News and stories

Zincovery has pioneered a recycling solution that reduces emissions by up to 95% and processing costs by 45%. The end output is a 100% recycled, low carbon and high purity zinc product that’s currently not available despite customer demand. Plus, the process also generates a highly valuable, low-impact black iron oxide pigment as a co-product.

Graphite is a major component of lithium-ion batteries, which power the many devices and vehicles we use every day. However, as market demand for lithium-ion batteries skyrockets driven by the electrification economy, so too does the environmental cost. Ārohia Trailblazer Grant recipient’s CarbonScape are the first company in the world to pioneer technology for creating sustainable, carbon negative biographite for the battery sector, using renewable forestry waste such as woodchips.

Solid waste is an inevitable by-product of most industrial manufacturing processes and its disposal can be costly, both for businesses and for the environment. Avertana’s proprietary technology refines industrial waste streams from steelmaking into valuable mineral and chemical products with less cost and CO2 emissions, using innovative chemistry and novel process design. With the help of the Ārohia Trailblazer Innovation Grant, Avertana is working to create more sustainable, resilient supply chains by lowering the cost and environmental impact of essential raw materials used to make everyday products.

At a glance Currently many chip sealed roads are laid using potentially explosive hot bitumen and kerosene, but roading experts Road Science wanted to develop a better way.

At a glance Pyrotek, with the only factory of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, is a manufacturer of mid-to high-end ceramic consumables for the aluminium foundry and smelting industries.

At a glance Oceanmax knew their marine foul-release coating product not only kept vessels clean but also improved performance on the water.

At a glance Wood Engineering Technology (WET) set out to realise more value from ‘second-rate’ pine, overall wanting to create sustainable construction materials that are alternatives to concrete to steel.

Wellington nanotechnology researcher Andreas Zeller has created new techniques to make high value smart elastic silicone by incorporating nanocrystals and quantum dots.

At a glance NanoLayr is one of the very few who make high-performance nanofibre textiles on a commercial scale, used in everything from composite reinforcement, to air filtration, beauty treatments, and acoustics.