Most Australians don’t know what to do with their dead pets, vapes and lightbulbs, a waste survey has found
While Australia may be a pet-loving nation, a majority seem perplexed at what to do when a beloved animal dies.
Survey results commissioned by the waste management company Veolia show 80% of Australians do not know how to dispose of dead pets, with 38% putting them in the bin and 42% not knowing what to do at all.
Continue reading...Fire chief says incorrect disposal of devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are ‘disaster waiting to happen’
Fires caused by batteries in waste have gone up by 71% in the UK since 2022, as the rise of disposable vapes and other portable battery-powered devices leads to more lithium-ion batteries ending up in the bin.
An increase in the number of these devices being thrown in household rubbish bins has led to more than 1,200 fires in the waste system in the past 12 months, compared with 700 in 2022, according to research conducted by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the campaign group Recycle Your Electricals.
Continue reading...Pilot scheme supplies 1,000 folding boxes to farms and wholesalers to reduce single-use cardboard, paper and plastic
A pilot scheme to replace cardboard produce boxes with reusable plastic crates has been launched in Victoria, with the aim to cut “invisible” cardboard waste.
The Victoria Unboxed project, led by the food charity Sustain with Sustainable Victoria, has supplied 1,000 reusable plastic crates to transport produce from farms to venues, wholesalers and homes across Melbourne. The trial aims to reduce the need for single-use packaging, including cardboard, plastic and paper waste.
Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter
Continue reading...A 12-year industry roadmap has been unveiled to address the rising amount of solar panel waste headed for the tip
The solar industry is quickly approaching its tipping point, with unprecedented levels of waste headed for the tip.
Solar panel waste levels will reach a crisis point in the next two to three years instead of by 2030, as was previously forecast, according to a white paper released this week.
Continue reading...RMIT team develops method that could replace common lead-acid batteries, offering a safer and more recyclable alternative
An RMIT-led research team has come up with an innovative way to make greener, safer, recyclable “water batteries” that could replace common lead-acid batteries.
There are three key components that make up a battery: a cathode, an anode and an electrolyte. In common lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries, the electrolyte is a liquid chemical solution that, once inserted, cannot be easily recovered.
Continue reading...Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says Defra
British households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.
Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) – from cables to toasters and power tools – collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a consultation published on Thursday. The ambition is for retailers, rather than the taxpayer, to pick up the tab for these new ways of disposing of defunct, often toxic products safely. The measures are due to come into force in two years’ time.
Continue reading...Regulators approve rules to let agencies recycle wastewater into drinking water for homes, schools and businesses
When a toilet is flushed in California, the water can end up in a lot of places: an ice-skating rink in Ontario, ski slopes around Lake Tahoe, farmland in the central valley.
And – coming soon – kitchen faucets.
Continue reading...Consumers left angry and dismayed when they found out the truth about these terms, says Advertising Standards Authority study
Plastic bottles, takeaway cups and food packaging that could take an unlimited amount of time to break down are being advertised as “biodegradable”, with the advertising regulator calling for more clarity on such claims from businesses.
British consumers believe they are making green choices while disposing of waste when they are often not, according to a new report. The study, from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), based on extensive interviews with consumers, found widespread misunderstandings around common terms such as “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “recyclable”, leaving participants angry when they discovered what they meant.
Continue reading...Rules, still subject to formal approval, stop exports to non-OECD countries and limit them elsewhere
The EU has struck a deal to stop ships of waste plastic landing in ports of poor countries.
European lawmakers and member states agreed on Friday to ban exports of plastic rubbish to countries outside the OECD group of mostly rich countries from the middle of 2026. The deal comes as diplomats meet in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out a global treaty on plastic pollution.
Continue reading...Miles Roberts of packaging-maker DS Smith warns manufacturing will decline unless government provides clarity about decarbonisation
The UK risks seeing its manufacturing sector fall behind rival economies if the government does not offer certainty over policies on shifting to green energy, according to the head of FTSE 100 packaging maker DS Smith.
Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France, while waiting for more clarity from government before investing in upgrades in the UK.
