The search for alternative fuel is a challenge but what if we only had to look as far as the contents of our bins?

Over the course of a lifetime, a person throws away the equivalent of 14.5 school buses of rubbish. In the UK, around 7.3 million tonnes of food are wasted each year, costing £13 billion. Most of this is put in landfill or incinerated, usually contaminated by grease and oils, which can damage recycling equipment.

Dr Ahmed Osman of Queen’s University Belfast has discovered a pioneering way to convert your rubbish into a biofuel catalyst, which could help to solve global waste and energy problems.