The EC must make better use of its Ecodesign Directive if it is to address unsustainable resource consumption and bring about a circular economy, says the European Environmental Bureau.

Three councils have begun trialling kerbside recycling collections of flexible laminated packaging as part of a new Defra-funded study.

New laws enhancing enforcement authorities’ powers to seize vehicles suspected of involvement in fly-tipping and waste crime have been in laid in England and Wales.

The Budget 2015 reveals that government will provide an extra £4.2 million to tackle waste crime, reform the Landfill Communities Fund, and introduce a raft of initiatives to “put Britain at the forefront of the online sharing economy”.

DCLG has announced the 46 projects that have been awarded Recycling Reward Scheme funding, and has inflated the fund by a further £6.1 million ‘due to its popularity’.

Eunomia is calling on government to introduce a deposit-refund scheme for drinks packaging and introduce levies on chewing gum and cigarettes to reduce litter.

Sheffield City Council is consulting on introducing shared bins to high-density areas, amongst other proposals, in a bid to save £3.4 million by 2017.

Friends of the Earth Europe has released a new report calling on the European Commission to make resource efficiency central to policymaking decisions.

The Dorset Waste Partnership is to continue collecting recycling via a two-stream collection system after finding separate collections are not ‘economically practicable’.

Plastic film reprocessing company PlasRecycle has become a full member of the Resource Association.