UBQ Materials applications

As the energy consumed by buildings gets cleaner, the materials used to build them will play a larger role in their overall carbon footprint. In 2018, the building industry produced 39% of energy and process-related CO₂ global emissions. Included in this number is the manufacturing of building materials such as steel, cement, and glass, which accounted for 11% of emissions. These are called embodied emissions, baked into the building’s carbon footprint and are not affected by later decisions like powering the building with renewable energy.

As the automotive industry shifts away from internal combustion engines and toward electric vehicles, the emissions caused by driving our cars will continue to shrink. This means that the contribution of auto manufacturing to a car’s lifetime GHG emissions will grow more and more important. Data shows that as of 2018, the auto industry contributed approximately 9% of global GHG emissions. Currently, roughly one-fifth of this is from material production, but this share is expected to rise to more than 60% by 2040.

The fashion industry accounted for around 4% of 2018’s global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While most of the focus has been on textile waste, retail items like clothing hangers have an overlooked contribution to this carbon footprint. Hangers are reusable, but it is becoming increasingly common to use them only a single time. It is thought that 8-10 billion metal and plastic clothes hangers are produced each year, only 15% of which are recycled.

Imagine shipping pallets, storage units or municipal garbage bins made from waste like banana peels, used diapers, chicken bones and unrecyclable plastics. The state of Virginia led the way with garbage bins made with UBQ™, and so can you. Global companies such as PepsiCo, ABinBev, Osem Nestle, and others, are already using UBQ™ in shipping pallets, crates and other secondary packaging solutions.