WASTE WONDERS:
This had to happen:
domestic and other wastes can go
into making objects of daily use. A
Canadian company, Low Energies
Extrusion Technologies, uses flyash,
clay, wire scrap and woodchips to
make paving stones, tiles, chair legs
and table tops. The company is running a thriving business using industrial and post-consumer wastes to
manufacture advanced composite
materials. The company is said to be
grabbing every opportunity to produce usable products from very
diverse low-cost fill sources.
CLEANER CATALYST:
Coating car radiators with platinum is a surefire way
of cleaning up the air, says
Engelherd, the frontrunning US corporate group. It
claims to have
developed a catalyst which uses
platinum. The platinum effectively
converts ozone
into oxygen, and carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. PremAir, the catalyst, "would
treat all the air covering the area upto
one and a half stories or 4.6 metres
high every day," claims Terence
Poles, Engelherd's director of business developments.
RESEARCH RAVE:
SmithKline Beecham,
the UK's second largest drug company, is now "addicted" to research.
The company is expanding its R&D
wing, in a recently-purchased site in
the US. Located at the Upper
Providence township, Pennsylvania,
the site originally belonged to
Eastman Kodak and is equipped with
aboratories and offices.
AGRO BOOM:
Herbal medicines,
reams, foods. And now, a herbal
esticide in India. Named Agro
!oom, this formula can replace
hemical fertilisers and pesticides.
he organic nature of the pesticide,
reated by A R Rajendra Kumar and
tarketed by Vishwa Tech, makes it
im-toxic, non-polluting, and a bio-
protectant. It contains sufficient
nutrients to enhance plant growth.
Besides being inexpensive (almost 50
per cent cheaper than chemical pesticides) and capable of delivering 30-40 per cent more yield, Agro Boom
also ensures a considerable cut in the
volume of water required for crop
cultivation.
GREEN DRINK:
Prince Charles, crown
prince of England, is offering
an "environmentally
correct" drink to
Britons. His company, Duchy Original% has concocted 2
non-alcoholic drinks
made of apple and
raspberry juice mixed with fennel
and other herbs. The company
claims that it is among the greenest
brews to have ever graced the market.
The 5-year-old Duchy Originals
launched several such green products - like an English spot-o'-tea
favourite: biscuits made from organically-developed crops. Its latest
products, bomb4;d in the market,
failing to catch the fancy of British
connoisseurs. They turned up their
noses at the drinks, declaring that
they tasted like 'cbmpose' and smelt
like "nettle".
DRUG DRIVE:
India's largest biotechnology project, a collaboration
between the pharmaceutical company Torrent and the Gujarat
Industrial Investment Corporation,
will soon begin producing penicillin.
The project will
save the government US $33 million
every year against the drug's import.
Currently, half the penicillin
requirement of the country is
imported. The Rs 193-crore project,
situated near Baroda in Gujarat, is a
modern plant incorporating state-of the-art technology.
Following the boost, more than
25 per cent of the country's present
requirement will be met.
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