circularity
New research produced for Zero Waste Europe by sustainability consultancy Eunomia Research & Consulting shows that most Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic recovered from bottles in Europe does not make its way back into new PET bottles. Significant Improvements in design, collection and recycling will be needed to improve circularity. The “How circular is PET?” report presents a picture of the true state of circularity of this material in bottles in Europe – including how many bottles are collected for recycling; how many are actually recycled; and how many new bottles contain recycled PET. Research finds that: Most recycled PET recovered from bottles in Europe is being used in other lower-grade PET applications such as trays, film, strapping or…
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Brands call for global pact to cut plastic production
More than 70 international brands (including Coca Cola and PepsiCo) called today for a global pact to combat plastic pollution that includes cuts in plastic production, a key growth area for the oil industry. World officials will meet at a United Nations Environment Assembly conference (UNEA 5.2) later this year to start negotiations on a treaty to tackle a plastic waste crisis that is choking landfills, despoiling oceans and killing wildlife. It remains unclear whether any deal will focus on waste management and recycling or take tougher steps such as curbing new plastic production, a move that would likely face resistance from big oil and chemical firms and major plastic-producing…
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Single.Earth offers consumers a solution to cap the global emissions
Estonian startup Single.Earth is launching a new nature-backed payment method that offers consumers a solution to cap the global emissions as an answer to COP26 challenges. The Estonia-headquartered startup, backed by EQT Ventures and Icebreaker.vc, introduces a payment method that caps carbon emissions through tokenization of the world’s nature. Since the 2015 Paris accord, which set an aspirational target of capping global warming at 1.5C, growing scientific evidence has shown that crossing the threshold would unleash more floods, droughts, wildfires and storms, with irreversible consequences. In Glasgow, at COP26, the world leaders have held many speeches and made pledges that environmentalists and scientists see as inadequate. “The governments are busy…
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Improvements of the EU residual waste policy required for a circular and carbon-free future
New research published today by Zero Waste Europe finds that a radical improvement of the EU residual waste policy is needed in order to make it fit for a circular, carbon-free economy. The in-depth analysis of the state of affairs of EU residual waste policy shows that the current policy favouring incineration as a way for dealing with residual waste is unwarranted. The study done by Equanimator Ltd. emphasises the lack of unequivocal evidence in support of the current state of affairs, referring to evidence from various studies, including some funded by the European Commission. The study warns of the impacts of the current incineration heavy strategy for managing residual waste on the…
