Society

Replacement parts for car repairs have a negative impact on the environment. By consistently repairing instead of replacing windshields and bumpers alone, Switzerland could save over 1000 tons of CO₂ per year. The insurance company AXA is now offering an assessment for repair workshops and introducing an industry label – based, among other things, on a study led by Empa researchers.

After extensive analyses, Empa researchers found the cause of the concrete scandal in County Donegal, Ireland, where structural damage has been causing red faces and protests for years: Concrete walls of thousands of houses are riddled with cracks, necessitating expensive repairs or even demolition. For the longest time, an excessively high mica content in the concrete was thought to be the reason. Thanks to the Empa investigation, serious structural damage can be avoided in the future, as the real culprit – the mineral pyrrhotite – has now been identified.

In Switzerland, tire and road wear particles are one of the biggest sources of microplastics released into the environment, yet the chemical compounds contained in those particles – and their effects – remain largely a mystery. To remedy that knowledge gap, scientists at EPFL and two other Swiss research institutes are conducting a study of the toxicity of tire-particle compounds and how readily they’re absorbed by living organisms. The first phase of the study has just been completed.