Zero Waste Week, encouraging people across the UK to reuse and recycle materials to keep them from landfill, takes place this week, with events and activities taking place across the country.

A round-up of news from the waste and resources sector, including Notting Hill Carnival waste, a youth recycling scheme and a CIWM communications workshop.

The use of single-use carrier bags in Wales has dropped by 71 per cent since a charge was introduced in 2011, raising up to £22 million in the process, says a new Welsh Government report.

Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East, will introduce a bill to Parliament next week to address the unsustainable levels of waste within the food industry.

The Environment Agency has received funding worth around £470,000 from the European Union to go towards tackling environmental crime.

A £25-million glass recycling facility in Lanarkshire will benefit Scottish drinks manufacturers, according to Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead, who opened it yesterday.

Businesses and national litter groups have called for an advisory committee on litter to enable a coordinated, long-term plan in the fight against litter.

The Waste & Resources Action Programme has highlighted a need for a ‘whole-systems’ vision for the EU’s upcoming Circular Economy Package, as well as a focus on food waste and innovative business models.

Supermarkets in France have agreed to a voluntary commitment to redistribute unsold food stocks, after measures were dropped from a law for ‘procedural’ reasons.

Use of single-use carrier bags in Northern Ireland has risen by 8.2 per cent from the figure recorded for the first year after introducing a carrier bag levy, according to Department of the Environment statistics.