The Guardian view on recycling: a system in need of deep cleaning | Editorial
Making producers of plastic rubbish pay for it is sensible but the government needs to go further, fasterThe prioritising of plastic packaging in the government’s new waste strategy for England is...
View ArticleRetail gloom is good news for the environment | Letters
Jackie Jones says slumps in retail sales should be seen as a positive thing for the planet, and Patrick Cosgrove has a suggestion for how non-recyclable plastic can be converted into fuel or new...
View ArticleThe answer to plastic pollution is to not create waste in the first place |...
With China refusing foreign waste under its new policy, countries are forced to handle their own plastic pollutionAs holiday shopping ramps up, so do the dizzying varieties of plastic packaging tossed...
View ArticleIs fast fashion giving way to the sustainable wardrobe?
Throwaway garments contribute more to climate change than air and sea travel. Now clothing retailers are bracing for a backlashFashion shoppers spent about £3.5bn on Christmas party clothing this year...
View ArticlePlastic bottle deposit scheme in UK proving hit with shoppers
‘Reverse vending machines’ receive 311,500 bottles to date, says supermarket IcelandShoppers have received the equivalent of more than £30,000 in total for recycling plastic bottles in the first...
View ArticleSearching for scrap in Guatemala City – in pictures
Workers known as guajeros descend daily to search for recyclable items at one of the biggest rubbish dumps in Guatemala City. Hundreds carry out the work, which is dangerous due to mudslides and...
View ArticleCaroline Lucas calls for action in Brighton recycling row
Green party MP presses Veolia to accept more plastic wasteThe recycling company Veolia has been accused of refusing to adapt a 30-year contract to allow Brighton and Hove council to collect more...
View ArticleRecycling problems? Tell us the situation in your area of the UK
We would like your help exploring how different local authorities and contractors deal with domestic recycling collectionsA row over recycling in Green MP Caroline Lucas’s constituency of Brighton...
View ArticleGuardian to be first national newspaper with biodegradable wrapping
The change aims to reduce plastic waste, following readers’ feedbackThe Guardian’s print edition will no longer be sold in plastic packaging, becoming the first national newspaper to switch to...
View ArticleGout gags are not funny for sufferers | Brief letters
Quads, courts and Englishmen | Maggots in medicine | Gout | Compostable packaging | Glass half full | Guardian readers’ longevityIn his review of Michael Peppiatt’s The Existential Englishman: Paris...
View ArticleUK's first contact lens recycling scheme launches
Wearers of any brand of soft lens can now have them collected or drop them off at recycling binsThe UK’s first free national recycling scheme for plastic contact lenses – worn by an estimated 3.7...
View ArticleNestlé targets the last of the plastic Smarties caps in reduction drive
Firm to phase out all non-recyclable or hard to recycle plastic for all its productsThe food and drink multinational Nestlé has stepped up its effort to reduce its use of plastics, rolling out...
View ArticleIndustry alliance sets out $1bn to tackle oceans' plastic waste
Greenpeace sceptical about corporate polluters as alliance launched to reduce wasteThe scourge of plastic waste in the world’s oceans is the target of a new global alliance of businesses which says it...
View ArticleFounders of plastic waste alliance ‘investing billions in new plants’
European NGO says firms are likely to be at centre of global boom in plastic productionThe founding companies behind a self-styled alliance to end plastic waste are among the world’s biggest investors...
View ArticleUp the Brexit canal without a paddle | Brief letters
Sex Pistols | Watery adventures | Compostable wrapping | Organic cleanserI have always thought that the Sex Pistols’ “Don’t know what I want / but I know how to get it” was not so much a “futile,...
View ArticleCoalition of major companies trial reusable packaging for online orders
Under Loop scheme, durable containers will be delivered instead of single-use packagingSeveral of the world’s biggest consumer goods companies are to trial a new scheme of refillable and returnable...
View ArticleMorrisons to trial paper bags for groceries and higher price for plastic bags
The supermarket is increasing the cost of its standard plastic bags up to 15p from 10pMorrisons is to trial the launch of large paper bags for groceries at supermarket check-outs and is raising the...
View ArticleOne year on: where is Australia's recycling going now?
Councils say lack of funding and rock-bottom recycling prices is hampering efforts to build better infrastructure and reinvigorate dying marketRecycling is being stockpiled and council authorities fear...
View ArticleWorse than plastic waste: the burning tyres choking India | George Monbiot
The British government is already flouting its own rules, allowing scrap tyres to be sent abroad for burning – what will happen post-Brexit?What we see is not the economy. What we see is the tiny...
View ArticleUK worst offender in Europe for electronic waste exports – report
Electronic waste hazardous due to toxic parts was tracked to developing countriesThe UK is the worst offender in Europe for illegally exporting toxic electronic waste to developing countries, according...
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