A Manchester waste plastic recycling firm has been made to pay £20,000 after an employee suffered ‘life changing injuries’ to his hand when it was dragged into a granulator machine.

In 2015, 31 per cent of carpet waste (125,000 tonnes) was diverted from landfill, with the majority going for energy according to industry recycling group Carpet Recycling UK.

Entanglement by waste fishing gear, plastic bags and balloons are the greatest lethal threat to marine wildlife, says Ocean Conservancy.

EU member states should rethink their waste management funding to reduce greenhouse gases and help fight climate change, Eunomia has said at a low-carbon economy conference in Brussels.

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector, including needle contamination, illegal waste vehicle seizure and recycling bags for life.

Bath and North East Somerset Council is calling on members of the public to join its collection crews on a temporary basis as it seeks to resolve a recycling backlog caused by strike action among its staff.

Falkirk Council, one of the local authorities carrying out three-weekly residual waste collections, is to take the processing of recyclable material from kerbside collections in-house in an attempt to cut down on ‘unsustainable’ gate fees.

Biochemical producer Anellotech has finished constructing a facility designed to produce 100 per cent bio-based plastic drinks bottles for Suntory Holdings Ltd.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency has exceeded its targets for reducing waste and improved its levels of recycling according to its annual sustainability report for 2014-15 [http://www.sepa.org.uk/media/163498/sustainability_report_2014_2015.pdf].

The European remanufacturing industry could triple in worth by 2030, given the right governmental support and investment, says the European Remanufacturing Network.