From bread-beer to paper helmets: new ways to reduce waste

If the current estimated levels of 2.12 billion tonnes of waste makes your jaw drop, consider that the world’s total waste is set to top 4 billion tonnes in 2100. The world’s leading authorities are doing everything they can to address the issue, but there’s only so much they can do on their own. As a whole, we need to take responsibility for the welfare of the planet we live on, for our continued comfort and to make sure those who come after us aren’t left with our mess!

With the expertise of 8 yard skip supplier Reconomy on side, we take a look through the new and creative ways people have found to make use of waste and save it from the landfill.

Foldable helmets: EcoHelmet

Paper is a problem in the world of waste. In fact, you might be surprised to hear that the amount of paper sent to landfills each year could fill an estimated 103,000 double decker buses — but EcoHelmet is making it its mission to recycle paper and put it back into better use.

Around 90% of cyclists fail to wear a helmet, even with the risks of road-riding as a cyclist. Based in New York City, EcoHelmet offers cyclists an inexpensive way of riding by using a folding helmet that can be recycled at the end of a person’s ride. The helmet is made from 100% waterproof recycled paper and structured in a honeycomb pattern to ensure that all blows from falls or crashes are absorbed by the helmet. The beauty of the helmet is that you can fold it flat and that one size fits all.

The helmet is made at a fraction of the price of a normal cycling helmet, and still maintains an aesthetically pleasing look. The helmet can be easily disposed of unlike other helmets. For example, it takes 500 years to break down styrofoam helmets and they never truly decompose!

Toast Ale: a much kneaded solution

Bread fills most people’s shopping bags, but it is also filling our bins. Although 12 million loaves are sold on a daily basis, 44% of bread is wasted, which has presented itself as a significant contributing factor to the epidemic food waste crisis here in Britain. In a bid to end food waste, Toast Ale has partnered up with bakeries to collect unsold loaves and unused crusts from sandwich makers to craft a fine beer, while donating all profits made to environmental charities.

Toast Ale has gone from strength to strength since its start in 2016, bringing a now-beloved bread-based booze all over the country. Once the bread has been delivered to the team, it is then sliced and dried in the oven at around 90°C for an hour. Then, it is crushed into the size of croutons.

Following this, the grains are submerged in 15.7 litres of water at 67°C, then covered and let be for an hour. The liquid is then drained while rinsing the grains with water at a temperature of 78°C to remove any additional sugars — this should be done until you’ve reached 25l. Use around 20l of water and this will remove any tannin tastes.

The mixture is brought to the boil and 5g of German Hallertau Tradition is added at around 90 minutes, giving the drink a bitter taste. This can balance the caramel notes from the bread and the papaya and mango notes from the aroma that is added later. If you’re interested in trying your own, the full recipe is available here — there’s a whole science behind it!

Wasteboards: Skater life in plastic

Repurposing waste in the coolest way, Dutch company Wasteboards melts plastic bottle tops into amazing patterned skateboards. An estimated 20,000 plastic bottles are produced every second and a lot of this is ending up in our oceans leaving devastating impacts on marine life.

From plastic bottle tops gathered around various events and companies, Wasteboards transforms the waste into raw material for one-of-a-kind skateboards. Each board is made by hand and the design doesn’t shy away from what they’re made from — which is part of the appeal to its main demographic; young people who want to do their part in saving the planet.

Creating (or “baking”) a skateboard from plastic bottle tops is something of an art form. Bottle tops are collected from popular events across the city — or sometimes fished from Amsterdam canals by a professional plastic fishing company. After that, caps are then placed in different positions within the mould to create a basis of the design.

Each wasteboard is unique, thanks to the baking process which sees the plastic bottle caps melt in a different way each time. The special baking technique used allows the bottle tops to keep their original look and characteristics. After some time to cool off, the boards are then assembled and ready to be sold.

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