Jordan, Israel agree to water deal, more West Bank trade

Discussions around the circular economy are increasing. The concept, an economic model that encourages continuous reuse of materials to minimise waste, has been described by Gartner as starting with “good design, end of life and raw material reuse in mind”. It is not simply a theory, either. Back in February 2020, the analyst revealed that 70 per cent of supply chain leaders are planning to invest in the circular economy in the next 18 months. The likes of Maersk, Caterpillar, IKEA, Philips Lighting, Rolls Royce, Timberland and Nestle are all developing circular economy initiatives, while others are building dedicated departments and hiring talent to specifically drive related projects.

In mid-April, nearly 150 local environmentalists marched to the gates of Greenidge Generation, a bitcoin mining facility in upstate New York, in a last-ditch effort to block its expansion. Their objection: that the creation of the cryptocurrency, an energy-intensive process in which computers compete to solve mathematical puzzles, may harm efforts to limit global warming. Three days later, the planning board in the small town of Torrey voted 4-1 to allow Greenidge Generation to more than double the number of machines it has mining bitcoin.