Recycling
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Plastic
Australia steps in to stop countries watering down plastics pact
The Environment Minister has flown to Paris for critical talks on the proposed global treaty, saying she is concerned other countries are trying to make the targets voluntary instead of legally binding.
- by Anthony Galloway
Latest
How to get rid of your old devices in an environmentally friendly way
Almost all e-waste ends up in landfill, but there are plenty of options for recycling as we wait for more sustainable technology.
- by Tim Biggs
At ‘breaking point’, the Australian fashion industry is looking to change
The federal government has given the fashion industry a $1 million grant to develop a circularity scheme which could change our relationship with clothing forever.
- by Mary Ward
The Aussie tackling an ocean-spanning seaweed ‘monster’
A gigantic belt of seaweed that can be seen from space has bloomed in the Atlantic since 2011. An Australian woman wants to turn it into plastic.
- by Angus Dalton
Financial fizzer? Wine, spirit bottles in recycling schemes will cost $100m
And the Queensland government refuses to reveal whether it believes adding wine and spirit bottles to its 10¢ recycling scheme will boost recycling.
- by Felicity Caldwell
New bins on their way for inner west in bid to slash landfill by 40 per cent
The bins – typically smaller than red bins – hold kitchen food scraps, which are then used to create compost and are deployed across parks, farms and gardens.
- by Anthony Segaert
Consumer watchdog urged to step in on so-called ocean plastic
Some brands boast their products are made from recycled plastics dredged from the ocean. But there’s little to stop them using that label for plastics picked up on land.
- by Tracey Ferrier
Updated
Daniel Andrews
Victorians will collect 10¢ for used cans and bottles from November
A container deposit scheme will start operating by the end of the year under the state government’s long-awaited recycling reforms.
- by Broede Carmody and Sumeyya Ilanbey
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Recycling crisis
REDcycle collapsed with $5m in debts as more plastic stockpiles are found
Fourteen formerly secret stashes of plastic bags have been found around Australia following the collapse of REDcycle, the company that ran Coles and Woolworths’ signature soft plastic recycling program.
- by Chris Vedelago
Opinion
Opinion
Let’s stop pretending we are going to recycle all this plastic
We like the idea of recycled single-use plastics because it takes away the guilt around how cheap and easy it is. But most cannot be converted into a useful product at a reasonable cost.
- by Nick O'Malley
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For subscribers
‘Australia is way behind’: Recycling targets fall out of reach
The packaging industry has conceded for the first time that plastic recycling is falling far short of its targets.
- by Ben Cubby