Citrus Peels Made Green

Researchers from the Orange Peel Exploitation Company (OPEC) are planning a way to make citrus peels more environmentally profitable. Unused peels release harmful greenhouse gases when burned and also hurt soil when dumped into landfills, but the new method developed by OPEC will turn citrus peels into biosolvents, fragrances, and it will also use them for water purification.

Each year, 15.6 million tons of peels are produced around the world, with 38 percent of oranges produced by the U.S. and Brazil. This green move is a one-step process that makes something useless into something useful. "This is a great example of what can be done with something that is produced in quantities that would astound people," said James Clark, Ph.D., director of the University of York's Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence.

With a quickly growing population, green movements that make something out of nothing can be greatly beneficial.