We’re drowning in plastics. With governments setting un-ambitious targets, corporations are now listening to consumers who are demanding less plastic packaging and food containers.
Water and energy use are becoming more efficient, which is good news for both the economy and the environment. But Australia has yet to realise the value of national environmental accounting.
The case of the start-up Phenix shows that the fight to reduce food waste requires a regulatory context that encourages innovation at the level of the business ecosystem.
Both short- and long-term solutions are needed to solve Australia’s recycling crisis. State and federal ministers are pursuing some promising avenues, but they need to cast the net much wider.
China new cleanliness standards for the recyclable materials it imports are so stringent that they are tantamount to a total ban. Australian councils are now in crisis mode as the rubbish piles up.
Most Americans don’t want incinerators in their neighborhoods, so waste management companies are burning trash in other facilities such as cement kilns. Is this a sustainable way to deal with garbage?