Global electronic waste up 21% in five years, and recycling isn't keeping up

Demand for electric and electronic products is fuelling the meteoric rise in e-waste.

Vanessa Forti, Programme Associate at UNU-Vie-SCYCLE., United Nations University • conversation
July 10, 2020 • ~5 min

Britain's first major recycling drive fell apart 80 years ago – it's a warning to UK government today

The 'pots to planes' appeal in the summer of 1940 helped inspire a mass recycling effort, but problems soon emerged.

Henry Irving, Senior Lecturer in Public History, Leeds Beckett University • conversation
June 26, 2020 • ~7 min

COVID-19 is laying waste to many US recycling programs

The COVID-019 pandemic has boosted use of disposable packaging and personal protective equipment, at the same time that many recycling programs are facing budget cuts. The upshot: More plastic trash.

Julie Rieland, PhD Candidate in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, University of Michigan • conversation
June 23, 2020 • ~9 min

Why the pandemic could slash the amount of plastic waste we recycle

With oil selling at rock bottom prices, a glut of cheap plastic could reverse progress on recycling.

Norman Ebner, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Circular Plastics-Techno-Economics, University of Oxford • conversation
June 20, 2020 • ~6 min

Why we'll still need waste in a circular economy

We shouldn't try to banish waste entirely. We need to rethink it.

Julia Stegemann, Professor of Environmental Engineering, UCL • conversation
June 17, 2020 • ~6 min

What a sustainable circular economy would look like

From take-make-waste to reuse, repair and remanufacture.

Phil Purnell, Professor of Materials and Structures, University of Leeds • conversation
May 6, 2020 • ~9 min

Rubbish is piling up and recycling has stalled – waste systems must adapt

Lockdown has exposed real problems with the circular economy which urgently need to be addressed.

Ian Williams, Professor of Applied Environmental Science, University of Southampton • conversation
April 30, 2020 • ~9 min

Plastic pollution: why chemical recycling could provide a solution

Even recycled plastics still end up in landfill with our current system.

Alvin Orbaek White, Senior Lecturer in The College of Engineering, Swansea University • conversation
April 21, 2020 • ~6 min

Algorithm points to best way to deal with ocean plastic

It's possible to design plastic that can break down in the ocean but is it practical? Researchers used machine learning to find out.

Matthew Swayne-Penn State • futurity
March 3, 2020 • ~6 min

'Upcycling' crowned Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year 2019

Cambridge Dictionary has named 'upcycling', the activity of making new items out of old or used things, as its Word of the Year 2019. 

Cambridge University News • cambridge
Nov. 5, 2019 • ~3 min

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