Robin Murray obituary
Economist who promoted fair trade and recycling in his quest for more equitable social structuresRobin Murray, who has died aged 76, advocated and implemented new forms of social and economic...
View ArticleWhat's the best step you've taken to reduce waste? Share your tips
Australians have been spurred into action to reduce their rubbish by the ABC’s War on Waste. We want to know your top recycling tips For Christina Grogan, it came down to knowing exactly what to do...
View ArticleBetter bedfellows: how mattress manufacturers are stopping the waste
Social enterprise Soft Landing is joining forces with bed manufacturers in a push to recycle mattress parts and divert it from landfill It doesn’t matter how deep you bury an old mattress, eventually...
View ArticleChina's informal army of recyclers keep plastic bottles out of landfill
In the global rush for bottled water, China leads the way. But while cities lack official recycling schemes, some residents are turning the tide of plastic waste into cash and keeping it out of landfil...
View ArticleHow to live without plastic bottles ...
Our dependence on plastic has to end as we contribute to an estimated 12m tonnes entering our oceans, polluting marine life, every yearStaying hydrated is good for our health. But contributing to the...
View ArticleCould a money-back scheme clean up the UK's plastic bottle plague?
Deposit return schemes for plastic bottles have been shown to cut litter and increase recycling in many countries – but not everyone agrees they’re a good ideaMore than 4m plastic bottles a week could...
View ArticleEnterprise and ingenuity thrive amid the waste in Nairobi – photo essay
Its fetid landscape may be strewn with debris from the sprawling Kenyan capital, but fortune favours the bold at Nairobi’s Enterprise Road recycling centreIt is an apocalyptic scene. Fires burn amid...
View ArticleStop exporting plastic waste to China to boost recycling at home, say experts
Governments must end incentives that see plastic waste shipped abroad, where it may be buried or burned, rather than being turned back into bottles at home, say industry leadersGovernments must stop...
View ArticleThe Guardian view on tackling our plastics problem: don’t bottle it | Editorial
Annual consumption of plastic bottles is set to top half a trillion by 2021. We cannot afford this addictionInvention is the mother of necessity, warned Thorstein Veblen. So packaged water is now seen...
View ArticleThe house that Tateh built ... out of sand-filled plastic bottles
In the Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian desert, Tateh Lehbib Braica – aka ‘the crazy bottle guy’ – has built circular houses from waste plastic that protect from wind and sun A group of women...
View ArticleMuseum of London junk exhibition reveals human joy in repairs
Roman bowls mended with pine tree resin, a plate fixed with staples and snapped spoons reveal we haven’t always been so squeamish about recyclingWretched objects including shattered bowls, cooking pans...
View ArticleTackling the plastic bottle crisis and our wider disregard for nature | Letters
Green co-leader Caroline Lucas says she hopes to build a cross-party coalition to stop bottle wastage, while other correspondents offer their thoughts on protecting the environmentThe Guardian’s...
View ArticleWar on waste: readers share their top tips for reducing their environmental...
We asked, you answered: advice on reducing waste with jamjars, Bokashi bins, composting and backyard chickensIt’s the show that’s captured our imaginations. The ABC’s recent TV series War on Waste,...
View ArticleTackle UK's plastic bottle problem with money-back scheme, ministers told
Opposition parties increase pressure for deposit return initiative to boost recycling and keep litter off streets and beachesThe UK government is under growing pressure to introduce a money-back return...
View ArticleI pick up plastic waste to save it from landfill. It's lonely but worth it
In my single-handed fight I have collected 180,000 items – 50 pieces of litter a day for 10 years. If only the world didn’t find this weird Who’s that weirdo? Sadly, the answer is me. I can feel the...
View ArticleThe troubling fire record of UK recycling plants
There are more than 300 fires a year at UK waste and recycling plants. New guidance hopes to reduce this statisticFire crews were called out on Tuesday to extinguish a major fire at a waste plant in...
View ArticlePlastic free July: cutting down single use plastics is easier than it seems
Plastic seems inescapable but there are easy ways like quitting junk food, carrying your own cutlery and using up leftovers that will make a differenceBy now, we all know the horrors of plastic. The...
View ArticleCoca-Cola to increase amount of recycled plastic in its bottles
Exclusive: move to improve targets and increase support for recycling comes amid pressure from environmentalistsCoca-Cola is to increase the amount of recycled plastic in its bottles to 50% amid...
View ArticleCoke's recycled plastic bottle scheme criticised as PR spin by green groups
Drinks giant’s proposals to reduce plastic waste are unambitious and vague, say some enviromental groupsCoca-Cola’s plan to reduce the millions of plastic bottles that end in the world’s oceans every...
View ArticleIf you care so much, Coke, why aren't your bottles 100% recycled?
Coca-Cola sells more than 100bn single-use plastic bottles a year. Its plans to increase recycled plastic in its bottles to 50% are startlingly unambitiousCoca-Cola’s grand announcement on plastic...
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