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The City of Toronto is preparing to introduce a new garbage tax that would apply equally to every property in the city, regardless of its assessed value. The Toronto The Globe and Mail reports that although not designed to raise new revenue, the waste-disposal levy will radically alter the way …

Environment Canada (a major Government agency) has released the Canadian Consumer Battery Baseline Study, which reveals that the annual number of consumer batteries discarded is increasing dramatically, releasing a growing amount of dangerous substances into land and water. The Study provides the first national estimates of the amount of heavy …

The ends of carrots from salads, food scraps from vegetables in tacos, coffee grounds, soggy lettuce, and beets and peas from the residence hall food service all have a new life under a programme by a collaboration of departments at Chico State University, Caifornia, according to a report in the …

Even garbage in San Francisco is going green – with the announcement that the city‘‘s entire fleet of garbage and recycling trucks are running on alternative fuel. CBS reports that as of March 19, more than 400 garbage collection vehicles were running on alternative fuels, according to Norcal Waste System …

In the USA, Monroe County officials are developing a plan with High Falls Brewery Co. to turn beer waste into ethanol and produce enough of it to power much of the county‘‘s fleet of vehicles. If all goes well, the county hopes to have extra available to offer ethanol-based fuel …

This report from BBC Online (by John Andrew, BBC local government correspondent) reports that councils in England could soon be allowed to charge residents for the amount of rubbish they throw away. But what effect have "pay as you throw" systems had in other countries? When I visited the Flanders …