The EU’s total output amounted to 84 million tonnes of packaging waste, of which 40.3% were paper and cardboard. Plastics accounted for 19.0%, glass 18.5%, wood 17.1%, and metal 4.9%.

Throughout 2021, each EU resident, on average, generated 35.9 kilograms of plastic packaging waste. Out of this, 14.2 kilograms were recycled. Compared to 2020, both the production and recycling of plastic packaging witnessed a rise: production increased by 1.4 kg per capita (+4.0%), and recycling surged by +1.2 kilograms per person (+9.5%).

From 2011 to 2021, the quantity of plastic packaging waste per inhabitant grew by 26.7% (+7.6 kg/per person). Over the same span, the recycled volume of plastic packaging waste rose by 38.1% (+3.9 kg/per person).

Following stricter regulations implemented in 2020 to ensure member states reported their recycling figures accurately, the recycling rate shifted from 41.1% in 2019 to 37.6% in 2020. In 2021, the recycling rate trended upwards again, reaching 39.7%.

In 2021, Slovenia (50.0%), Belgium (49.2%), and the Netherlands (48.9%) recycled around half or just under half of their plastic packaging waste. Conversely, Malta (20.5%), France (23.1%), and Sweden (23.8%) recycled less than a quarter of their plastic packaging waste.

Packaging waste, generated in households, trade sectors, industries, or other areas, poses one of the world’s most significant waste challenges. It is hard to decompose and can pollute the environment for many years. This includes plastic bags, plastic and glass bottles, cardboard boxes, styrofoam food containers, foils, and adhesive tapes.

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The Swedish capital’s authorities will introduce an eco-zone spanning 20 blocks of the inner city, encompassing upscale shopping streets and some of Sweden’s priciest properties.

The Green Party, part of Stockholm’s ruling coalition of left-leaning and environmentally-focused parties, hopes this move will expedite the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric cars.

“Today’s air quality in Stockholm results in infants facing respiratory issues and the elderly suffering premature deaths. This is utterly unacceptable,” commented the Green Party.

This ‘Class Three’ eco-zone will predominantly cater to fully electric cars, although plug-in hybrid vehicles will be permitted for larger vans. Exceptions are in place for emergency and police vehicles, as well as cars driven or occupied by disabled individuals.

The Green Party hints at potential expansions of this eco-zone after its initial roll-out.

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With this accolade, Zlatibor has become the inaugural destination from Serbia to claim a spot on this list. As revealed by the Zlatibor Tourist Organisation, the story of the dairy “Naša Zlatka” and its sustainable support to local producers – the narrative that Zlatibor submitted – made its way to the Top 100 stories during a ceremony held in Tallinn, Estonia. This inclusion places it alongside esteemed tourist hubs from Japan, the USA, the Philippines, EU nations, and beyond.

The evolution of the dairy “Naša Zlatka” showcased the creation of a successful local brand that is beneficial for both the producers and the supply to the tourist centre, underlined by the traditional manufacturing of Zlatibor cheese and cream.

Green Destinations is a non-profit institution established in the Netherlands, aiming to enhance sustainable destination development and increase global market recognition for tourism participants.

As the announcement suggests, in the coming period, Zlatibor will endeavour to further its commitment to sustainable tourism through various training programmes, aspiring to be recognised as a global green tourist destination.

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Aimed at fostering collaboration between French and Serbian entities, the competition emphasised sustainable waste management, water conservation, urban mobility, and building energy efficiency. An exclusive “Green Schools” category was also incorporated for Serbian primary and secondary schools.

During the award ceremony at the French Embassy, the emphasis was on sharing knowledge in battling climate change. Encouraging participation in Serbia’s ecological transition was central to this endeavour. 

French Ambassador, Pierre Cochar, expressed hope for the initiative to anchor Franco-Serbian relations in fostering sustainable cities. He highlighted the participation of over 650 local representatives in seminars and lauded the students involved in the “Green School” category for their commitment to sustainable development.

Plamena Halačeva, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation, voiced concerns over the existential threat posed by climate change. She underscored the European Green Deal’s ambitions to create a resource-efficient continent with zero net greenhouse emissions by 2050.

