Tech vs. Trees: Transparent wood paves way for greener electronics and packaging, robotics and recycling firms team up to turn wood waste into furniture, College Board shifts majority of Advanced Placement exams to digital from paper

May 9, 2025 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) –

A roundup of recent trends pitting technology against the printed word:

Trees: Transparent wood paves way for greener electronics and packaging

Everyday products like phones, eyeglasses and food packaging could become more sustainable thanks to transparent wood that has the potential to replace plastics and glass. Bharat Baruah, a chemistry professor at Kennesaw State University, is developing such a material by removing lignin and hemicellulose from timber, and then filling voids with natural binders of egg whites and rice extract. This method is not only more sustainable than the epoxy resins typically used in transparent wood, but also retains wood’s structural integrity and improves insulation for products like building materials. Baruah envisions wider applications that include the screens of electronic devices, wearable sensors and solar panels, according to a university release on April 23. "It would be a game changer for sustainability,” Baruah said. “Imagine eyeglasses made from transparent wood that detect fatigue in truck drivers by monitoring blinking patterns. Most food storage bags are made with plastic, too. If we can make a version with wood, it would be safer for the environment.”

Trees: Robotics and recycling firms team up to turn wood waste into furniture

While Sweden is best known for IKEA when it comes to furniture, a partnership between a robotics company and recycling firm could call even more attention to the nation’s furniture. ABB Robotics and Stena Recycling have teamed up to transform wood waste from ABB’s Västerås factory into raw material for new furniture, significantly boosting the company’s material recycling rate from 36% to over 90%. Every year, ABB Robotics generates roughly 1,300 tons of wood waste from pallets used in robot and equipment transportation, according to an ABB release on April 1. Instead of incinerating this wood for energy, the partnership channels the wood to Stena Recycling’s Eskilstuna facility, where it is chipped and processed. High-quality woodchips are then delivered to a leading Swedish furniture maker to produce particleboards for new furniture. "This is the first solution of its kind in Sweden and a significant step towards sustainable wood waste recycling,” said Filip Lovemalm, key account manager at Stena Recycling. 

Tech: College Board shifts majority of Advanced Placement exams to digital from paper

Starting this year, high school students will be taking most of their Advanced Placement exams on screens rather than on paper. The College Board has shifted 28 of 36 AP subjects from traditional paper exams to the Bluebook digital testing app, according to a company release on April 24. Some exams are fully digital, while hybrid formats combine the app’s interface with a paper component for courses requiring graphic or symbolic notation, such as AP Calculus. Since piloting digital AP Exams in 2022, the College Board delivered 650,000 digital tests in 2024, and over 75% of students and administrators rated the experience “better” or “the same” as paper. The move follows other exams such as the SAT that have also transitioned fully online.