Comment

Landfill vs incineration: what’s best for leftover plastics?
Landfill vs incineration: what’s best for leftover plastics?

As China’s import restrictions see levels of waste plastic rise in the UK, Keith Freegard, Director of Axion Polymers, argues that low-grade materials should be landfilled rather than burnt for energy.

Avoiding a dog’s Brexit for waste and resources
Avoiding a dog’s Brexit for waste and resources

Libby Peake, Senior Policy Adviser at the Green Alliance think tank, says Brexit talk must turn to action if we are to avoid an environmental policy gap.

No excuse for perpetuating slavery in waste
No excuse for perpetuating slavery in waste

Paul Broadbent, Chief Executive of the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, warns that everyone has a responsibility to stamp out modern slavery in the recycling industry.

Getting more out of anaerobic digestion
Getting more out of anaerobic digestion

Nigel Lee, General Manager at Amur, says that anaerobic digestion plants need to work harder to improve gas yields if they are to achieve their budgeted income.

Video

Can you imagine how much recycling gets missed across a county?
Over 32,000 tonnes of material that could be recycled is instead put in residual waste bins each year in West Sussex, costing the council an estimated £3 million a year in disposal costs. To highlight the scale of this waste, West Sussex County Council has created a video that visualises it on a personal and then county-wide level.
Gum Forest sprouts in London to make litterers reconsider spitting out their gum
Stuart Lendrum appointed OPRL Executive Director
Stuart Lendrum appointed OPRL Executive Director

The On-Pack Recycling Label Ltd, the not-for-profit enterprise that manages the on-pack recycling label scheme, has appointed Stuart Lendrum as its first Executive Director.

England to explore ban on plastic straws and cotton buds
England to explore ban on plastic straws and cotton buds

A ban on plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds could be in place in England next year after a consultation was announced by Theresa May today (19 April).

Costa to recycle half a million coffee cups by 2020
Costa to recycle half a million coffee cups by 2020

Costa has announced plans to recycle up to 500 million disposable coffee cups a year by 2020, the same amount used annually by its customers.

DRS will be introduced by 2020, Gove tells MPs
DRS will be introduced by 2020, Gove tells MPs

The government hopes to launch a new Environmental Protection Act, which will include legislation for a deposit return scheme, at the start of the next Parliamentary session, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has told MPs.

Frictionless trade of waste materials post-Brexit essential, says ESA
Frictionless trade of waste materials essential post-Brexit, says ESA

The Environmental Services Association has called for the UK and EU authorities to ensure the trade of waste materials continues with as little disruption as possible post-Brexit, in a joint statement with the Dutch Waste Management Association.

European Parliament votes through Circular Economy Package
European Parliament votes through Circular Economy Package

One of the final hurdles in ratifying new European circular economy legislation has been cleared as the European Parliament votes through the Circular Economy Package, fixing a 65 per cent recycling target for 2035. 

Survey reveals Britain still addicted to plastic
Survey reveals Britain still addicted to plastic

The British public has not changed its behaviour towards single-use plastic, and action is needed to make tap water more accessible, says a report by YouGov for BRITA and Keep Britain Tidy.

Clothes recycling app has designs on textile circularity
Clothes recycling app has designs on textile circularity

reGAIN, the UK’s first app for the recycling of unwanted clothing, has been launched today (18 April) as research claims 73 per cent of consumers no longer wear up to half of the items of clothing they own.

From the Magazine

Collecting knowledge: Spreading circular economy best practice in Europe
Collecting knowledge: Spreading circular economy best practice in Europe

If we are to create a circular economy, everyone needs to be on board. Resource looks at how Zero Waste Europe is spreading best practice across the continent, and how lessons for a greener future already exist, they just need to be accessed.

 

Birmingham: A long hot summer of bin strikes
Birmingham: A long hot summer of bin strikes

Many local authorities have been embroiled in industrial disputes with their workforces over the past year, forced to make cuts in a climate of austerity. Rob Cole looks back on the Birmingham bin dispute and the controversies that brought it national attention.

Electric wheels: A future without petrol for waste collection fleets?
Electric wheels: A future without petrol for waste collection fleets?

With a government pledge to ban all new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2040, the use of electric alternatives is on the rise – and refuse collection vehicles could be changing too. Edward Perchard looks into the risks and benefits of turning electric for the UK’s fleets.

Contamination in the USA
Contamination in the USA

In the wake of China’s tighter import standards for recycling, the problem of contamination has been thrown into the spotlight. Gareth Morton discusses what the US is doing to tackle the issue – and what the UK can learn.
Hot 100 2018: Who are the leaders of the pack?
Hot 100 2018: Who is leading the pack?

2017 was a big year for waste and resources. It was the year that top level policy finally started to be shuffled, that high profile media started to bridge the gap between the industry and the public, and that the conversation started to get to the very heart of the issues.

And so, as we do every year, we asked members of the waste and resource industry, and all of those interested in the world of resources (a rapidly growing number), to nominate and vote for those that... More

Shipbreaking bad: Inside the murky world of ship recycling
Shipbreaking bad: Inside the murky world of ship recycling

Unregulated ship recycling in South Asia is killing dozens of workers a year, with European ships flouting safe disposal laws through loopholes. Sid Hayns-Worthington takes a look at the murky world of shipbreaking

Ahead of the pack: An interview with Paul Vanston
Ahead of the pack: An interview with Paul Vanston

As a huge year for resources kicks off with a plastics-heavy 25 Year Environment Plan, INCPEN CEO Paul Vanston talks to Edward Perchard about deposits, PRNs, Attenborough and how effective collaboration will pave the way for a greener future.