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The gold may be hidden in household items that many people treat as junk, such as old cell phones, routers, modems, motherboards, televisions, and even unused appliances. The metal appears in small but valuable quantities in the internal circuits of these devices.

by Silvia Martelli (Il Sole 24 Ore), Gianpaolo Sorgi (Voxeurope, France), Ana Somavilla (El Confidencial, Spain) and Ieva Kniukštienė (Delphi, Lithuania) For decades, the symbol of tobacco consumption was the cigarette butt: small, ubiquitous, difficult to dispose of. Today, however, a new, more complex and potentially more dangerous type of waste is appearing in European cities: disposable electronic cigarettes. Coloured, cheap and designed to be consumed quickly, so-called 'puffs' contain plastic, electronic circuits, chemical liquids and lithium batteries. A combination that turns them, at the end of their use, into real electronic waste. And while the public debate focuses mainly on the effects of vaping on health - particularly among teenagers and the very young - environmental alarm is growing in parallel. Many devices end up in municipal bins or directly in the street, instead of being disposed of in dedicated e-waste circuits. The consequences range from the dispersion of polluting materials to the risk of fires in waste treatment plants caused by damaged lithium batteries. Faced with the rapid spread of single-use e-cigs, several European countries are starting to take action. Some, such as Belgium and France, have chosen the path of a ban. Others are strengthening collection and producer responsibility systems. In the background, a common question remains: how to handle technological products designed to last a few days, but destined to leave a much longer environmental footprint? France is one of the countries that has taken the hardest line. With a law of 24 February 2025, Paris banned the sale, distribution and even possession for commercial purposes of pre-filled and non-refillable disposable electronic cigarettes. However, the measure does not introduce a specific collection system for these devices: e-cigs remain covered by the general legislation on electronic waste and batteries. In practice, the devices have to be delivered to the normal col...

The virtually indestructible Pfas waste puts largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates say The nation’s garbage incinerators are largely failing to eliminate Pfas “forever chemicals” air pollution, and are putting people in largely low-income neighborhoods at risk, public health advocates and independent experts warn. The powerful waste management industry is increasingly pushing incinerators as a solution to virtually indestructible Pfas waste, and a new industry trade group report alleges Minnesota’s incinerators are reducing their forever chemical emissions by 99.6%. Other incinerator operators have made similar reduction claims. The report also comes amid fights to shut down incinerators in Miami, Philadelphia and Baltimore, and a lawsuit filed against the Environmental Protection Agency over what it characterizes as a weak update to its emissions standards for the facilities, which do not include Pfas. Nearly 100 municipal or hazardous waste incinerators operate nationally, including seven in Minnesota. The new Minnesota report is full of bad assumptions, incomplete data, misleading language, and fails to conduct proper testing, according to an analysis by the Zero Burn Coalition advocacy group and reviews by independent incineration experts. Instead, advocates say, Minnesota’s facilities are probably poisoning the surrounding neighborhoods with Pfas and a cocktail of other dangerous pollutants that garbage incineration often emits. The report “deceives the public into thinking [incineration] is safe”, said Nazir Khan, executive director of the Minnesota Environmental Justice Table. “This trash becomes the problem of the poor and marginalized to deal with in their bodies,” he added. In a statement, the Minnesota Resources Recovery Association (MRRA) industry trade group that authored the report said Zero Burn’s analysis raised some valid points, but “does not support the conclusion that Pfas emissions from [Minnesota incinerators...

Researchers from India's Homi Bhabha National Institute and Bhabha Atomic Research Centre have demonstrated an efficient route for converting high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic waste into high-quality turbostratic graphene using flash Joule heating (FJH), while directly validating its performance in supercapacitor electrodes. The approach relies on rapid capacitive discharge to drive extremely fast resistive heating of the polymer precursor, reaching temperatures above 2500°C within milliseconds. This ultrafast thermal spike induces carbonization and graphitization in a single step, eliminating the need for external furnaces, catalysts, or solvents. Compared to conventional graphene production routes such as chemical vapor deposition or chemical oxidation, the FJH process is significantly simpler, avoids hazardous chemicals entirely, and reduces both energy consumption and environmental impact. HDPE, a widely used thermoplastic found in packaging and consumer products, represents a major fraction of global plastic waste. Its chemical stability and high molecular weight make it persistent in the environment, contributing to long-term pollution and microplastic formation. Traditional recycling methods often downgrade its value due to polymer degradation, and only a small portion of the more than 400 million tonnes of plastic produced annually is effectively recycled. Converting such waste into graphene offers a compelling upcycling pathway, transforming a low-value pollutant into a high-performance nanomaterial. Material characterization confirms the high quality of the synthesized graphene. Raman spectroscopy shows a high I2D/IG ratio of 1.22 and a low ID/IG ratio of 0.05, indicating well-ordered graphitic domains with minimal defects. Complementary analyses using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) further validate the formation of turbostratic graphene structures. Th...

... FILE - Compost made from decomposed green kitchen scraps, yard litter and garden waste, appears in New Market, Va., on March 8, 2009. (AP ...

During a visit to the Jindal Waste-to-Energy Plant at Kondaveedu in Palnadu district, the Deputy Chief Minister emphasised the need to convert waste into a resource through segregation, processing and energy generation.

Launched in 2021 with support from WWF-Norway and WWF-Vietnam, the "Hue – Plastic Smart City" project is transforming central Vietnam's historic city into a model for plastic reduction. The initiative targets the protection of Hue's rivers, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems from plastic pollution, setting a blueprint for sustainable urban development across the region.

Howard County, Maryland has made history as the home of the first human composting facility on the East Coast. Earth Funeral, the company behind the operation, offers an eco-friendly alternative to traditional burial methods, transforming human remains into nutrient-rich soil. The milestone marks a growing shift toward greener end-of-life options across the United States.

Composting doesn't have to mean buying expensive bins or following complicated systems. TikTok creator Nicholasisbarefoot is showing followers that burying food scraps directly in the ground — just 12 to 18 inches deep — can be just as effective, with the area ready for planting trees or vegetation within a month or two. Whether you have a backyard or live in a city, the creator argues there's always an option, from community gardens to sharing scraps with a composting neighbor.

A new publication is championing a fundamental shift in how we handle waste, pushing for people-centered approaches that prioritize source separation, recycling, and composting over conventional disposal methods. Rather than treating waste as a problem to be buried or burned, the report argues that communities should be empowered to actively participate in sorting and recovering valuable materials. This human-first philosophy places residents at the heart of sustainable waste solutions.