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There is no logic in wrapping perishable food in indestructible plastic, say campaigners hailing today’s launch in Amsterdam

Today the world’s first plastic-free aisle was launched in Amsterdam by environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet and Dutch supermarket Ekoplaza. The aisle enables shoppers to choose from 700 everyday products that are free from plastic packaging. Before the end of the year, Ekoplaza plans to roll the plastic-free aisle out across each of its 74 stores.

Plastic packaging has no place in food and drink. There is no logical basis for wrapping something as perishable as food with something as indestructible as plastic. With recycled plastics today accounting for just 6% of total plastics demand in Europe, it’s clear that we cannot recycle our way out of the plastic problem. Food and drink plastic packaging does not belong in a circular economy given that it is difficult to reclaim, is easily contaminated, and all too often proves valueless.

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Campaigners hail progress as Amsterdam store offers dedicated aisle of more than 700 products, with plans for a national roll-out

• Letter: Plastic-free aisle is an example for others to follow
  

Shoppers in the Netherlands will get the chance to visit Europe’s first plastic-free supermarket aisle on Wednesday in what campaigners claim is an turning point in the war on plastic pollution.

The store in Amsterdam will open its doors at 11am when shoppers will be able to choose from more than 700 plastic-free products, all available in one aisle.

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Sahara snow and volcanic colours are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month

Rare snowfall in north-west Algeria, on the edge of the Sahara desert. Despite the desert at times being one of the hottest places on Earth, the snow was reported to be up to 40cm thick in some places. Although temperatures plummet during the night, snowfall is very unusual in the Sahara because the air is so dry. It is only the third time in nearly 40 years that this part of the desert has seen snow.

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Wenlock Edge, Shropshire: The chaffinch’s chest is dawn-lit, his head grey, the heraldry of his flash-feathers signalling the breeding season to come

For a brief moment, a cock chaffinch owns the world: a handful of seeds on a metre-square of concrete at the cold end of February. Watch the fighter’s forward shuffle, pushing towards the ropes of his entitlement; the eye-contact with invisible opponents. In a scattering of wild bird food, harvested somewhere else, bagged for the supermarket and broadcast here to rekindle a bond between person and bird, he asserts his antique right to gleanings.

He selects a seed the way a waller lifts the perfect stone to fill a gap. The precision instrument of his beak applies just enough pressure along the ridges to split its seam, then he rolls it crosswise to crack and separate the case, which he drops. This empty husk is the chaff, and the chaffinch’s skill is in the threshing of each grain, the winnowing that separates the germ of life from the box it comes in. Chaffinch do not eat the chaff but create it, a litter cast for others; I suppose the bird’s name comes from its foraging the rubbish of harvest. The chaffinch swallows the seed, and the future of wheat, maize, millet or oat plants becomes the future chaffinch.

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South Korean steel giant POSCO signs lithium off-take and downstream processing deal with ASX listed miner Pilbara Minerals.

The recent results from market heavies provide some insights into the massive cost - to customers - of the incumbents holding onto their market share. 

Xenophon's SA Best predicts 90% renewables in the state by 2030. Although it is not a target, the rush to embrace renewables in South Australia highlights how state-based Liberal Party and the Federal Coalition are being left behind.

SA BEST wants to meet and exceed the Paris commitment, deploy distributed energy, storage and energy management, boost competition, and legislate for power market transparency.

EPYC's proposed 54-turbine Jupiter Wind Farm near Tarago rejected again by state planners, as “fundamentally unsuitable” for the site and surrounds.

Green Switch Australia floats plans to build 47MW solar farm in Wagga Wagga suburb of Gregadoo, in the heart of the electorate of new Nationals leader.

LONGI Solar has achieved a record 23.6% conversion efficiency with its monocrystalline PERC solar cells.

Victoria’s largest energy efficiency expert upgrades to include Solar Energy.

Opposition leader assured environmentalist he would commit Labor to revoking the licence for the controversial coal project, but then faltered

The businessman and environmentalist Geoff Cousins is absolutely unequivocal.

He said the federal Labor leader Bill Shorten called him, just before Christmas last year, looking for help in how Labor might strengthen its policy on the controversial Adani coalmine – and then Shorten followed up several times since, asking to be given more time to convince colleagues to support the shift in position.

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Bee viruses have been found in hoverflies for the first time, raising new concerns about disease threats.

Blind people who use sound to navigate their environment adjust their clicks very similarly to bats, research reveals.

Affordable, 300km plus range electric vehicles are about to hit Australian showrooms. But is there an EV available now or coming soon that will meet your needs?

Victoria regulator finalises decision on Australia's first time-varying feed-in tariffs for solar, although acknowledges risks some users could abuse system by charging batteries at night.

University of Newcastle says 2MW of solar being added to its Callaghan campus this year will slash energy costs and serve as a "living laboratory."

AGL will spend more than $200 million and create 90 jobs during work to upgrade and maintain the coal- fired Bayswater Power Station in Muswellbrook, a key part of our NSW Generation Plan.

Barnaby Joyce had a long history of opposing climate action. His successor Michael McCormack seems to think the same way, despite climate being a growing threat to the Nationals' rural voters. Marc Hudson, PhD Candidate, Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.