PowerHouse Energy, the developer of waste-to-hydrogen technology, has signed an agreement for engineering services with Waste2Tricity.

Diageo, parent company of Guinness, Harp and Smithwick’s beers, has pledged to remove plastic rings from its multipacks of cans as part of a drive to reduce plastic waste.

Coffee chain Starbucks and environmental charity Hubbub have come together to launch The Cup Fund, which will see grants going to at least 10 large-scale cup recycling projects.

Waste management company Biffa has announced a three-year partnership with UK-based charity WasteAid, which will see the company support WasteAid financially and share its expertise with communities in low-income countries to improve the management of waste.

Glasgow Fort and Buchanan Galleries have given their support to Cup Movement in Glasgow, the first initiative of its kind in Scotland to stop single-use cups from going to landfill or ending up being littered.

Tesco has launched a new collection scheme for hard-to-recycle plastics in partnership with Swindon reprocessing company Recycling Technologies.

Australia could become the latest country bring in stricter single-use plastic restrictions after the Labor Party announced plans to ban microbeads and lightweight plastic bags.

MEPs in the European Parliament have approved plans to ban some single-use plastic products and increase the collection and recycling of plastic bottles, with legislation to be implemented in member states by 2021.

Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester and central Scotland will each play host to Hubbub’s new boat made from 99 per cent recycled plastic, in order to raise awareness of growing levels of plastic pollution in the country’s waterways.

Two new public drinking fountains have been installed in Bury, Greater Manchester, in a bid to reduce plastic pollution and encourage the uptake of free drinking water.