Britain's trade in waste plastic to the Far East is booming. But it's not good news. The exported plastic is meant to be recycled under UK conditions and standards, but often is not, undermining bona fide UK recycling firms who face falling prices, reduced turnover, collapsing profits, and all too often, closure.
… news. The exported plastic is meant to be recycled under UK conditions and standards, … be incinerated or buried rather than being recycled. More than two thirds (67%) of …
Many dutiful recyclers feel rightly frustrated that so few of their carefully washed bottles and cans put out each week seem to make their way back into the same product.
… MP Alan Whitehead proposes a bill to see more recycled resources used in new products 15th … certain products to use a proportion of recycled material in their manufacture. Part …
The world's growing waste mountain of mobile phones, computers and other electronic goods is being illegally recycled in unregulated and primitive conditions in China and causing significant toxic pollution
… and other electronic goods is being illegally recycled in unregulated and primitive …
MPs say the government should review systems where customers can reuse and refill plastic containers.
… - which will tax packaging with less than 30% recycled content - to have lower fees for higher levels of recycled material. Neil Parish, the committee …
More robust enforcement of laws designed to tackle the growing problem of e-waste is urgently needed, says Anja ffrench of Computer Aid, along with improved management of electrical waste by governments
… be reused and if non-functional, safely recycled. Prioritise reuse over recycling for …
Africa's car battery recycling industry is anything but green, write Desirée García & Javier Marín on African Environment Day. Toxic emissions from the re-smelting of lead from old batteries is poisoning workers and nearby communities. And among the buyers of the lead are EU car companies, apparently indifferent to the death, disease and contamination they are financing.
… Lead is a scarce metal, however it can be recycled an infinite number of times. This … in many developing countries and often recycled back to the large manufacturers. "The …
The Co-op launches special in-store collection points to encourage shoppers to recycle more flimsy plastic products.
… are rightly confused as to whether it can be recycled or if it should go straight in the … packaging bought today, but only 4% is recycled. “These plastics are light-weight yet … for people at home to fill their bins with unrecycled packaging. “This is why all members …
Lead-glazed pottery in Mexico is the main source of lead poisoning - and a million children aged one to four have elevated blood lead levels as a result.
… batteries as their primary source of income. Recycled batteries are cheaper than brand new … Lead Association. Refined lead is used in recycled batteries as well as in paints, …
Plastic waste, often burning, is a constant companion in Gambia, a poor country where few enjoy formal rubbish collection, writes Louise Hunt. Now a pioneering project to upcycle waste plastic is beginning to tackle the problem - and in the process enhancing women's social and economic status.
… be re-used then how to separate rubbish to be recycled or composted. A lot of the groups we …
The Environmental Investigation Agency and BBC Panorama use GPS to prove British electronic waste is being exported to poor African nations where it threatens the environment and human health. Andrew Wasley reports
… million tonnes, of which only ten per cent is recycled. E-waste can be hazardous to the …
A Greenpeace investigation has exposed the massive efforts of global food and drink giant Coca Cola to defeat popular proposals to require deposits on single-use plastic bottles, writes Maeve McClenaghan. In fact, deposit schemes are working fine in many countries in which the company operates - it's a simple case of corporate profit before environment, oceans and wildlife.
… As many as 16 million plastic bottles go unrecycled in the UK every day. The average … Now. Many of those bottles that are not recycled can end up littering our local … . Many of those bottles that are not recycled can end up littering our local …
Our thirst for the latest gadgets has created a vast empire of electronic waste, writes Ian Williams. The EU alone produces some 9 million tonnes of it a year, of which some 70% is still working when disposed of, and over a third is disposed of illegally. With increasingly affordable electronic devices available to ever more people, it's high time for effective global regulation.
… a year, was either exported (1.5m tonnes), recycled in ways that fell outside the law …
There's a quick climate win for COP21 negotiators to ponder, writes Wilf Lytton - one that could convert a billion tonnes a year of CO2 into mineral form while neutralising caustic wastes like coal ash and slag. But first, industries and regulators must adopt a 'recycling' mentality to these hazardous materials, rather than the 'dump and forget' model that prevails today.
Recycle industrial wastes to cut 1Gt from world's carbon emissions Wilf Lytton Sandbag | 1st December 2015 Comment Climate Change Waste Pollution Regulation Emissions caustic-waste-cut.jpg There's a …
What would you do if an American company planned to site a huge incinerator - bigger than the Millennium Stadium - above your town? How would you feel if you knew that no existing technology could prevent that incinerator pumping out toxic chemicals?
Burned: Merthyr's fight for clean air and green jobs The Ecologist | 27th June 2011 Other Pollution Incineration Toxics Friends Of The Earth Waste And Recycling Video pollution.jpg What would you do …
Activists in Gloucestershire are battling to block the construction of a massive incinerator that they see as a blight on the landscape, costly, polluting, wasteful and undermining recycling, writes Dan Hinge. Now the fight, backed by superstar actor Jeremy Irons, just entered a new phase after a tribunal forced the County Council to reveal essential details of the contract it had signed.
… from black bag waste. Some of the waste is recycled, some composted, and some is made …
Natural Capital Committee finds five of seven areas examined - freshwater, marine, soils, plants and wildlife and land - are deteriorating.
England's green and pleasant land threatened Emily Beament | 26th October 2020 | News Natural Capital Committee Biodiversity Pollution english-countryside-1591416_1280.jpg Natural Capital Committee …
Surfers Against Sewage calls on Philip Hammond, the chancellor, to use tax system to tackle single-use plastic in his forthcoming Autumn Budget.
… should equate to 100 percent recycled." SAS has campaigned successfully for … for a plastics tax to incentivise use of recycled plastics, reduce volumes of the most …
An anti-environment plot by Junckers' Commission would abandon agreed 'green' laws for clean air, waste reduction and recycling. But the leak of key documents to EurActiv has stimulated fierce opposition by Green MEPs and environment groups, while eleven EU countries have called on Junckers to hold to the green laws and speed up their implementation.
Leaked: EU Commission plot to ditch waste and air pollution laws EurActiv | 12th December 2014 News EU Politics Corporations Waste Pollution Health de-gelsenkirchen-cut.jpg An anti-environment plot …
Here is how to make eco-friendly choices while staying at home.
Environmentalism during the lockdown Laura Parnaby | 6th April 2020 Comment Coronavirus Climate Breakdown Pollution sprout-growing-plant-soil.jpg Here is how to make eco-friendly choices while …
Little angers environmentalists more than receiving food or products in Styrofoam packaging, and now the Californian Ocean Protection Council has called for a blanket ban on the use of the material in food containers across California.
Californian Ocean Protection Council calls for a state-wide ban on Styrofoam packaging The Ecologist | 16th January 2009 News Styrofoam Californian Ocean Protection Council COPC Extended Producer …
Many people dismiss environmentalism as a middle-class luxury that few can afford. But in Mexico City a group of impoverished street punks are pioneering radical social alternatives because their survival depends on it. Holly Wren reports.
Like Flowers Breaking through the Cement Holly Wren | 1st April 2003 News Community Pollution Activism Mexico Urban Lan Boycotts Incineration Industrial Plastics Community Landfills International …
A million pieces of sustainably sourced, recyclable, compostable, plastic-free PPE to be produced each week.
New plastic-free PPE Staff Reporter | 4th June 2020 News PPE Plastic Waste Pollution Covid-19 Coronavirus screenshot_2020-06-03_at_17.21.55.png A million pieces of sustainably sourced, recyclable, …