Continue reading...A blanket ‘bring or buy’ reusable scheme has been introduced in the town, which was getting through 23,000 cups a week
Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.
The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.
Continue reading...Whitehall watchdog gives red rating to set of measures aimed to bring net-zero goals, amid backlash over retreat on climate policy
Rishi Sunak has been accused of showing disregard for the climate crisis after Whitehall officials warned that some of his key green pledges were already unachievable.
With the prime minister facing a backlash within his own party after appearing to row back from his commitment to green policies, an internal government audit found that a series of measures designed to help meet Britain’s net-zero goals had been allowed to run off course.
Continue reading...People will be able to claim back €6-€25 of cost of repairing clothes and shoes in latest environmental measure
A broken heel, a rip in trousers, buttons missing from a shirt? Don’t throw them away if you live in France, where the government will pay a “repair bonus” to have them mended in a new scheme aimed at cutting waste.
An estimated 700,000 tonnes of clothing is thrown away in France every year, two-thirds ending up in landfill.
Continue reading...Plastics consumed nationally in 2019-20 created 16m tonnes of greenhouse gases, report says
The plastics consumed yearly by Australians have a greenhouse emissions impact equivalent to 5.7m cars – more than a third of the cars on Australia’s roads, new analysis suggests.
A report commissioned by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and WWF Australia has found that the plastics consumed nationally in the 2019-20 financial year created 16m tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...New rules agreed at meeting of environment ministers welcomed as breakthrough by conservationists
Industry will be forced to do more to cut waste and boost recycling after Australia’s federal and state governments agreed for the first time to impose mandatory packaging rules on manufacturers and retailers.
The agreement, at a meeting of environment ministers in Sydney on Friday, was welcomed by conservationists as a major breakthrough after years of voluntary industry action has failed to reduce waste.
Continue reading...As consumers turn to renewable and recyclable products, protests over industry’s use of misleading terms have proliferated
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at greenwashing by big business with an update to its “Green Guides”, which would give the agency stronger legal cases against polluters by clarifying when companies’ deceptive marketing around sustainability and environmental responsibility violates federal law.
The move follows years of formal complaints filed with the FTC about often highly questionable claims made by fossil fuel companies, big agriculture, major food producers and other polluting industries.
Continue reading...Dozens of storage sites found across Australia but estimated amount of plastic reportedly falls from 12,350 tonnes to 11,000
New stockpiles of soft plastics from the failed REDcycle recycling scheme have been uncovered as the work to develop an alternative program continues.
The program was wound up in November 2022 after it emerged that plastics consumers had returned to supermarkets to be recycled were instead put into storage.
Continue reading...Tests show recycled concrete could safely be used in new buildings in war- and quake-stricken country
Concrete rubble from destroyed buildings in Syria can be safely recycled into new concrete, scientists have shown, which will make the rebuilding of the war-hit country faster, cheaper and greener.
Syria, which was also hit by a huge earthquake in February, has a vast amount of concrete rubble, estimated at 40m tonnes. The key barrier to recycling this waste is ensuring that the new concrete is as strong and safe as conventional concrete.
Continue reading...More than 25m panels are expected to be installed across the state over the next decade
Queenslanders would be banned from dumping solar panels in landfill within the decade in order to reduce electronic waste under a proposed recycling expansion program.
The Palaszczuk government on Sunday announced its draft e-products waste action plan, which outlined the proposal to ban the dumping of solar panels within five to 10. The plan also aims to encourage the repair and reuse of household electronic products like fridges and mobile phones.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...Environmentalist alliance says plastic waste from failed supermarket-backed recycling scheme can be safely warehoused until it can be recycled
Environment groups are urging federal and state governments to ensure thousands of tonnes of soft plastic that could end up in landfill are safely warehoused by supermarket chains until recycling facilities become available, even if that takes years.
The Boomerang Alliance – a coalition of 55 conservation groups – has accused the packaging industry of using a failed scheme run by REDcycle which led to more than 12,000 tonnes of plastic collected by the public being stockpiled since 2018 as a marketing ploy to mask how little is being done to improve recycling rates.
Continue reading...