The Labour Party ‘will embrace the circular economy’ and become the ‘Party for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’, Shadow Environment Secretary Rachael Maskell told the party’s annual conference.

Packaging compliance scheme Valpak has become the latest funding partner in the MetalMatters programme, a scheme to help councils boost the capture rates for metal packaging in kerbside recycling.

Nottingham, Haringey, Sutton and Kettering have all rolled out a Charity Bin scheme this month as part of the second phase of testing of Keep Britain Tidy’s Bin it for Good initiative, which decreased litter in five out of seven trial areas last year.

Two more councils, Powys and Slough, are to turn to in-house waste services after reviews found that council-run operations offer significant savings.

The Swedish government has proposed offering tax breaks on repairs for items like bikes, clothing and dishwashers as a way of encouraging the efficient use of natural resources.

ISWA has published a roadmap for closing the world’s biggest dumpsites, a ‘global health emergency’ accounting for around 40 per cent of the world’s waste and presenting severe health risks to the four billion people that use them.

Scotland has edged closer to overtaking England’s recycling performance, after official statistics recorded a recycling rate of 44.3 per cent for 2015.

Scotland's circular economy ambitions and future relationship with the European Union are among the topics that will be covered at next month’s Scottish Resources Conference 2016.

Emma Howard Boyd has been confirmed as the new Chair of the Environment Agency after she was approved by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.

A ban on disposable plastic utensils from 2020 established by the French Government last month has been criticised by a trade association for breaching EU trade laws.