UK parliament to eliminate single-use plastics
Now they need to do the same for the rest of the country….
Why don’t the Swiss recycle more plastic?
Most plastics carry a recycling label, but few are convenient to recycle in Switzerland. For 30 days, swissinfo.ch journalist Susan Misicka saved all of her plastic garbage. She filled four shopping bags, but found that not even half of the waste could be recycled. Is it as bad as it sounds? Currently, the Swiss collect 80,000 tonnes of plastic for recycling – mainly PET drink bottlesExternal link, plus milk, shampoo, detergent and other high-quality bottles. In theory, Switzerland could recycle an additional 112,000 tonnes of plastic per year. Put another way, everyone in Switzerland could collect and recycle another 14kg of plastic per year. But there is no federal system and few processing plants for recycling plastic in Switzerland.
Agrilution | Sustainability | Autodesk
Growing food in the kitchen where it’s cooked…
UK could ban single-use plastics as early as next year
The sale of cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other items could really become a thing in 2019….
UK could ban single-use plastics as early as next year
The sale of cotton buds, plastic drinking straws and other items could really become a thing in 2019….
A ‘Taxing’ Question for Single-Use Plastics Recycling « Waste Management World
Taxes or deposit return schemes – how can we use economics to incentivise more recycling?Richard McKinlay, Head of Circular Economy at resource recovery specialist Axion, discusses the options…
Microfactories can turn Australia’s waste crisis to gold mines
Sites as small as 50 square metres could be transformed into “microfactories” that can process waste into valuable, sellable products, thanks to new technology out of the University of NSW’s Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT). On Wednesday, the world’s first small, modular recycling plant was launched by NSW environment minister Gabrielle Upton at the university, focused on e-waste.
What to expect from Milan’s Salone del Mobile this year
Ciao tutti. It’s that time again, when all aesthetically-trained eyes look to Milan as the city explodes in a Springtime riot of sunshine (we hope) and inspired new design. The annual Salone del Mobile, of course, is no ordinary design show.
Deposit return scheme: Who would pay?
The plastics industry says a deposit return scheme would mean consumers would have to pay more for drinks.
#AlternativeEnergy – Geothermal As Sustainable Living #FrizeMedia
Temperatures at the earths core is 60 times greater than that of water being boiled.The tremendous heat creates pressures that exert themselves and contain huge energy.
Cracking new ways to fight plastic waste
As the fight against plastic pollution gains momentum, firms are tackling the issue in different ways.
Petition calls on Taunton Deane Borough Council to go single-use plastic free
A council has been accused of dragging its feet over calls for it to lead the fight against plastic items that cannot be re-used. An on-line petition created by Wivey Action on Climate and Environment urging Taunton Deane Borough Council to become single-use plastic free has more than 800 signatures…
Reclaiming Craftiness – Stephanie Bastek
If you’re a creature of the 21st century, odds are you’ve stumbled upon the nascent DIY movement. From baking our bread to stitching our own clothes to raising back yard chickens and growing our own vegetables—even restoring our own furniture—the past few decades have seen a resurgence in our appreciation for crafts, right down to craft beer. But have you ever thatched your own roof with grasses that you grew in your own back yard? Or spent hours researching the secret behind making the best kind of haystack? Alexander Langlands has, and in his new book, Cræft, he takes DIY to a whole new level. Part how-to, part memoir, the book gets at what it means to make things with your own hands, and how this experience connects us both to the past and to our present sense of place.
CEWEP welcomes EU Communication’s Focus on Decontamination of Materials « Waste to Energy « Waste Management World
The Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) has welcomed the Commission’s Communication on the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation. According to CEWEP, while the Plastics Strategy, which represents the Commission’s vision for plastics in a Circular Economy was prominently noticed by the media and stakeholders, there was little or no attention paid to the Commission’s Communication on the interface between chemical, product and waste legislation (Interface Communication) and the accompanying staff document.
Waves of Change South of the Equator
What an amazing week we just had for our efforts at the Plastic Oceans Foundation – both north and south of the equator. While our US Chairman, William Pfeiffer, was representing us in Davos, I was joined in Chile by Chief Evangelist, Craig Leeson, and our Director of Partnerships, Brigette Allen. Hosting and coordinating our journey was Mark Minneboo, Executive Director of Plastic Oceans Chile. With an incredible film crew in tow, we set out to discover and capture examples of multi-sector solutions to plastic pollution. As a nation with over 2,600 miles of coastline, Chile has a vested interest in tackling this issue head-on. We were impressed by the efforts we found to bring together industry leaders, government, NGOs, and local communities, to innovate and act on efforts to reduce the plastic waste that is destroying the oceans and our own human food chain.
Veolia transforms agri-food waste into chemical molecules| #LivingCircular
Tomorrow’s chemical industry will use platform molecules (raw materials) produced from agri-food waste. The realization that oil resources are limited is reviving interest in not only biomass as a source of molecules for the chemical industry, but also in industrial biotechnology. The Move2chem project, which began in 2014, has been used to develop an alternative biotechnology pathway for extracting value-added chemical molecules (organic acids) used in particular in the manufacture of preservatives, solvents, paints and polymers (plastic, rubber, polystyrene, etc.) from effluents or industrial co-products (rarely or not recovered).
EU | Fertilizers, Permanent Grasslands and EFAs – Brussels Briefing
From 1st January, a series of changes in the Common Agriculture Policy have been in effect. Agreed on 12th December, the so-called Omnibus was entered into the official EU record on 29th December. These changes are variously described as simplifications or improvements. However, as we’ve outlined, much of what’s been changed is a step backwards, with changes in Ecological Focus Areas to reduce the ecological dimension in particular being problematic. A positive in this regressive legislation is, however, the scope given to member states to define permanent grassland differently. This could well impact positively on upland farming, on High Nature Value farming, or agroforestry; it could reduce scrub fires and make farming more viable in upland areas in general. However momentum would need to develop in member states to encourage this.
Tackling e-waste the ‘microbial’ way
Written by ANJALI MARAR | Pune | Published: December 7, 2017 4:51 am Their disposal, experts said, is trickier, due to the inclusion of a wide range of metals, some of which are toxic. RELATED NEWS ‘If you can’t collect CFL bulbs, don’t sell so many,’ tells Delhi High Court Discarding e-waste the right way: A baby step towards a clean environment CAG report: UT admn has no exact data on e-waste produced in Chandigarh MOBILE CHARGERS are an inevitable part of our lives, but, once rendered non-functional, they are among one of the most disposed-off electronic waste items found at any e-waste scrap market. A team of scientists from Maharashtra recently conducted a study and developed a unique ‘microbial solution’ for the problem, through which they could extract up to 92 per cent of the metal components from a defunct charger. This would make their disposal safer. The study was recently published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research. With every Indian household today possessing an average of at least three chargers, the item has increased the huge burden of e-waste in the country by several folds. Their disposal, experts said, is trickier, due to the inclusion of a…
E-waste adds to mountain of problems counties face
Electronic waste disposal is the latest headache to counties, which are already grappling with poor refuse collection and dumping. County officials blame cheaper imports and launch of e-government services as factors contributing to huge chunks of e-waste. The increasing number of higher learning institutions, all equipped with electronics, is yet another factor. In Kisii, the county government recently launched a joint programme with Kisii University and the East African Compliance Recycling (EARC) to establish an e-waste collection centre.
China Will Be Crucial to Creating a Global Circular Economy
Shifting towards a more circular economy focused on reuse, remanufacturing and recycling may provide an urgent boost to growth and jobs in developing countries, and China can play a leading role.