A 73-year old businessman from Middlesbrough has been given a suspended sentence after negligent environmental practices caused a waste fire that destroyed his firm.

The Welsh Government and the county of Rhondda Cynon Taf have called on local businesses to come up with innovative new solutions to allow every part of the mattress to be recycled as part of a competition this winter.

The Environmental Audit Committee has called for the Treasury to take a long-term view of sustainability, after ‘riding roughshod’ over departments and cancelling environmental programmes at short notice.

Speaking to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Tristram Stuart have called for supermarkets to provide greater transparency on their food waste.

The Department of Health has announced that it will review the impact of marine microplastics on human health, in response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry on microplastic pollution.

Co-Leader of the Green Party has tabled an early day motion calling for the introduction of a bottle deposit return scheme (DRS) as part of the National Litter Strategy.

Bidwell Metals Ltd will close its scrapyard in Radstock, Somerset, after a judicial review deemed residents’ noise complaints to be sufficient to force its closure.

The UK and Colombian governments have signed an agreement for a new £20-million joint-funded bioeconomy research programme to aid post-conflict developmental efforts in some of the worst affected regions in Colombia.

Industry groups have both supported and criticised Waste Minister Therese Coffey’s move to reject a proposal by the Liberal Democrats to bring in a 5p charge on disposable coffee cups to reduce waste.

The government has once again ruled out the possibility of imposing a 5p charge on disposable coffee cups handed out at high street retailers after calls by the Liberal Democrats.