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Chinese restrictions from January will hit UK recycling efforts and risk plastic waste being stockpiled or ending up in landfill, warn industry leaders

A ban on imports of millions of tonnes of plastic waste by the Chinese government from January could see an end to collection of some plastic in the UK and increase the risk of environmental pollution, according to key figures in the industry.

Recycling companies say the imminent restrictions by China – the world’s biggest market for household waste – will pose big challenges to the UK’s efforts to recycle more plastic.

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Bishop Auckland, Durham Gnarled, leafless branches reach out like those menacing trees in Arthur Rackham’s fairytale illustrations

The flow of Coundon burn is constricted by farmland and by a tunnel under a road and disused railway embankment for much of its course, but once inside Auckland park it remains free to meander for the final half-mile before joining the river Gaunless, close to its confluence with the Wear.

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ANU's Andrew Blakers says switching Australia to 100% solar, wind, pumped hydro energy storage would cut water use by a factor of four.

AusNet and Deakin Uni to build solar and storage micro-grid on Geelong campus, to act as R&D for similar projects.

Mornington Peninsula Shire were joined by representatives from electricity network provider United Energy and technology company GreenSync to officially launch the Community Grid Project at the Eco Living Display Centre, at the Briars in Mount Martha.

Following recent enforcement action against one of Australia’s largest solar retailers, the Clean Energy Regulator has taken enforcement action against one of the largest registered agents, Emerging Energy Solutions Group Pty Ltd.

West Australia's regional utility Horizon Power has become the first major Australian utility to embrace the concept of "base-cost renewables", recognising that the plunging cost of solar and wind is set to turn traditional theories of energy supply on their head.

Acciona Energy is about to take delivery of critical components for its 132 MW under-construction wind farm at Mt Gellibrand in Victoria.

Over its first year, the Trump administration has taken extreme steps to unravel progress on U.S. climate action domestically.

The popular NEM-Watch facility now includes the Tesla big battery, state demand levels and "hidden demand" from rooftop solar PV.

The Trump tax bill will devastate the renewable industry and jobs, while incentivising automation, and the manufacture of polluting, unprofitable robots.

A new report from the Rocky Mountain Institute lists 22 policies that could help get the job done.

The annual calendar features stunning shots of the red-tailed black cockatoo and the red-capped robin, as well as the shy and unobtrusive painted button-quail, and the crested shrike-tit, which is heard more often than it’s seen

• Vote for Australia bird of the year 2017

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Low flows in the Murray River in recent years have harmed tiny marine plants called phytoplankton, with consequences for local marine species and management. Hannah Auricht, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Kenneth Clarke, Researcher, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

It has been a quarter of a century since the world's largest sand island was listed on the World Heritage register.

Astronomers discover the most distant "supermassive" black hole known to science.

It took 20 years to excavate, clean and put together Little Foot, found in caves north of Johannesburg.

An algorithm developed by the DeepMind team claims victory against a world-beating AI chess program.

Andrew Warren of the British Energy Efficiency Federation says that Rolls-Royce’s calls for public subsidies are unwarranted

You report that the defence firm Rolls-Royce has been lobbying for government funds to assist it to diversify into building nuclear reactors (Millions on offer to develop small nuclear plants, 4 December). It is arguing that the switch to electric transport will “drive up future demand”.

The National Grid concludes that, provided that vehicle recharging is concentrated into non-peak demand hours, even large-scale electrification of surface transport requires an increase in electricity system capacity by around 15%.

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Tim Evans says that UK beekeepers should swap their frame hives for top-bar hives if they want to avoid chemical interventions and sugar feeding

The photograph accompanying your piece (How Liberia’s killer bees are helping to rebuild livelihoods, 4 December) shows a Liberian beekeeper holding curved comb from a top-bar hive, not the oblong combs of the frame hives generally used in the UK. Top-bar hives, traditional in Africa, allow bees to build comb in the shape they wish, and to structure their nest according to their natural instincts. These hives are usually managed without constant intrusive inspections, chemical interventions and sugar feeding.

A significant minority of UK beekeepers have adopted these methods. We find that they keep bees healthier than conventional systems, and our experience is borne out by the work of Cornell University’s eminent Professor Thomas Seeley, among other scientists.

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