A Vancouver entrepreneur has transformed a most highly disposable object—the bamboo chopstick—into a viable business model, making trendily sustainable wall tiles, coasters, kitchenware, tabletops, and more. In a city that tosses hundreds of thousands of chopsticks per week, Felix Böck, 32, CEO of ChopValue, saw an opportunity. Initially, he floated several ideas for upcycling waste…

Takeaway enthusiasts will be familiar with disposable wooden chopsticks; many may even have cutlery drawers replete with the handy wooden utensils in their neat paper packets. But what is that little wooden tab at the end of the chopsticks, keeping them together, really for? Many diners make a habit of breaking chopsticks apart, destroying the tab…