International convention to stop richer countries exporting contaminated material for recycling could mean a cleaner ocean in five years

Coca-Cola has been branded the world’s worst plastic polluter for the third year in a row, in a damning report that further reveals the scale of the global plastic crisis. In its annual audit of plastic waste found on beaches, rivers, parks and communities across the globe, Break Free From Plastic found Coca-Cola bottles were by far the worst offender.

Global giants such as Amazon and Apple should be made responsible for helping to collect, recycle and repair their products to cut the 155,000 tonnes of electronic waste being thrown away each year in the UK, MPs say. An investigation by the environmental audit committee found the UK is lagging behind other countries and failing to create a circular economy in electronic waste.

The plastics industry produces over 88 million tons of polyethylene, the most common plastic in the world. Scientists have found a new way to upcycle it, according to a study published in Science. It could help deal with the growing plastic pollution crisis.

Scientists show how re-engineering enzymes from a plastic eating bacteria, can provide us new avenues in plastic degradation.

Stockholm and Bergen are among dozens of cities ditching trash cans in favor of vacuum chutes that woosh waste away through a series of underground pipes.

In a move aimed at reducing huge amounts of plastic litter in the ocean and on land, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a first-in-the-nation law requiring plastic beverage containers to contain an increasing amount of recycled material.

HP's latest 13-, 14- and 15-inch Pavilion clamshell laptops are the company’s first to use post-consumer-recycled and “ocean-bound” plastics.

Oil and gas companies make far more money churning out new plastic than reusing old. Meanwhile, the public gets the blame, writes Arwa Mahdawi

Gadgets can pile up over the years -- new ones come out, old ones break. You probably have a drawer full of old batteries and cables, and some old phones, laptops and desktops lying around. Perhaps you keep them for nostalgic reasons (I admit I hung onto my first Nokia block phone to "show my kids one day"), or because you thought you might be able to use them again down the line.

An NPR and PBS Frontline investigation reveals how the oil and gas industry used the promise of recycling to sell more plastic, even when they knew it would never work on a large scale.

Kellogg's redesigns the snackfood container that was dubbed the "number one villain" for recycling.

Laura Leebrick, a manager at Rogue Disposal & Recycling in southern Oregon, is standing on the end of its landfill watching an avalanche of plastic trash pour out of a semitrailer: containers, bags, packaging, strawberry containers, yogurt cups.

With the discovery of plastic about 150 years ago the new prospects opened up to create a variety of synthetic products which replaced glass and metals. Since the invention of Bakelite in 1907, the commercial use of plastic has increased. The plastic products are cheap, versatile, lightweight and easy to make and are used in several industries such as in packaging, construction, healthcare etc.

One thing holding back e-waste recycling is the actual recycling process itself. We need cheaper, safer, cleaner, or more effective methods of separating and recovering the valuable elements from electronics before we can make the whole endeavor more attractive and profitable. Some current methods use large amounts of energy to melt components down, but chemistry could provide some tempting alternatives.

Carlsberg and Coca-Cola back pioneering project to make ‘all-plant’ drinks bottles

Excavations reveal that rubbish left outside the city walls wasn’t just dumped. It was being collected, sorted and resold

From singing birthday cards to baby food pouches, a growing trend of mixing materials is making recycling even harder

Startups around the world are tackling some of the planet’s most pressing problems.

Nearly every product can be made recyclable if the motivation is there, explains Terracycle’s Tom Szaky.