The Philippines doesn’t want to recycle your low-grade plastic scrap anymore. Neither does China. Vietnam’s not thrilled about taking it either. Earlier this week, Malaysia became the latest country to join the burgeoning trend: Governments across Southeast Asia are refusing to be dumping grounds for scrap that claims to be recyclable — but largely isn’t. Malaysia will send some 3,000 metric tons of plastic scrap back to where it came from, places like the U.S., Canada, Spain, and Saudi Arabia.

Sweden’s recycling is so revolutionary, the country has to import rubbish from other countries to keep its recycling plants going. What lessons can we learn, asks Hazel Sheffield

The world generated 242 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2016 – a figure that’s expected to grow by 70% in the next 30 years. But this same plastic is also a commodity that’s sold and traded in a global industry that generates US$200 billion every year. Exporting plastic waste is one way rich countries dispose of their waste. By selling waste to firms that then send it to countries where recycling costs are cheaper, rich countries can avoid the unpleasant task of finding somewhere at home to dispose of it.

The goal of what is being called an historic US recycling bill, is to streamline recycling bin labels and overhaul the market to prevent recyclable materials from ending up in landfills.

In a landmark move, a national recycling strategy is to be launched across the U.S., aiming to streamline recycling bin labels and, in so doing, give the market a desperately needed overhaul.

Food packaging makes up a huge proportion of plastic waste in the U.S. Some stores are beginning to wean themselves off it.

We’re surrounded by plastics for much of our lives. Plastics are cheap and easy to make, they’re often incredibly durable and they last just about forever. Unfortunately, those upsides are also terrible news for the environment, as plastic waste continues to pile up despite recycling efforts and public awareness campaigns.

or all the innovation and choice that define the food and drink industries, if you want to make money, you could do a lot worse than bung some water in a bottle and flog it. A litre of tap water, the stuff we have ingeniously piped into our homes, costs less than half a penny. A litre of bottled water can cost well over a pound, especially for something fancy that has been sucked through a mountain.

Two Scottish entrepreneurs are aiming to go global with their hope to replace palm oil using coffee waste. Scott Kennedy and Fergus Moore said they came up with a unique way to extract oil from used coffee grounds which had a wide range of uses. Palm oil is found in many household products, but environmentalists say demand for it is devastating rainforests in Asia.

These plastics can easily be disassembled to chemical building blocks.

If all goes well, 2030 will be quite a special year. Global and local community leaders from more than 170 countries have pledged to “significantly reduce” the amount of single-use plastic products by 2030. Success would result in significantly less plastic pollution entering our oceans, lakes and rivers. Today, societies around the world have a love affair with disposable plastics. Just like some love stories, this one has an unhappy ending that results in plastic bags, straws and takeout containers strewn about the global environment.

Apple has announced that it is quadrupling its US iPhone recycling program by placing its Daisy recycling robots into Best Buy stores throughout the country. The machines will also be available in KPN stores in the Netherlands. The company is celebrating the development on its homepage, with the top section devoted to its trade-in program and environmental credentials...

Nine out of 10 respondents to a survey about the impact of plastic waste on the environment say they are concerned or very concerned about the problem, and 82 per cent say they believe that government should be doing more to tackle it.

China doesn’t want to sort your trash anymore.

Purchasing shoes made from disposed plastics may be the way of the future after one company turned millions of plastic bottles into running shoes. Imagine this—11 plastic bottles can be recycled and made into a pair of trendy futuristic running shoes, including the laces, heel webbing, heel lining, and sock liner covers. This is not just a dream but has become a reality for Adidas.

Young people these days are incredibly socially engaged. They’re inciting worldwide movements against global warming, choosing to get vaccinated despite their parents’ protests and cleaning up garbage for fun. Since early March, people from around the world have been picking up trash from beaches, roads, parks and everywhere in between, sharing before-and-after photos of their cleanup successes across social media.

Recycling, for decades an almost reflexive effort by American households and businesses to reduce waste and help the environment, is collapsing in many parts of the country. Philadelphia is now burning about half of its 1.5 million residents’ recycling material in an incinerator that converts waste to energy. In Memphis, the international airport still has recycling bins around the terminals, but every collected can, bottle and newspaper is sent to a landfill.

Oregon is serious about recycling. Its residents are accustomed to dutifully separating milk cartons, yogurt containers, cereal boxes and kombucha bottles from their trash to divert them from the landfill. But this year, because of a far-reaching rule change in China, some of the recyclables are ending up in the local dump anyway. In recent months, in fact, thousands of tons of material left curbside for recycling in dozens of American cities and towns — including several in Oregon — have gone to landfills.

As the world suffocates from its plastic addiction, a growing number of businesses are stepping up to the plate to reduce their plastic waste. Most recently, Trader Joe’s announced that it will be taking steps to cut back on plastic and other packaging waste after a petition launched by Greenpeace harnessed nearly 100,000 signatures.

The Infinitum bottle deposit hub recycles 97 per cent of Norway’s plastic drinks bottles, almost all to such a high standard that they can be turned back into bottles. Should the world follow suit to help tackle the menace of plastic pollution?