Progress on the EU’s Plastics Strategy continues unabated as Europe’s environment ministers reached agreement on the content of the strategy at a meeting of the Environment Council on Monday (5 March).

China has announced the launch of a new customs crackdown on the smuggling of foreign waste, entitled ‘Blue Sky 2018’, which will run from March to December 2018.

Plans for a groundbreaking ‘waste-to-chemistry’ facility in Rotterdam to recycle waste into methanol are moving forwards after the project received £8 million of funding.

Certain LEGO bricks will soon be made from a sustainably-sourced sugar cane bioplastic, with a view to using the material for every piece by 2030.

The UK’s plastic packaging recycling rate could be 9-10 percentage points lower than official figures, according to a report from Eunomia Research & Consulting.

The UK’s leading tea brand PG Tips is switching to fully biodegradable tea bags in a bid to reduce plastic pollution, it was announced on Wednesday (28 February).

Enfield Council is on the road to greener infrastructure with the news that it has begun resurfacing its roads using asphalt made from recycled plastics.

EU ambassadors have endorsed the provisional agreement on the four legislative proposals that make up the Circular Economy Package, including a target of a 60 per cent municipal recycling rate.

A five pence charge for disposable cups will be trialled by Starbucks, in partnership with environmental behaviour change charity Hubbub, in 35 stores across London.

EU-wide legislation on single-use plastic is on the cards for this summer, according to comments by the European Commission’s Vice President Frans Timmermans.