Biodegradable materials - packaged in beer

28-Feb-2024 - Empa researchers have extracted nanocellulose from a beer brewery waste product and processed it into an aerogel. The high-quality material could be used in food packaging. In the beginning was the mash. The mixture of malt and water is stirred for several hours and gently heated. The resulting ...

Ecological coating for bananas

Food waste reduction

06-Jan-2022 - Plastic packaging in grocery stores protects fruits and vegetables from spoilage, but also creates significant amounts of waste. Together with the retailer Lidl Switzerland, Empa researchers have now developed a protective cover for fruit and vegetables based on renewable raw materials. For this ...

Mobile App against Food Waste

"Your Virtual Cold-Chain Assistant" aims to provide smallholder farmers with access to sustainable refrigeration equipment, pre- and post-harvest expertise, and market information

22-Jan-2021 - Today, data.org announced the eight global winners of the USD 10 million Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge, which aims to address major societal challenges through computer and data science. Among the winners is a project by BASE ("Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy") and Empa that aims to ...

Platinum catalyst to keep fruit fresh

Yellow is the new brown

16-Mar-2020 - If different types of vegetables and fruits are stored together, they influence each other's ripening process. This is due to ethylene, which is emitted by some plant-based foodstuff and accelerates ripening. To prevent excessive food waste due to accelerated ripening Empa and ETH Zurich ...