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Recycling is, by its nature, complicated. The imperfections in the process don’t mean the whole system is a con

The process of recycling is, by its nature, complicated. We put our mix of rubbish in the right bins, and from that point onwards hope that those we entrust it to – be it local councils picking up rubbish or supermarket recycling schemes – will do the rest. If this is you, then you may be dismayed to learn that a recent Everyday Plastics report found that most soft plastics collected by two of Britain’s biggest supermarkets are not being recycled and are, instead, incinerated.

Soft plastics are anything flimsy that you can scrunch in your hand: think bread bags, pouches, clingfilm, chocolate wrappers and crisp packets. But as this latest report shows, they aren’t as easily recyclable as you might think. Here’s why.

James Piper is the co-host of the Talking Rubbish podcast and author of The Rubbish Book

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Project developers should embed gender considerations into the design, implementation, and monitoring of carbon credit projects to boost market integrity and improve project outcomes, according to recent research.

Demand for carbon credits aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is not going to suddenly spike if an agreement on rules to operationalise UN international carbon markets is found at COP29 at the end of the year, a senior EU negotiator told Carbon Pulse.

The largest solar flare since 2017 has been spotted erupting from the Sun’s surface.

European carbon prices were set to record their sixth five-day decline in the last seven weeks, coming within range of a key suport level as selling pressure continued to push the market to new six-month lows, while gas markets stalled and UK Allowances resumed their decline.

The government of Western Australia announced Friday the first cohort of six early-stage nature tech startups that will receive seed capital and expert support to scale their businesses under a newly launched accelerator programme.

Behind the violence of extreme weather is that of the fossil fuel industry, and Americans are suffering for it

The weather we used to have shaped the behavior of the water we used to have – how much and when it rained, how dry it got, when and how slowly the snow in the heights melted, what fell as rain and fell as snow. Climate chaos is changing all that, breaking the patterns, delivering water in torrents unprecedented in recorded history or withholding it to create epic droughts, while heat-and-drought-parched soil, grasslands and forests create ideal conditions for mega-wildfires.

Water in the right time and quantity is a blessing; in the wrong ones it’s a scourge and a destroying force, as we’ve seen recently with floods around the world. In the vice-presidential debate, Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, noted that his state’s farmers “know climate change is real. They’ve seen 500-year droughts, 500-year floods, back to back.” Farmers around the world are dealing with flood, drought and unseasonable weather that impacts their ability to produce food and protect soil.

Rebecca Solnit is a Guardian US columnist. She is the author of Orwell’s Roses and co-editor with Thelma Young Lutunatabua of the climate anthology Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility

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Over 270 civil society organisations and academics from around the world have penned a statement against the use of biodiversity credits and offsets, warning that market-based mechanisms pose significant risks to ecosystems and communities.

Businesses are increasingly turning to internal carbon pricing (ICP) to drive their decarbonisation efforts, a webinar heard on Thursday.

Exclusive: Study suggests people more willing to reduce own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same

Political leaders “walking the talk” on climate action by flying less or eating less meat could be a “crucial missing link” in fighting global heating, according to a study.

Researchers found that people are significantly more willing to reduce their own carbon footprint if they see leaders doing the same. The finding, by psychologists in the UK, was not a given, as green action by high-profile people can sometimes be dismissed as virtue-signalling.

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The concept of nature-positive insurance is building momentum in Australia as a way to address insurability challenges, but work must be done more quickly to integrate these practices more broadly, a report published Friday urged.

Dozens of companies in Japan have endorsed a government-backed initiative that aims to reduce methane emissions in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) value chain, according to local media reports.

Researchers tethered 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined urchins outside lobster den and sharks were observed ‘smashing the whole thing’

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An experiment designed to investigate lobster predation on sea urchins unexpectedly found that Port Jackson and crested horn sharks ate the spiky animals instead.

The research, led by University of Newcastle marine ecologist Jeremy Day, involved tethering sea urchins at the entrance to a lobster den – home to at least 20 large eastern rock lobsters – near Wollongong on the south coast of New South Wales.

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An experiment designed to investigate the role lobsters play in regulating sea urchin numbers unexpectedly found sharks were eating them instead. The research, led by the University of Newcastle marine ecologist Jeremy Day, involved 50 long-spined and 50 short-spined sea urchins tethered to the entrance of a lobster den on the south coast of NSW. Over the course of 25 nights, sharks ate 45 of the urchins, while lobsters ate only four. Sea urchins are native to NSW but have become are a pest in Tasmania, where they are threatening local ecosystems

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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world

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The stars of 367 Collins Street have welcomed baby birds to the nest. Two hungry chicks are taking meals after entering the world on a Melbourne skyscraper. Last year’s eggs were unable to hatch after the mother stopped incubating – likely due to a territorial dispute – making the stakes all the higher this year

• Good eggs: fans delighted as new peregrine falcon chicks hatch on Melbourne skyscraper

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Snowy Hydro seeks to play down use of diesel at its controversial Hunter Valley power project, which is still waiting for a connection to the gas network.

The post Snowy plays down diesel allowance for Kurri Kurri, but gas pipeline problems persist appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Kenneth Newcombe, formerly CEO of C-Quest Capital, indicted over allegations of carbon credit manipulation

A former carbon offsetting executive has been charged with fraud by US federal authorities, who allege that he helped to manipulate data from projects in rural Africa and Asia to fraudulently obtain carbon credits worth tens of millions of dollars.

Kenneth Newcombe, former CEO of C-Quest Capital LLC and a leading figure in the offsetting industry, was indicted on Wednesday in New York with commodities and wire fraud.

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The largest operating wind farm in Australia, has marked a significant milestone, with the first export of renewable energy to the national electricity market.

The post Australia’s largest operating wind farm sends first power to Sunshine State grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.

Renewable records fall for the third time in five days, and likely more to follow as coal fired generators learn how to switch off and then back on again.

The post Renewable penetration record falls for third time this week on Australia’s main grid appeared first on RenewEconomy.