A report by Greenpeace and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives critiques the “inefficient” and “predatory” system of plastic waste exports from wealthy countries to communities in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

A new report by the European Commission claims that the total cost of not implementing EU environmental law came to €55 billion in 2018, and costs are set to increase unless action is taken to improve performance against environmental targets.

MEPs in the European Parliament have approved plans to ban some single-use plastic products and increase the collection and recycling of plastic bottles, with legislation to be implemented in member states by 2021.

The government has warned waste exporters to expect delays at container ports such as the Port of Dover in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal, and says businesses should seek ‘alternative’ export, recovery or disposal routes for their waste.

“16 full-time civil servants” will fill the environmental governance gap in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement, a situation Environment Secretary Michael Gove has described as “sub-optimal”.

The Welsh Government has launched a consultation on Environmental Principles and Governance aimed at considering how to maintain coherent and effective environmental governance once the UK leaves the EU.

Greener UK states that the ‘increasingly ominous prospect’ of leaving the EU without a deal ‘poses potentially dire consequences for the environment, in the short and longer term’ across all areas of environmental policy.

An agreement has been reached by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to maintain 100 per cent of the UK’s notified waste shipments to the EU in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

Households in the Irish town of Sligo have more than doubled the amount of organic waste collected for recycling following a year-long consumer awareness programme.

Over 300 refuse workers belonging to the Unite union are set to strike for two days a week from 19 February in an escalation of a continuing dispute with Birmingham City Council.