Many companies have adopted a proactive approach to the environment, with the aim of utilizing natural resources more efficiently and reducing the environmental impact of production processes, transportation and products. From green chemistry to nanotechnology, any number of fields present opportunities for dramatic environmental improvements.

  • Lower environmental impact with stronger, more durable cables

    With the Irradose method, irradiated cable is wrapped around dual electron guns. These electrons smash polyethylene chains. In the process, they release hydrogen. When the molecules are reunited cross-connections are created between the molecular chains. The cable sheath is now cross-linked and has also gotten stronger.

    Requirements for the performance and security of materials can be extremely high, such as with nuclear plants and military installations. The cables used in such applications must be strong, durable and withstand pressures in terms of high temperatures and radioactivity. They should also have good environmental and health properties. Important components that contribute to a cable’s proper functionality…

  • Nano-pulp, a new frontier for the forest industry

    Nano-pulp, a new frontier for the forest industry

    Nanotechnology offers many great opportunities for different industries, and people. In the nano world, the proportions are a millionth of a millimeter to a thousandth of a millimeter. The aim of nanotechnology is to study and manipulate matter on a molecular scale. There are many practical applications of nanotechnology, such as electronics, coatings and cosmetics. The forest industry is increasingly…

  • Cities may be future mines

    Cable-X is developing techniques to extract metals from old pipes

    In cities across the world, there are millions of tons of obsolete cables and pipes. The grounds underneath our cities are like mines. In Sweden, hidden deposits of aluminum, copper and lead have a value of several tens of billions of dollars on the world market. Telephone companies and utilities install new communication and power cables everyday, and in many cases, the old wires remain. They are…

  • Plastics with sugarcane instead of oil
    Without chemistry, the world would look very different and our planet would certainly not exist in the way we know it. Chemistry is in our…
  • The time is ripe for lead-free steel
    In Sweden’s national environmental quality objective ‘A non-toxic environment,’ lead is described as a hazardous substance for both…
  • Producing electricity and heat with solar energy
    One of the first articles in our series about products that have had a positive effect on the environment was published back in 2008. It…
  • Norrgavel – Furniture made for function, form and the environment
    “I want to create furniture that gives us a gateway to what’s important in life and that brings us closer to the essence of life,”…
  • Energy-efficient Timber Drying
    The moisture quotient of the wood shouldn’t be higher or lower than the surrounding air where it is to be used. In a living tree,…
  • An Energy-Efficient “Gas Pedal” for Electric Motors
    Most of us don’t give a great deal of thought to the functioning of static frequency converters, known as “drives.” But for companies…
  • Icy Technology to Clean Contaminated Sites
    Toxic contamination is a problem at hundreds of thousands of sites on land and in the sediments beneath lakes and streams all over the world.…