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Poor labelling allows ‘massive amounts’ of plastic into Australia’s garden waste, companies warn

The Guardian - 5 hours 48 min ago

Items such as coffee cups and bin liners are wrongly labelled ‘compostable’, leading to calls for governments to impose standards

“Massive amounts” of plastic contamination is getting into food and garden waste through user error and misleading “biodegradable” labelling, waste industry experts have warned.

Leading figures at some of Australia’s largest waste companies are calling for the government to standardise certification of compostable products, as many bin liners, compostable coffee cups and other material labelled “compostable” or “biodegradable” do not break down into organic matter.

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Masked owls, wild devils and giant crayfish: inside the ancient forests of Tasmania’s Takayna

The Guardian - 5 hours 48 min ago

Teeming with wildlife under lush canopies, this area in Australia’s island state is one of the world’s most remarkable – and one most in need of protection

Witnessing Takayna/Tarkine is a rare privilege. After I press through metres of the dense, dry shrubs that skirt the forest floor, the rainforest quickly opens into a dewy landscape of verdant greens bathed in golden light. The ground is a ballroom floor, moist to the touch, carpeted in soft mosses and punctuated by broad myrtle trunks. Tiny ferns unfurl towards the canopy, where shafts of sunlight streak through the treetops. It is an overwhelmingly beautiful place.

In a world experiencing an increasingly rapid montage of alarming climate events caused by a warming planet, Tasmania’s Takayna presents an alternate world, one that is primal and untouched by the ravages of industrialisation.

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Study links higher PFAS levels to toxic hazards and limited fresh-food access

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-11-30 22:00

Findings highlight how built environment in low-income neighborhoods presents multiple PFAS exposure routes

New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood.

The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do.

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INC-5: INTERVIEW – Global criteria needed to steer shift to non-plastic substitutes

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 18:47
Curbing plastic production and banning chemicals of concern should go hand in hand with measures aimed at avoiding an over-reliance on non-plastic materials that are similarly harmful to the environment or human health, a scientist has told Carbon Pulse.
Categories: Around The Web

INC-5: Indigenous Peoples claim being ‘systematically’ excluded from plastic talks

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 18:42
Indigenous peoples have accused countries of repeatedly and systematically excluding them from negotiations on the first-ever global plastic treaty, with some saying their voices have been silenced during the last round of talks in South Korea
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Bark detective: dog trained to sniff out UK tree disease

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-11-30 16:01

Six-year-old spanador called Ivor taught to identify tree fungal-like organism killing trees and shrubs around UK

Sniffer dogs are usually found looking for contraband at airports and train stations, but the UK government is now dispatching trained hounds to find forest-harming pests.

A dog has been used for the first time in the UK to successfully identify tree disease. Researchers from Forest Research used a trained spanador – a cocker spaniel labrador cross – to find the tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.

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Germany’s carbon contracts for difference scheme faces collapse amid political turmoil -reports

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 12:30
The disintegration of Germany coalition government, a lack of funding, and growing opposition to the policy is pointing to an early demise for the country’s carbon contracts for difference (CCfD) scheme.
Categories: Around The Web

Washington funds study to assess state’s carbon removal needs

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 09:10
An interim draft report commissioned by the state identified six key strategies to assess CO2 removal (CDR) requirements to meet Washington state’s GHG reduction targets.
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Czech PM voices opposition to EU ETS2

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 08:18
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala this week expressed opposition to introducing the EU ETS2 in his country, arguing that it will hurt corporate competitiveness and impose unmanageable cost increases on residents.
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Global climate fund assets rise to $572 bln in 2024, record first outflows -report

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 07:26
Mutual funds and ETFs with climate-related mandates rose to $572 billion in value through the first nine months of 2024, but also recorded their first outflows since 2018 of almost $24 bln this year, according to a report published by a research firm.
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Cool water from the deep could protect pockets of the Great Barrier Reef into the 2080s

The Conversation - Sat, 2024-11-30 06:49
A few reefs on the Great Barrier Reef have been largely untouched by bleaching. We found upwellings of cold water are protecting them – for now Chaojiao Sun, Research Group Leader, physical oceanographer, CSIRO Craig Steinberg, Physical Oceanographer, Australian Institute of Marine Science Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Alberta invests C$50 mln from carbon market into technology-agnostic drilling innovation

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 06:02
The Alberta government announced C$50 million ($35.7 mln) in funding from provincial carbon market proceeds to spur innovation in drilling technologies aiming to reduce emissions.
Categories: Around The Web

Canada pumps C$12.5 mln into British Columbia’s industrial CCUS R&D

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 03:58
The Canadian federal government announced Thursday C$12.5 million ($8.9 mln) in funding for six research and development (R&D) projects in British Columbia that aim to accelerate carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) of industrial emissions.
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UK increases World Bank contribution, boosting climate finance prospects

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-11-30 03:35

Government puts forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on last pledge

The UK has increased its contribution to the World Bank, in a move that will boost prospects for climate finance.

Next week, at a meeting in Seoul of the International Development Association (IDA) – the body that funds the World Bank’s support for low-income countries – the UK will put forward £1.98bn in funding over three years, an increase of about 40% on the previous pledge.

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Poland suspends grant scheme to replace coal boilers with clean alternatives

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 02:22
The Polish government announced that a national fund to help citizens replace coal-fired boilers in their homes will be suspended, which proponents said had been running successfully over the past six years.
Categories: Around The Web

Staffordshire residents plagued by ‘the stink’ celebrate shutdown of landfill site

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-11-30 01:35

Campaigners say news that Walleys Quarry in Silverdale has been told to close has given them ‘huge relief, just elation’

A landfill site in Staffordshire which has plagued residents with noxious fumes for years has been told to permanently shut down, with local campaigners hailing the news as “absolutely amazing”.

The Environment Agency said it had brought the closure of Walleys Quarry forward after “exhausting other enforcement options”, and said it had to stop accepting new waste from Friday.

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Lufthansa expands carbon credit, SAF scheme to international flights

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2024-11-30 01:14
The Lufthansa Group will extend its sustainable "green" travel tariff to long-haul flights, the German company announced on Wednesday, expanding a scheme that currently helps finance sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and carbon projects.
Categories: Around The Web

Hope of breakthrough at international plastic treaty talks after two-year deadlock

The Guardian - Sat, 2024-11-30 01:14

‘Important shift’ made in global attempts to address plastic pollution though final treaty text yet to be agreed

Pressure from an increasingly large bloc of countries has offered hope that a breakthrough at critical international plastic treaty talks could be in sight at last, after two years of deadlock. But some warned that fragile progress could disappear again in the last stages of negotiations over the weekend.

For some time, the talks have been split over demands for the treaty to include plans to reduce the amount of plastic that is being produced – a production cap. A draft text for a final deal published on Friday included language for a global target to reduce the amount of plastic made. But it also included another option for no text – meaning no action would be taken to reduce plastic production worldwide. The final text, which may use either of those options, will hopefully be decided this weekend.

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