The Queen has given the royal seal of approval to banning single-use plastic, with the news that the royal estates will join the growing number of organisations to phase out disposable plastics.

Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has revealed that the Scottish Government is seeking to introduce a ban on plastic straws by the end of 2019.

Work is continuing on a disposable plastics tax in Wales, despite it not being chosen from a shortlist of four new taxes to be introduced by the Welsh Government.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has called for cross-industry contributions to a Plastic Waste and Recycling Strategy to drive work on achieving the aims of the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan in a letter sent to waste and resource industry stakeholders today (9 February).

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector including WasteAid UK’s annual fundraising walk, an award for Biffa’s RCV road safety campaign and a £115,000 fund for community waste prevention schemes in Merseyside and Halton.

Products with high recycled content could be given lower VAT rates to stimulate demand in secondary markets, following a new proposal by the European Commission, says FEAD.

Environmental Audit Committee Chair Mary Creagh spoke at the annual Kit Strange Memorial Lecture about the successes of the past year, the challenges ahead and the need to push the government for strong legislation on waste and resources.

Plastic waste and regenerative agriculture have been identified as two of seven ‘areas of dynamism’ shaping the future of sustainability, according to a new report by sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future.

More than 100 MPs have committed to substantially reducing their consumption of single-use plastics as part of Sky Ocean Rescue’s #PassOnPlastic campaign.

Mike Webster, Chief Executive of WasteAid UK, has been named as the winner of this year’s Resource Hot 100.