The house made from 4,000 video cassettes and two tonnes of jeans

September 5, 2014, 6:24 am

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The Brighton Waste House is Britains first house made almost entirely from rubbish, including chalk, coffee cups and lights en route to Bangladesh

Remember video cassettes, those big black boxes that played pictures? Rendered useless by DVDs, theyve found a new purpose. Some 4,000 of them have built a house, along with two tonnes of denim jeans, 2,000 used carpet tiles and 20,000 toothbrushes.

The result is Britains first house made almost entirely from rubbish. Based at the University of Brighton, the house opened its doors in June and is a live research project, acting as a test-bed for new windows, solar panels, insulation and construction materials.

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Banning food waste: companies in Massachusetts get ready to compost

September 9, 2014, 6:23 am

≫ Next: How a neighbourhood scheme ended a nightmare on Ethel Street

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Massachusetts recently enacted the most aggressive mandatory composting program in history, to affect supermarkets, colleges, nursing homes, and prisons. How are they adapting?

Americas trash stream is stuffed with squandered food 36m tons of it. According to the federal government, tossed food reaches more landfills and incinerators in America than any other municipal solid waste, and its a problem that Massachusetts officials are taking seriously.

Starting 1 October, approximately 1,700 of the states biggest food-waste generators think hospitals, colleges, supermarkets, hotels, nursing homes, prisons and other facilities that produce at least one ton of food waste per week must divert it away from landfills.

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How a neighbourhood scheme ended a nightmare on Ethel Street

September 10, 2014, 2:47 am

≫ Next: How to set up a neighbourhood group

≪ Previous: Banning food waste: companies in Massachusetts get ready to compost

A Halloween party was the unlikely catalyst to the revival in fortunes and community spirit of a street in south Wales

How to set up a neighbourhood community group

It all started with a party on a chilly autumnal evening.

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How to set up a neighbourhood group

September 10, 2014, 2:48 am

≫ Next: How to set up your own Solar School

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A community in a deprived area of Wales learned to use recycling projects and street parties to revive neighbourly spirit. Here are some tips for doing the same in your area

Steven Morris visits Friends and Neighbours Community Alliance

Age: six years

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How to set up your own Solar School

September 12, 2014, 5:36 am

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Want your own school to use solar panels and be a green energy example to pupils? 10:10s Esther Barlow explains how

St Vincents: a school for the visually impaired raising money for solar panels

We managed to involve a rather sceptical community, and everybodys sort of joined together, says Sam White. Theres a lot more crossover now between the people in the community and the school Its brought people together.

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How to create treasures out of rubbish

September 13, 2014, 1:00 am

≫ Next: Consumers offered cash for old gadgets in new recycling scheme

≪ Previous: How to set up your own Solar School

The Skip Sisters go skip-diving en masse, build dolls out of pianos and never let a good piece of rubbish go to waste

The best thing about skips? You never know what youre going to find, the Skip Sisters tell me about their upcycling, waste-salvaging, eco-arts collective. For the past eight years, the group of five friends has been delving into skips, rummaging through rubbish and looking for potential treasure left on the street. They then get together with their finds and transform them into anything from lamps made from old Bisto tins to cushion covers, cake stands and jewellery.

Edori, Julia, Pia, Lizzzie and Helen all live within a few streets of each other in south London. Their now grown-up children went to school together, and the women discovered their shared interest in craft at the school gates.

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Consumers offered cash for old gadgets in new recycling scheme

November 18, 2014, 3:54 am

≫ Next: Recycling rates in England have stalled

≪ Previous: How to create treasures out of rubbish

Over 50 companies, including Samsung, Dell, Sky and B&Q, have signed up to UK government-backed plan to refurbish and resell unwanted electrical goods

Consumers will be urged to trade in their unwanted electrical gadgets at retailers in return for cash – with the products to be refurbished and resold – as part of a national initiative unveiled on Tuesday.

The government-backed plan to improve the disposal of electric waste is supported by 51 companies and organisations including Samsung, Dell, Sky, B&Q, and the owner of Argos and Homebase.

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Recycling rates in England have stalled

November 18, 2014, 4:46 am

≫ Next: What's the role of local authorities and communities in a circular economy? - live chat

≪ Previous: Consumers offered cash for old gadgets in new recycling scheme

Household recycling rates have flatlined at just above 44% for the second year running

Households appear to have given up trying to recycle more of their rubbish, official statistics suggest, which show that recycling rates in England have stalled.

Recycling rates flatlined in England last year, rising just 0.1 percentage point on the year before, to 44.2%.