Serbian municipalities participated across four categories. Their applications were evaluated by experts from major universities, civil organisations, and economic alliances. Notable winners included Bačka Palanka and Sremska Mitrovica for waste management, and Vrnjačka Banja and Vranje for energy efficiency. Pirot and Kruševac excelled in urban mobility, while Čajetina and Novi Sad were recognised for water management. Additionally, “Karađorđe” Primary School and “Vasa Živković” Primary School were commended in the Green Schools segments.

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Despite the familiar concept, many queries have surfaced regarding its role in bolstering resilience against the palpable climate changes, conserving biodiversity, safeguarding the environment, and ensuring sustainable food production for upcoming generations.

Matteo Colangeli, the Regional Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for the Western Balkans, expressed contentment over the collaboration with the Foreign Investors Council to elevate awareness on sustainable food production. Colangeli underscored that agribusiness remains a pivotal priority for the EBRD in Serbia, shedding light on the opportunities it presents for Serbian farmers to integrate into international value chains.

Thomas Bouriot, EBRD’s Director in charge of defining strategy and implementing climate policy, highlighted the essentiality of adopting regenerative agricultural practices that enhance soil health and promote resource efficiency. He emphasised that these practices are vital in addressing the challenges of the food sector in the 21st century. Additionally, Bouriot reminded that the European Union has committed to ambitious goals in sustainable food production, influencing not only the EU but also the countries exporting to its market.

He added that the Serbian government will continue its substantial efforts in fostering sustainable agricultural practices.

Sandra Corsi accentuated the necessity to intensify public-private collaboration to ensure market-driven and economically sustainable practices.

Bojan Vranjković, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, conveyed that regenerative agriculture is more than a passing trend; it is a movement with the potential to shape the future of agriculture both in Serbia and globally.

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According to their findings, in the first quarter of this year, the EU economy collectively emitted a total of 941 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, marking a significant 2.9 percent decrease compared to the same period last year when the figure stood at 969 million tonnes.

Households contributed the most to CO2 emissions, accounting for 24 percent, followed closely by industry at 20 percent. The energy supply sector stood at 19 percent, agriculture at 13 percent, and transport at 10 percent.

Bulgaria led the pack with a commendable 15.2 percent reduction, followed by Estonia (14.7) and Slovenia (9.6), setting an example for EU member states in curbing harmful gas emissions. However, some countries experienced an increase in pollution, notably Ireland (9.1 percent), Latvia (7.5), Slovakia (1.9), Denmark (1.7), Sweden (1.6), and Finland (0.3).

Eurostat highlights that in the majority of the 21 European countries that achieved emission reductions, there was no simultaneous decline in GDP.

The EU’s progress in reducing carbon emissions is a testament to its commitment to a greener future, with Bulgaria and Slovenia showcasing the positive impact of concerted efforts on a national level.”

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The majority of the funds from the climate and transformation fund will be directed towards the German construction sector, totaling €18.9 billion, according to the announcement.

Support for renewable energy production in Europe has become more urgent, especially since the United States introduced generous subsidies through its Inflation Reduction Act, which could potentially draw manufacturers away from Europe.

“We are laying the foundation so that future opportunities can arise from decarbonization and digitization,” stated Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

The overall investment in the climate and transformation fund, a supplementary budget to drive the green transition of the economy, would amount to €212 billion between 2024 and 2027, as outlined by the Ministry of Finance.

Photo: facebook/SrpskiAtletskiSavez

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Velo Cuba, a bicycle shop and tour company, is producing these lightweight and eco-conscious bicycles as part of a program funded by the Netherlands’ embassy in the country.

Visitors to the city’s zoo and the coastal areas can already spot these two-wheelers being taken for a spin.

According to Nayvis Diaz, the founder of Velo Cuba, “Cuba boasts 28 species of bamboo, and luckily, we have two or three of these species required for making these bicycles.”

The workshop has collaborated with volunteers from various backgrounds, including stay-at-home mothers and the deaf community, to train residents in bicycle production and repair.

