The standard, developed by ASTM’s committee on environmental assessment, risk management and corrective action (E50), covers project planning, sampling programme design, sample collection considerations, field quality control and associated resources. The task group has also invited interested parties to contribute to a proposed standard on PFAS source differentiation using forensic applications.

Among the changes, RecyClass has shifted its recommendations on ink use for transparent films away from printing coverage and towards the percentage of ink by weight of packaging. A new colour module has been added to the sorting evaluation protocol for PET bottles to help preserve transparent, clear and light blue streams.

For flexible packaging, electron beam treatment of PE films and PVB-based inks for PE and PP films were confirmed as fully compatible. Further testing campaigns are already under way in 2026, RecyClass said.

The Surplus Saviours trial, due to launch in summer 2026, will allow registered individuals to collect surplus food approaching its use-by date from participating stores. Lidl said it expects the scheme to redistribute more than 5,000 tonnes of food.

The retailer is also piloting an animal feed trial in the Peterborough region, diverting inedible bakery items that would otherwise go to waste. Bakery-related waste across the business fell by 30% last year. Estelle Herszenhorn, director of food system transformation at WRAP, welcomed the retailer's progress on loose fruit and vegetable offerings and best-practice labelling.

Walker, who is chairman of Muirhall Energy, Scotland's largest independent renewables developer, joins the LRM board alongside Alan Frain, a financial and turnaround specialist with more than 25 years in corporate banking.

Angus Hamilton, LRM chief executive, said the funding "not only secures our financial foundation but provides the necessary capital and industry expertise to develop our business to the next level." Levenseat operates recycling and resource management facilities in central Scotland, including a materials recycling facility and energy-from-waste plant.

The UK has had no domestic synthetic fertiliser production since 2022, leaving farmers reliant on more than one million tonnes of imports annually. ADBA's letter warns that disruption to gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz could push prices above £700 per tonne and potentially towards £900 during the spreading season. The trade body said digestate could offset around £170 million of economic risk in the first year.

ADBA chair Chris Huhne, the former energy secretary, said crises had shown "how quickly markets can destabilise" and that disruption to strategic chokepoints could quickly translate into higher costs for UK agriculture. There are currently more than 750 biogas plants operating across the UK, producing digestate as a by-product of biogas generation.

GMB organiser Craig Prickett said members at FCC Dartford are being left behind on pay compared to refuse workers on neighbouring contracts. FCC Environment, which acquired the contract when it took over Urbaser in 2024, said it is in negotiations with the union but would not negotiate through the media. Workers on the contract previously struck over pay in July 2023 under Urbaser’s management.

The campaign, which launched on 2 March, covers items including food and drink cans, foil, aerosols, screw tops, trays and tubes. Funded by the metal packaging industry, MetalMatters has run in more than 100 local authority areas since 2012, reaching over 6.3 million households. According to Alupro, these campaigns result in an increase in metal capture rates average of between 9-12 per cent, with some authorities seeing increases of 25 per cent within months.