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What's the role of local authorities and communities in a circular economy? - live chat

November 18, 2014, 10:28 am

≫ Next: Closing the loop on steel: what we can learn from a manufacturer in Ecuador

≪ Previous: Recycling rates in England have stalled

Join the experts for an online discussion on Friday 21 November 1.30-2.30pm GMT to explore how to push the circular agenda at a local level

Local authorities and communities, along with businesses and NGOs, have a huge role to play in challenging and changing the way we think about waste.

The Green Alliance estimates that there is £1.7bn worth of value to be captured through more joined up recycling. For example, in turning discarded products such as plastics and food waste into new plastic bottles and energy (through anaerobic digestion), and in repairing (rather than discarding) old electronics.

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Closing the loop on steel: what we can learn from a manufacturer in Ecuador

November 19, 2014, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Buying secondhand: an alternative to rampant consumerism of Black Friday

≪ Previous: What's the role of local authorities and communities in a circular economy? - live chat

Despite a strong business case for recycling scrap steel, uptake has been low. One company in Ecuador is blazing a trail for steel and the circular economy in Latin America

In the next few decades, as resource scarcity starts to bite, and resource prices steadily climb, mining and metals companies will be forced to shape-shift from primary extractors to secondary recyclers. Necessity, rather than an unexpected attack of conscience, will be the driving force behind this transition to a circular economy. So let’s look at some lessons from the sector most ripe for revolution, namely the steel industry.

In 2013, world crude steel production totalled 1.6bn tonnes and employed 50 million people, either directly or indirectly. The industry is vocal in its support for sustainable development, claiming that – despite massive growth in demand – the amount of energy required to produce a tonne of steel has been reduced by 50% in the past 30 years.

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Buying secondhand: an alternative to rampant consumerism of Black Friday

November 28, 2014, 7:26 am

≫ Next: Can North Sea installations be recycled, or decommissioned sustainably?

≪ Previous: Closing the loop on steel: what we can learn from a manufacturer in Ecuador

With three men arrested in Tesco and a woman hit by a falling television, there’s a safer more sustainable alternative to Black Friday

Today, thousands are expected to descend on stores across the UK to snap up Black Friday deals. Visa Europe estimates that UK consumers will spend £360,000 a minute on their credit cards and make 8.5m online transactions.

Such is the frenzy, Greater Manchester Police have appealed for calm after “disturbances” in seven Tesco shops, in which three men have been arrested and a woman was hit by a falling television.

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Can North Sea installations be recycled, or decommissioned sustainably?

December 1, 2014, 6:34 am

≫ Next: EU plans to scrap laws on clean air and waste recycling

≪ Previous: Buying secondhand: an alternative to rampant consumerism of Black Friday

Encouraging oil and gas operators to find ways of reusing assets comes with its own challenges – economics being one of them

According to the Oil & Gas UK Economic Report 2013 (pdf), in the UK continental shelf – an area of the North Sea with large resources of hydrocarbons – some 475 installations, 10,000km of pipelines, 15 onshore terminals and 5,000 wells will eventually need to be decommissioned. Over the next 25 years, decommissioning costs are forecast to be in the region of £31.5bn. Prioritising smarter end-of-life approaches such as reuse, remanufacture and design for repairability could help to reduce some of this expenditure for a sector under pressure to cut the environmental impacts of its operations.

In Scotland, moves are under way to capitalise on this. Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) is working with a number of stakeholders to explore how circular economy principles can be applied in this field. Decom North Sea (DNS) is leading on much of this work through facilitating closer co-operation and collaboration between North Sea operators and the decommissioning supply chain.

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EU plans to scrap laws on clean air and waste recycling

December 11, 2014, 10:17 am

≫ Next: EU backs down on plans to axe waste and air quality directives

≪ Previous: Can North Sea installations be recycled, or decommissioned sustainably?

Killing draft laws designed to prevent 58,000 premature deaths and increase recycling would be economic suicide, say MEPs

EU plans to tackle air pollution that causes tens of thousands of premature deaths and make countries recycle more of their rubbish are to be scrapped, according to leaked documents.

At risk are a clean air directive designed to reduce the health impacts from air pollution caused by vehicles, industry and power plants, and a waste directive that would set states the target of recycling 70% of waste by 2030.

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EU backs down on plans to axe waste and air quality directives

December 16, 2014, 9:25 am

≫ Next: Italy says it will oppose EU plans to scrap environment law

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European laws to boost recycling and cut air pollution deaths will be amended rather than scrapped

The European Commission has stepped back from plans to scrap ambitious waste recycling and air quality targets, following an outcry after they were leaked, but both pieces of legislation will be heavily amended.

