Engineering a plastic-eating enzyme

Scientists have engineered an enzyme which can digest some of our most commonly polluting plastics, providing a potential solution to one of the world’s...

Foam foundation: Mattress recycling facility marks new phase in circularity project

Old mattresses made of polyurethane foam will now be recovered, dismantled and chemically recycled to create a new polyol - a key starting material...

Scotland’s recycling rate hits all-time high

Scots are recycling more than ever before as the nation’s recycling rate hits an all-time high in data released by Scotland’s environment watchdog, SEPA. The...

New ‘Green’ waste site applications down 20% in a year as local authority spending...

The number of planning applications to build new environmentally-friendly waste management sites has dropped by 20% in a year, to 189 in 2015/16 from...

Brazilian study suggests better ways of managing MSW

Researchers analyzed solutions implemented in four very different Brazilian cities. Based on the results, they propose the creation of a national carbon credit fund...

Stop perverse climate impact of biomass by radically reforming CO2 accounting rules, says advisory...

Several European countries who are considered leaders in climate protection owe their apparently good emission reductions to biomass. These might turn out to look...

Circular economy’s outcomes need to be measured to gain stakeholder buy-in, according to new...

White paper focuses on developing organisation-level performance indicators in the transition to the circular economy Infrastructure organisations must have measures to demonstrate and communicate the...

Software boosts enforcement efforts for littering in Glasgow

PRESENTED as “a major advance in environmental enforcement”, a new software module from Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions (ICES) is being used by Community Safety...

EPR for packaging delay prompts soul-searching as UK confronts stagnant recycling rates

Just as anticipated, the government has decided to delay the implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (EPR) by a year. The move was...

Recycled gold from SIM cards could help make drugs more sustainable

A new study looks at the use of gold extracted from electronic waste as catalysts for reactions that could be applied to making medicines. Re-using...

Biomethane could deliver 30% of the UK’s 2030 carbon budget in hardest to decarbonise...

With a supportive policy environment, anaerobic digestion (AD) technology could produce 8 billion m3 biomethane/year, enough to heat 6.4 million homes, by 2030, according...

How infrared tech can tackle alarming rates of ‘rogue’ plastic in recycling

New figures from packaging company DS Smith appear to reveal the alarming amount of plastic waste that ends up in UK paper and cardboard...

Uncollected waste and open burning leading causes of plastic pollution crisis

A new study attempts to shine a light on the enormous scale of uncollected rubbish and open burning of plastic waste in what's described...

£8.2m contract awarded to build EfW facility in Avonmouth

Engineering firm SES Engineering Services (SES) has been appointed to support the delivery of Viridor’s landmark £252m resource recovery centre in Avonmouth, Bristol, it...

London environmental reporting app celebrates one million interactions

The UK's "most used" environmental reporting service Love Clean Streets has clocked up one million interactions using its app, which allows members of...

Project reclaims rare earth magnets from loudspeakers

A recently completed project demonstrates that the rare earth magnets in loudspeakers, which are currently lost to landfill, can be successfully recycled, says the...

Biofertiliser quality standard achieved by Tamar’s food waste recycling plant

Tamar Energy today announced that its Basingstoke anaerobic digestion (AD) plant has achieved a key industry quality standard. PAS 110, the standard backed by...

Plastics Recycling Show Europe 2019 announces conference programme

Organisers of the Plastics Recycling Show Europe have announced the outline programme for the event’s free-to attend conference taking place at the RAI Amsterdam...

First polystyrene recycling plants in Europe will use depolymerisation

A significant milestone has been reached with plans to build commercial polystyrene (PS) recycling plants in Europe, according to the firms behind it: INEOS...

At last, an affordable AND recyclable cup?

Simply Cups, said to be the UK’s only workable paper cup recycling scheme, has entered into a relationship with packaging expert Smart Planet Technologies...