The results of the most comprehensive UK-wide waste composition study to date, which we undertook on behalf of WRAP, are now available through the WRAP website. The work provides comprehensive and detailed estimates of the quantities of different materials in the recycling and residual household waste streams across the whole [...]
Our latest special report, published today, has found that rolling out electric refuse trucks would cut carbon dioxide emissions, reduce air pollution and cut down on costs, once monetised emissions are taken into account. The report, authored by a team of our waste operations and emissions experts, shows that switching [...]
New research has found that possible exemptions to the EU’s Single Use Plastic Directive potentially open the legislation to loopholes which could significantly undermine its impact. Our research found that certain ‘natural polymers’ could be exempted under the Directive’s definition of plastic, including those likely to have similar negative effects [...]
Welsh County Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council has topped our Recycling Carbon Index for being the best recycler in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in terms of the greenhouse gas emissions saved through its efforts in 2017/18. This year’s Recycling Carbon Index shows that council recycling schemes in England, Wales [...]
We have been working with WRAP Cymru and Sustainable Global Resources to develop a guide for procuring plastics in the Welsh public sector. 400,000 tonnes of plastic waste were generated in Wales in 2014, with a growing body of evidence indicating that waste not collected for recycling is accumulating in [...]
Alberta’s recycling sector generated $700 million in economic value in 2018, as well as supporting over 7,500 direct jobs, our new analysis has found. The analysis also highlights the potential to increase this contribution in future to $1.4 billion in economic value, and 13,000 jobs. In addition to the benefits [...]
We have been working with Mepex on behalf of the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) to map the impacts of a switch away from 19 commonly-littered single use plastic items in Norway. On 27 March 2019, the European Parliament formally passed the Single Use Plastic Directive, which will require Member States [...]
We have been working with Common Seas, an organisation with a mission to tackle the flow of plastics into the oceans, to develop Plastic Drawdown, a comprehensive approach for governments to understand plastic waste flows and optimise policies to tackle ocean pollution. We used the Plastic Drawdown approach to assess [...]
Our new report, released today (13 June), has found that a deposit return system (DRS) for non-alcoholic beverage containers, alongside improvements in the Blue Box program, would recycle an additional 118,000 tonnes of materials every year, as well as generating overall savings of $12 million. The report, Better Together: How [...]
Awareness around the issues microplastics cause in the marine environment has continued to grow over the past 12 months, however businesses are often overlooked in the discussion. To combat this, we have been working with Earthwatch Europe to put together guidance on how to help businesses respond to microplastics and [...]