English

Staff from the Centre for Environmental Studies in the Hospitality Industry at Oxford Brookes University are rolling up their sleeves and picking through the contents of rubbish bins at licensed premises across the district. The Glass Goes Green project, which aims to reduce the vast quantity of glass that is …

The Asahi Shimbun (a Japanese newspaper) reports on what seems to be just a cement-making process. The city of Hidaka in Saitama Prefecture now views its garbage as a resource rather than just watching it go up in smoke. So the city has done away with incinerators and ash dumpsites …

The Western Mail reports that Welsh entrepreneurs have pioneered a way to turn biodegradable household waste into an “aphrodisiac for plants”, using 32 million “workers”. With the help of millions of worms, the transformation from rubbish to fertiliser takes less than two weeks, and the company has won cash backing …

Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Dr David Kemp has launched a voluntary product stewardship commitment by the Vinyl Council of Australia to improve environmental performance in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) industry. The commitment will promote more environmentally friendly practices in the production, use and disposal of PVC products …

Most people living in Scotland want to recycle their household waste but say there are not enough facilities allowing them to do so, according to a new report. However, Scotland’s actual recycling rate suggests that those surveyed in Scotland (in common with many other polls) tend to over-estimate their own …

‘Rubbish trading’ is the Government’s latest response to Britain’s waste crisis. Local councils will now have to buy and sell permits among themselves if they want to dump rubbish. The UK newspaper the Independent reports that this will provide an incentive to cut waste councils send to landfill: Council A …

A one-year WRAP funded project aims to help increase glass recycling. BRE-led research will assess the recycling opportunities for non-contaminated, high-grade flat glass and non-contaminated timber and plastic profiles from the demolition and replacement window industries. In case you are not familiar with WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme …

Coming hard on the heels of Biffa’s book Future Perfect, the US EPA are also casting their minds forward to 2020. Beyond RCRA: Prospects for Waste & Materials Management in the Year 2020 is a discussion paper which was developed jointly by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state …

Partnerships are crucial if eco-efficiency is to be a real business opportunity, combat increased waste and emissions and contribute towards sustainable development. That was a main message of Aiming for Eco-Efficiency in Resource Use, the third international conference of ASSURRE. “Eco-efficiency can only be achieved by diverse sectors working together …

Waste reduction presents opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at every stage of a product’s life cycle. This document from the US EPA’s WasteWise programme provides an overview of the climate change and waste link and highlights WasteWise partners that have achieved GHG reductions by reusing products, recycling, and …