{"id":18865,"date":"2015-09-01T14:34:09","date_gmt":"2015-09-01T18:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=18865"},"modified":"2015-09-01T14:34:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-01T18:34:09","slug":"recycling-old-milk-into-new-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/recycling-old-milk-into-new-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Recycling Old Milk Into New Products"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/milk-with-sell-by-date.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18866\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/milk-with-sell-by-date.jpg\" alt=\"old milk doesn't have to be dumped\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/milk-with-sell-by-date.jpg 640w, https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/milk-with-sell-by-date-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We didn&#8217;t plan for a series on the connection between fashion and food waste this week, but the stories we&#8217;re coming across definitely have that in common. If you&#8217;re intrigued by the idea of <a href=\"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/2015\/08\/design-students-create-fruit-leather-handbags-car-upholstery-from-discarded-fruits-and-vegetables\/\">a handbag made from &#8220;fruit leather,&#8221;<\/a> then you&#8217;ll probably also be interested in fashion, interior fabrics, and other products coated in old milk.<\/p>\n<p>OK, not exactly, but a lot of milk gets thrown away: in North America alone,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.earth911.com\/business-policy\/qmilk-recycles-milk-into-multiple-other-products\/\">2.2 million tons<\/a> can&#8217;t be sold each year, and, thus, requires disposal. A team of engineers and scientists in Germany (which tosses out 2 million tons of milk annually) came up with a way to put that waste to use. <a href=\"http:\/\/en.qmilk.eu\/\">QMilk<\/a> is the name of their company, as well as their product: a biopolymer derived from the protein casein which has a wide range of industrial applications.<\/p>\n<p>What can you do with it?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Add it to traditional fibers for clothing.<\/strong> Not only does a shot of 20% QMilk add a bit of silkiness, but it also enhances qualities such as moisture absorption and color fastness. It provides additional antimicrobial properties and UV protection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Add it to other fabrics:<\/strong> The qualities above aren&#8217;t just good for your clothes, but also the fabrics on furniture and car interiors.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Use it for make-up:<\/strong> The company has created its own line of cosmetics. The idea is that the biopolymers can replace synthetic chemicals found in most make-ups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I suppose this might create some issues for <a href=\"http:\/\/feelgoodstyle.com\/2014\/10\/17\/herbivore-clothing-vegans-go-cozy-clothes\/\">vegans<\/a> (who&#8217;d probably want to know if clothes or other products contained this casein-based additive), but it strikes me as preferable alternative to dumping all of that milk down the drain. And while this doesn&#8217;t address consumer waste of milk (which, I&#8217;m sure, is significant), I wouldn&#8217;t be surprised there&#8217;s more waste before the product gets to consumers&#8217; refrigerators.<\/p>\n<p>Know more about this product, or others like it? Tell us about them in the comments&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/pic-2331664\/stock-photo-shopping-for-food-in-the-supermarket-looking-out-thru-the-front-of-the-cart.html?src=pd-same_artist-2331666-hApwgbDZwhDDVxEaNAJVjw-1\">Shutterstock<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A German start-up has figured out a better way to handle the millions of gallons of old milks thrown away every year: recycle it into a biopolymer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":18866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,13,7],"tags":[8499,8500,5539,6033,1300,135,8498,39],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Old Milk As An Industrial Additive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A German start-up has figured out a better way to 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