If you’re concerned about the environmental impact of your e-waste – aka old TVs, phones and other tech – the solution could be lurking in your pantry… Austrian scientists have discovered that spent brewer’s yeast – aka the main ingredient in Vegemite – can be used for ‘selective metal recovery’. Researchers say through a process of adsorption – where particles or molecules bind to a top layer of a solid – metals can be pulled from the yeast surface by acid treatment, allowing them to separate out aluminium, copper and zinc. And because the yeast can be recycled up to 5 times, it can be re-used to recover different metals, making it “cheap, easily available and safe”. It’s not the first time the yeast has been praised for its environmental purposes – it’s also been used to treat wastewater. Exactly what you want in a brekkie spread…