Yaquelin Gonzalez, who is deaf, expressed the importance of learning a profession, saying, “This will be beneficial for our future.”

Cuba faces ongoing challenges with transportation and stable employment, especially after the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

Photo: REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

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Following a debate on Tuesday, Parliament today adopted its position on the EU nature restoration law with 336 votes in favour, 300 against and 13 abstentions. A vote to reject the Commission’s proposal did not pass (312 votes to 324 and 12 abstentions).

MEPs underline that restoring the ecosystem is key to combating climate change and biodiversity loss, and reduces risks to food security. They stress that the draft law does not impose the creation of new protected areas in the EU nor block new renewable energy infrastructure as they added a new article underlining that such installations are overwhelmingly in the public interest.

Nature restoration targets for 2030

Parliament highlights that the new law must contribute to reaching the EU’s international commitments, in particular the UN Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework. MEPs support the Commission’s proposal to put restoration measures in place by 2030 covering at least 20% of all land and sea areas in the EU.

Parliament says that the law shall only apply when the Commission has provided data on the necessary conditions to guarantee long-term food security and when EU countries have quantified the area that needs to be restored to reach the restoration targets for each habitat type. Parliament also foresees a possibility to postpone the targets under exceptional socioeconomic consequences.

Within 12 months of this Regulation entering into force, the Commission would have to assess any gap between restoration financial needs and available EU funding and look into solutions to bridge such a gap, in particular through a dedicated EU instrument.

Source: europarl.europa.eu

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The move, which took effect on Saturday, is part of a wider government campaign against single-use plastics. Most shoppers already bring their own bags to stores after take-home plastic bags were banned in 2019. In recent years, many countries have imposed a fee or ban on plastic bags.

“New Zealand produces too much waste, too much plastic waste,” Associate Environment Minister Rachel Brooking said. She added more than one billion plastic bags had been saved since the ban on thicker bags took effect in 2019. The new move is expected to prevent the usage of 150 million plastic bags per year.

Critics have raised concerns that shoppers may just place groceries in disposable paper bags, which are still available in supermarkets.

“It’s still worth doing this, but we really want to reduce single-use anything packaging,” Ms Brooking said. “So we want people to be bringing their own bags, and supermarkets are selling reusable produce bags,” she added.

Supermarket chain Countdown, which operates more than 185 stores across the country, has started selling reusable polyester mesh bags. The company hopes this will encourage shoppers to use reusable bags for fruits and vegetables.

“We know change is hard and (it) will take them a little while,” said Catherine Langabeer, the head of sustainability at Countdown. “We get some grumpy customers.”

The New Zealand government has made progress on other initiatives to tackle climate change. In October, it proposed taxing the greenhouse gases produced by farm animals like sheep and cattle. The world’s first scheme will see farmers paying for agricultural emissions in some form by 2025. The country’s farming industry accounts for about half of its emissions.

Source: BBC

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The results showed almost 80% of those who voted in Sunday’s national referendum backed raising the country’s business tax to the 15% global minimum rate from the current average minimum of 11%, an unusually strong endorsement.

“This ensures that Switzerland will not lose any tax revenue to foreign countries,” Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said. “It will on top also create legal certainty and a stable framework.”

The climate law was likewise approved and received the support of 59% of voters.

In 2021, Switzerland joined almost 140 countries that signed up to an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) deal to set a minimum tax rate for big companies, a move aimed at limiting the practice of shifting profits to low tax countries.

Even with the increase, Switzerland will still have one of the lowest corporate tax levels in the world, and the proposal, estimated to bring 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.80 billion) per year in additional revenue, has been backed by business groups, most political parties, and the public.

The climate law, brought back in a modified form after it was rejected in 2021 as too costly, has stirred up more debate with those campaigning against it gaining traction in recent weeks.

Proponents say the law is the minimum the wealthy country needs to do to prove its commitment to fighting climate change while opponents from the right wing People’s Party say it will jeopardise energy security.

In Sunday’s referendum, voters also approved extending some provisions of the country’s emergency COVID-19 law, required under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, where legislation is put to the public vote.

