Toast Ale, the beer made from discarded bread, is crowdfunding to launch its craft beer in 330-millilitre cans as part of a wider refresh of its brand identity.

Paper coffee cups can have a lower carbon footprint than reusable cups, especially if they are recycled, according to life cycle research commissioned by packaging manufacturer Huhtamaki.

UK charity organisation the British Heart Foundation is to sell pre-owned toys in compostable packaging after teaming up with Direct Packaging and compostable film manufacturer Futamura to reduce its plastic footprint.

A round-up of business news from the waste and resources sector, including DS Smith, Vanden Recycling, OPRL and AO Recycling.

Members of the UK Plastics Pact have committed to removing eight problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic items from shelves by the end of 2020 and have identified a further 19 items to take action against by 2025, though campaigners say the industry’s approach is “inadequate”.

The amount of undetectable black packaging coming to market is expected to be cut by 66 per cent by the end of 2019 due to efforts to reduce the amount of black plastic used in packaging and developments in detectable pigments and sorting equipment, says industry report.

Waste management company Biffa has been convicted of breaching waste export regulations for attempting to send heavily contaminated waste to China.

The Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP) has stated that some form of packaging compliance fee could be introduced in 2020, but that the tight legislative timetable would preclude its introduction in 2019.

Viridor has won the contract to process East Sussex County Council’s dry mixed recyclables for an initial three years, with the option to extend for a further four.

Italian bioplastics company Novamont is participating in an initiative with the Italian Embassy in the UK to help the diplomatic mission to recycle or compost all of its waste.