Starbucks introduces ‘latte levy’ of 5p on single-use paper cups

A new study commissioned by the EEA shows a clear hierarchy of passenger and freight transport modes, in terms of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Rail and waterborne transport have the lowest emissions per kilometre and unit transported, while aviation and road transport emit significantly more. Alongside shifting to rail and waterborne transport, improving the GHG efficiency of all motorised forms of transport remains an important objective. Moreover, monitoring their GHG efficiency on a regular basis would support these efforts. While active modes, such as walking and cycling, are outside the scope of the study, they are an obvious choice for clean and sustainable mobility because their emissions can be assumed to be close to zero.

Solar is already in the vanguard of the energy transition, and can similarly lead the world’s transition to a circular economy. Decommissioned PV modules could total 1 million tons of waste in the U.S. by 2030. Yet there are virtually no incentives or regulations to promote its recycling or reuse. In fact, says NREL, most current regulations in the U.S. define it as solid waste, making it difficult to introduce it to a recycling value chain. In some instances the waste, defined as hazardous, is prohibited from reuse. Incentives are so poor that companies that do recover in bulk leave behind high-value materials such as silver, copper, and silicon. The main reason is that, at the national level, statutes or regulations that explicitly address PV module recycling simply don’t exist yet. Fortunately, state and industry models are being created.