Last week the Guardian reported that a clean air directive designed to reduce the health impacts from air pollution and a waste directive that would set states the target of recycling 70% of waste by 2030 were at risk. But on Tuesday the commission’s vice president Frans Timmermans rowed back on the original plans to axe them.

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Italy says it will oppose EU plans to scrap environment law

December 17, 2014, 2:42 am

≫ Next: What a circular economy looks like inside a Christmas stocking

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Eleven member states signed letter opposing withdrawal of draft EU law on air quality and waste

Plans by European policymakers to scrap a draft EU law on air quality and waste send a “negative signal” about Europe’s ambition to curb climate change and governments will challenge them, the Italian environment minister said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the European commission laid out its legislative plans for 2015, saying it would focus on priorities such as jobs and economic growth. At the same time, it planned to withdraw some proposals made by the previous EU executive, including on improving air quality and cutting waste.

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What a circular economy looks like inside a Christmas stocking

December 19, 2014, 4:30 am

≫ Next: Circular economy: the top 5 stories of 2014

≪ Previous: Italy says it will oppose EU plans to scrap environment law

We look at sustainability via six popular festive stocking fillers

Ever wondered what the circular economy might look like inside a Christmas stocking? We take a look at six popular festive stocking fillers – from traditional treats to coveted toys – and assess how society might take a more resourceful approach to consumption at this time of year. To what extent could these items be reused, recovered or repurposed to maximise their life?

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Circular economy: the top 5 stories of 2014

December 23, 2014, 5:50 am

≫ Next: Don't throw it all into the blue bin: seven tips for smart Christmas recycling

≪ Previous: What a circular economy looks like inside a Christmas stocking

This year’s most-read circular economy stories featured edible water bottles, groceries without the packaging and Scotland’s solution for recycling nappies

What a circular economy looks like inside a Christmas stocking

In a recent Guardian Sustainable Business survey, readers identified the circular economy as one of the hottest sustainability topics for 2015. From Scotland to Japan, coffee to shallots, here’s what was most read in 2014. Take this quiz to put your circular economy knowledge to the test and find out what you’ve learned over the last 12 months.

1. Berlin duo launch a supermarket with no packaging

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Don't throw it all into the blue bin: seven tips for smart Christmas recycling

December 25, 2014, 11:43 am

≫ Next: Rice waste makes ‘green wood’ to build low-cost homes in India | Carla Kweifio-Okai

≪ Previous: Circular economy: the top 5 stories of 2014

After the gifts are unwrapped and the food is eaten, the holidays often leave us with a lot of trash. Here’s a guide to making sure it all ends up in the right place

Trash cans routinely overflow during the holiday season, when we generate over 25% more waste than usual. Happily, so do recycling bins: a higher percentage of waste ends up in the blue bins over the holidays than during the rest of the year, says Tom Carpenter, director of sustainability services at Waste Management, North America’s largest waste and recycling company.

Unfortunately, it’s also increasingly common for the wrong things to end up in those recycling bins, he says.

“Many people try to do the right thing,” he said. “More people are trying to put everything into the recycling bins. That’s increased the total volume of material we get, but we’re also seeing many bad mistakes – and more of that volume is actually [trash].”

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Rice waste makes ‘green wood’ to build low-cost homes in India | Carla Kweifio-Okai

January 3, 2015, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: TraidRemade launches two limited-edition collections – in pictures

≪ Previous: Don't throw it all into the blue bin: seven tips for smart Christmas recycling

An Indian student with a farming background finds a green alternative to burning tons of rice husks and straw by using the waste as housebuilding material

When Bisman Deu saw her family burning mounds of rice waste at their farm in southern India, she was convinced the material could be put to better use.

The Delhi student, 16, came up with the idea of recycling the unwanted rice husks and straw into an alternative building material. “I’d go to my family’s farm, where my dad grew up, for the holidays, and see them burning piles and piles of it. The harvesting months are the worst and the black smoke gets quite harmful, causing people to have problems breathing, as well as polluting the environment,” Deu said.

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TraidRemade launches two limited-edition collections – in pictures

October 10, 2014, 2:24 am

≫ Next: Reusing and recycling waste materials could create 200,000 jobs

≪ Previous: Rice waste makes ‘green wood’ to build low-cost homes in India | Carla Kweifio-Okai

The ethical fashion label TraidRemade has collaborated with Percival menswear and Olivia Hegarty on two limited-edition men and women’s collections. Every piece is made in the UK from reclaimed textiles, mainly using pre-consumer waste sources from luxury brands and fashion houses

Launching at the Percival store, 43 Berwick Street, London, on Thursday 9 October, where it will be available to buy for one night, then online at traidremade.com

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