Progress on the EU’s Plastics Strategy continues unabated as Europe’s environment ministers reached agreement on the content of the strategy at a meeting of the Environment Council on Monday (5 March).

EU ambassadors have endorsed the provisional agreement on the four legislative proposals that make up the Circular Economy Package, including a target of a 60 per cent municipal recycling rate.

EU-wide legislation on single-use plastic is on the cards for this summer, according to comments by the European Commission’s Vice President Frans Timmermans.

Recruitment has begun for researchers to study the circular economy as part of an EU-funded project led by the University of Hull, which will examine methods of improving resource efficiency and their implications.

Unregulated ship recycling in South Asia is killing dozens of workers a year, with European ships flouting safe disposal laws through loopholes. Sid Hayns-Worthington takes a look at the murky world of shipbreaking

Products with high recycled content could be given lower VAT rates to stimulate demand in secondary markets, following a new proposal by the European Commission, says FEAD.

Our annual power list of movers and shakers in the waste and resources industry attracted a record number of votes this year. Here, you’ll find the winners from 100 to one, each accompanied by a voter’s glowing review. Read on to discover who has played their cards right and proved to be our Top Trump for 2018

Resources Minister Therese Coffey says that she ‘challenges the view’ that the Chinese ban on waste imports presents a crisis for the UK, but suggested that dramatic rules on packaging could be on the way.

Following accusations made by Greenpeace this week, Environment Secretary Michael Gove has failed to deny in Parliament that Defra is opposed to the recycling target of 65 per cent by 2035 set by the EU’s Circular Economy Package.

Lack of funding at Defra could have serious repercussions for the waste and resources sector after Brexit, with Greener UK’s Brexit Risk Tracker maintaining it as a ‘high risk’ policy area.