New life discovered growing on plastic waste dubbed the 'plastisphere'

New life discovered growing on plastic waste dubbed the ‘plastisphere’

Author: Penny Orbell
Source: ABC
Date: 13 November, 2013
A whole new group of microscopic creatures has been found growing of the vast amount of discarded plastic floating in the world's oceans. VAST AMOUNTS OF of plastic debris floating in the ocean are supporting new forms of microscopic life and whole new ecosystems. Scientists writing in the jour...
Recycled plastic bags might have medical use

Recycled plastic bags might have medical use

Plastic shopping bags might have a valuable future, first blasted in a furnace at more than 800 degrees Celsius and then possibly turned into materials able to deliver targeted cancer treatments, among other things. Researchers at the University of Adelaide have found a way to recycle non-biodegrad...
Toxic waste threatens over 150,000 Australian sites

Toxic waste threatens over 150,000 Australian sites

Author: Rachel Carbonell
Source: ABC News
Date: 17 September, 2013
Australia has more than 150,000 sites that are potentially contaminated with toxic waste, and experts say that only a tiny fraction of them are being cleaned up to remove the risk to human health. Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation, Professor Ra...
E-waste is a 'global time bomb'

E-waste is a ‘global time bomb’

Author: Anna Salleh
Source: ABC News
Date: 17 September, 2013
Urgent action is needed to stop the planet's ever-expanding pile of toxic electronic waste, says an international expert. Professor Ming Wong, director of the Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences, at the Hong Kong Baptist University, made the call today in a key note speech to theClea...
Wasted food is world's third-biggest carbon emitter after China and US: UN

Wasted food is world’s third-biggest carbon emitter after China and US: UN

Author: Reuters
Source: ABC News
Date: 12 September, 2013
The food the world wastes accounts for more greenhouse gas emissions than any country except for China and the United States, according to a United Nations report. It says every year about a third of all food for human consumption, around 1.3 billion tonnes, is wasted, along with all the energy, ...
Container deposit scheme back on full-bottle track

Container deposit scheme back on full-bottle track

Author: ABC
Source: ABC News
Date: 07 August, 2013
The Northern Territory's container deposit scheme is back on track. The granting of an exemption from federal law means that beverage companies must again repay deposits of 10 cents a bottle or can recycled through the Territory system. In its last meeting before next month's election, the Feder...
Food waste is the symptom, not the problem

Food waste is the symptom, not the problem

Author: Tim Lang
Source: The Conversation
Date: 25 June, 2013
This article on food waste by Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University London, is part of a series marking the launch of The Conversation in the UK. Our foundation essays are longer than our usual comment and analysis articles and take a wider look at key issues affecting society. Mod...
At Rio carnival, beer cans recycled in exchange for train rides

At Rio carnival, beer cans recycled in exchange for train rides

Author: Alan Smith
Source: springwise.com
The Beer Turnstile marketing campaign in Brazil saw carnival-goers hand in empty beer cans in return for a free train ride home. The turnstile saw around 1,000 users per hour, 86 percent higher than usual traffic. The number of drink driving incidents that evening also dropped 43 percent. One way...
Gas salvage from cars would be win for air

Gas salvage from cars would be win for air

Author: Peter HannamSource: The AgeDate: 19 June, 2013 The insurance industry has been blasted for blocking the recovery of highly potent greenhouse gases contained in hundreds of thousands of written-off vehicles sold at auction each year. About 600,000 cars are sold each year for parts and scr...
Five pieces of rubbish per person on our beaches

Five pieces of rubbish per person on our beaches

Author: Bridie SmithSource: The AgeDate: 6 June, 2013 CSIRO survey highlights the proliferation of debris. There are more than five pieces of rubbish per person littering Australia's coastline, according to a national survey of the country's beaches, islands and coastal plateaus. The 18-month pro...

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