Switzerland is home to the offices and headquarters of around 2,000 foreign companies, including Google (GOOGL.O) as well as 200 Swiss multinationals, such as Nestle (NESN.S). While all would be affected, business groups have welcomed the greater certainty that the new tax would bring, even if Switzerland lost some of its low-tax allure.

“No other country is going to have lower taxes either. We want the additional tax revenue to stay in the country, and be used to improve its attractiveness for businesses,” said Christian Frey, from Economiesuisse, a lobby group.

Source: reuters.com

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An estimated 19-23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas annually. That is approximately the weight of 2,200 Eiffel Towers all together.

Microplastics – tiny plastic particles up to 5mm in diameter – find their way into food, water and air. It is estimated that each person on the planet consumes more than 50,000 plastic particles per year –and many more if inhalation is considered.

Discarded or burnt single-use plastic harms human health and biodiversity and pollutes every ecosystem from mountain tops to the ocean floor.

With available science and solutions to tackle the problem, governments, companies and other stakeholders must scale up and speed actions to solve this crisis.

This underscores the importance of this World Environment Day in mobilizing transformative action from every corner of the world.

Source: un.org

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Nikkei reports a Japanese public-private partnership will attempt to beam solar energy from space as early as 2025. The project, led by Naoki Shinohara, a Kyoto University professor who has been working on space-based solar energy since 2009, will attempt to deploy a series of small satellites in orbit. Those will then try to beam the solar energy the arrays collect to ground-based receiving stations hundreds of miles away.

Using orbital solar panels and microwaves to send energy to Earth was first proposed in 1968. Since then, a few countries, including China and the US, have spent time and money pursuing the idea. The technology is appealing because orbital solar arrays represent a potentially unlimited renewable energy supply. In space, solar panels can collect energy no matter the time of day, and by using microwaves to beam the power they produce, clouds aren’t a concern either.

However, even if Japan successfully deploys a set of orbital solar arrays, the tech would still be closer to science fiction than fact. That’s because producing an array that can generate 1 gigawatt of power – or about the output of one nuclear reactor – would cost about $7 billion with currently available technologies.

Source: ca.news.yahoo.com

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Many microorganisms that can do this have already been found, but they can usually only work at temperatures above 30C (86F). This means that using them in industrial practice is prohibitively expensive because of the heating required. It also means using them is not carbon neutral.

Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute WSL have found microbes that can do this at 15C, which could lead to a breakthrough in microbial recycling. Their findings have been published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology.

Dr Joel Rüthi from WSL and colleagues sampled 19 strains of bacteria and 15 of fungi growing on free-lying or intentionally buried plastic kept in the ground for one year in Greenland, Svalbard and Switzerland. They let the microbes grow as single-strain cultures in the laboratory in darkness at 15C and tested them to see if they could digest different types of plastic.

The results showed that the bacterial strains belonged to 13 genera in the phyla actinobacteria and proteobacteria, and the fungi to 10 genera in the phyla ascomycota and mucoromycota.

The plastics tested included non-biodegradable polyethylene (PE) and the biodegradable polyester-polyurethane (PUR) as well as two commercially available biodegradable mixtures of polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT) and polylactic acid (PLA).

None of the strains were able to digest PE, even after 126 days of incubation on these plastics. But 19 strains (56%), including 11 fungi and eight bacteria, were able to digest PUR at 15C, while 14 fungi and three bacteria were able to digest the plastic mixtures of PBAT and PLA.

Rüthi said: “Here we show that novel microbial taxa obtained from the ‘plastisphere’ of alpine and arctic soils were able to break down biodegradable plastics at 15C. These organisms could help to reduce the costs and environmental burden of an enzymatic recycling process for plastic.”

He said it was surprising that a large fraction of the tested strains were able to degrade at least one of the tested plastics.

The scientists also tested for the best performers and found that they were two uncharacterised fungal species in the genera neodevriesia and lachnellula, which could digest all of the tested plastics except PE.

While plastics have only been in wide use since the 1950s, microbes can degrade polymers because they resemble some structures found in plant cells.

Source: theguardian.com

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