Are we losing sight of the real sustainability goal in our quest to find convenient solutions? This year’s shelves have been stocked with bamboo straws, paper bags and compostable coffee cups.
Was the Resources and Waste Strategy worth the wait? Just before Christmas, Defra published England’s first new waste strategy for 11 years.
Vegware's Eilidh Brunton: 'Compostable packaging has gone from nice to mainstream' Everyone was touched one way or another by the ‘Attenborough effect’, following the broadcast of BBC’s Blue Planet II, but few more so than Edinburgh-based compostable packaging manufacturers Vegware.
How TOMRA is developing its technology to serve a growing demand for high quality recyclate Whether it’s sorting, mining, recycling or food, the TOMRA brand is known across the world.
Why South East Asia's import restrictions could present a golden opportunity for the UK When China banned the importation of 24 types of waste, mainly plastic and paper, the consensus was that other regions would step up and fill the void.
How can we keep momentum going in the fight against plastic pollution? By now, we’re all well-rehearsed on the whys and wherefores of the great plastic purge of 2018.
Plogging: the new Scandi trend which promises to clean up the environment and get you fit Scandinavian lifestyle crazes have been very popular in the UK over the past few years.
O Come, All Ye Wasteful- preventing excess packaging at Christmas More than any other time of the year, Christmas is when excess packaging gets noticed – and the problem seems to be getting worse. So what can industry and consumers do about it?
Why we need radical interventions to deal with marine plastics Awareness of the global waste crisis being caused by plastic in the sea is growing, but the momentum behind finding a solution is increasing painfully slowly.
How to keep pests away from the workplace Pests, especially rodents and flying insects, can be a big problem for recycling centres.
Dealing with contamination in recycling DS Smith’s focus on quality recycling comes from our need to source clean paper fibres to supply our paper mills which, in turn, feed our packaging plants.
Looks good on paper The UK’s paper recycling performance is laudable, but work lies ahead in areas such as improving raw material quality and, as with everything else at the moment, adapting to Brexit, the Confederation of Paper Industries’ Simon Weston reports
2016: The good, the bad and the ugly 2016 has been what you might call an annus inopinatum – an unexpected year (though with the UK voting out of the EU and the US voting in DT, many readers may well want to stick with annus horribilis). David Burrows picks the key stories and quotes from each month’s RWW 1 comment
2016: A year of relative stability Simon Weston, director of raw materials at the Confederation of Paper Industries, reports on the last 12 months of activity in the paper recycling sector
Wake up and smell the coffee The UK gets through an estimated five billion disposable cups a year, but just a fraction are recycled. Campaigners and consumers want action, but will a new industry manifesto be enough to prevent a tax? David Burrows reports
Thinking outside the box Peter Clayson explains how recycled corrugated and plastics packaging specialist DS Smith has continued to succeed while others have fallen by the wayside, and its goal to become the leading supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods. By Geraldine Faulkner
What did the waste sector achieve in 2014? This year ended much like the last: in disappointment. But despite the lack of interest shown in waste policy across Whitehall and, perhaps even Europe, the sector has carried on regardless. Freelance writer, David Burrows looks at the highs and lows of the UK waste management industry over the last 12 months.
Is this 'simply' the best way forward for disposal cups? Disposable paper cups have long been a difficult waste stream to capture. Is the Simply Cups initiative a solution? David Burrows investigates.
Optimising production and increasing profits With the recycling sector estimated to be worth around nine billion pounds, high quality recyclable materials are now commodities with baling technologies sitting at the heart of this growing industry. Claire Col reports.
How will TEEP impact local authorities' operations? Waste management consultants, Steve Rymill and Dr Adam Read of Ricardo-AEA consider the implications of TEEP (technically, environmentally and economically practicable) for local authorities and how they should work their way through all the new guidance that is now available.
Driving change beyond 2015: The way forward for waste Waste and resource management beyond 2015 and the importance of reuse and quality recycling were some of the issues tackled at the CIWM and ESA conference last week with speakers calling for integrated policies, a clear roadmap and a reframing of the waste and resource debate. Geraldine Faulkner reports.
Illegal packaging and its impact on the UK Europe’s packaging firms are calling for more testing of overseas products following a flood of cheap imports from the Far East that don’t comply with regulations and threaten to contaminate recycling streams. David Burrows, freelance writer, investigates.
What impact will the new MRF Regulations have? What will the new materials recovery facilities (MRF) Regulations mean for the waste sector, in particular for local authorities and their services? Victoria Hutchin and Dr Adam Read report.
Moving waste in a safe and responsible manner The Health & Safety Executive ranks waste and recycling as a high risk industry. Although the sector employs only about 0.6% of the employees in the UK, it accounts for over 4% of all workplace fatalities. Freelance writer, Joe Morris looks at how the materials handling sector is working to keep its employees safe.
