Dairy waste-water may help reduce plastic pollution and water scarcity, a University College Cork (UCC) PhD student of Microbiology has said.
Speaking at a Pint of Science event in Cork City earlier this week, Arno Fricke said that the idea is to collect leftover waste-water at dairy facilities and use it in bioplastic production.
The eco-friendly outcome requires the removal of nutrients and pollutants from dairy waste-water, the German-born scientist said.
He added that Ireland’s vast dairy industry and the availability of dairy waste-water led him and his colleagues in the field of Environmental Microbiology to suggest the sustainable solution.
“In Ireland with its big dairy industry it really makes sense,” he said. “In Spain they are doing this using the juice industry and Greece is doing it with their Oil residue.”
“So, every country is looking at the kind of waste they produce the most and how something good can come out of it, he added. “This is about efficiency.”
Source: Green News