The Choose Water bottle, developed by a British scientist, James Longcroft, aims to replace plastic bottles and help save the world’s oceans from plastic waste. The outer lining of the bottle is made out of recycled paper, while the waterproof inner lining is made with a composite material which was developed in-house. All elements of the bottle can fully decompose within three weeks when left in water or landfill and can be eaten by sea creatures without harm. The steel cap on the bottle will also rust and fully decompose within a year whereas, plastic usually takes hundreds of years to break down. Longcroft, who lives in Scotland, is finalising patents and started crowdfunding in order for the bottles to be mass produced and stocked in supermarket shelves. He has raised just over £35,000 and expects the water bottle to be launched in September 2018. Click Read More below for additional information.

M.Sc. (Tech.), MBA Riikka Joukio is appointed Metsä Group’s SVP, Climate and Circular Economy as of 5 December 2019. She reports to Jari Voutilainen, SVP, Corporate Affairs.In her new role, Joukio supports Metsä Group’s cooperation with key societal stakeholders and acts as the Group’s representative in climate change and circular economy related working groups and forums.

Chicago-based Mid America Paper Recycling, one of the largest independent brokers, processors and exporters of recovered paper in the Central U.S., is launching an initiative focused on tracking and increasing the value of the recycling waste streams generated by large commercial printers and paperboard converters. “The folding carton industry, for example, shipped about 5 million tons of product last year,” says Paul Pirkle, president of Mid America Paper Recycling. “We work closely with these operators and all companies that recycle waste paper to create a continuous improvement process that helps them identify where waste is generated, establish key collection procedures, and set objectives that will continually improve their waste stream’s revenue contribution to the business.” According to Mid America executives, the manufacturing operations of a typical paper or containerboard plant can generate thousands of tons of preconsumer, high-grade recyclable paper, production trim waste and paperboard waste annually, which in turn, can generate significant revenues for the company.