Post-mortems of a number of sperm whales stranded on the North Sea coast this winter have found that their stomachs contained large quantities of plastic, including a 70 centimetre-long engine cover and the remains of a plastic bucket.

Firefighters in Shropshire spent yesterday attending a waste fire engulfing 100 tonnes of plastic waste that was waiting to be recycled.

A Norfolk waste operator has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for running an illegal waste site that stockpiled thousands of tonnes of soil, wood and construction waste.

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector, including Ealing’s pursuit of fly-tippers, investment in recycling in Aldershot and new bins in Dundee.

Four defendants have been fined £49,000 for carrying out an illegal waste operation at Cinetic Quarry near Wildmoor in Worcestershire.

Urgent research into the health and environmental risks associated with the disposal of engineered nanomaterials is needed, according to a new OECD report.

A South Devon company has been ordered to pay nearly £16,000 after pleading guilty to offences relating to inappropriate storage of hazardous waste.

The Environment Agency has significantly missed targets to cut down on high-risk illegal waste sites in England, instead seeing an increase of 19 per cent since April 2014.

A man was made to pay £16,800 yesterday following charges brought by the Environment Agency for offences regarding waste ‘storage, deposit and treatment’.

Entanglement by waste fishing gear, plastic bags and balloons are the greatest lethal threat to marine wildlife, says Ocean Conservancy.