Cleanup & zero-waste
Organisms and processes that clean up pollution or turn waste into something useful. Byproducts are described only as the papers report them. Each topic lists only known properties from the cited papers; potential uses appear only when researchers proposed them.
- Bioremediation of oil spills1 study · Speeding up natural microbes that break down oil. See also oil-degrading bacteria.
- CarbFix: turning CO2 into stone1 study · Injecting CO2 into basalt where it reacts to form carbonate minerals.
- Composting and circular economy2 studies · Research on keeping materials in use and composting instead of landfilling.
- Enzymatic plastic recycling to monomers1 study · Engineered enzymes that break PET plastic back into building blocks for new plastic.
- Heavy-metal biosorption1 study · Dead biomass such as seaweed or fermentation waste that binds toxic metals from water.
- Insects that convert waste (black soldier flies, mealworms)2 studies · Insect larvae that eat organic waste or plastic foam. See also plastic-degrading organisms.
- Mycoremediation (fungi that break down pollutants)1 study · Fungi that degrade persistent pollutants. See also mycelium and radiotrophic fungi.
- Phytoremediation and hyperaccumulator plants2 studies · Using plants to pull contaminants out of water and soil.
- Regenerative agriculture2 studies · Farming that aims to build soil health and biodiversity.
- Trees for contaminated and radioactive sites (poplar, forest irrigation)3 studies · Trees that take up contaminants. Poplars can break down some organic pollutants such as TCE; for radioactive elements, plants only take up or move them (for example tritium transpired as water vapour) and do not destroy radioactivity.
- Wastewater treatment with algae and constructed wetlands2 studies · Using plants, microbes and algae to clean wastewater.