Litterers could be fined up to £150 and councils stopped from charging householders for disposing DIY household waste at recycling centres as part of the government’s new and long-anticipated litter strategy for England.

The British Plastics Federation Recycling Group (BPFRG) has launched a new strategy with the aim of improving plastic recycling in the UK, retaining valuable material and creating UK-based jobs through industry-led initiatives and regulation.

Workers in the City of London are being urged to use brand new coffee cup recycling points springing up across the area as Hubbub’s ‘Square Mile Challenge’ aims to recycle half a million cups in April.

Six materials, including a bioplastic composite paper, a wetsuit made from natural rubber, and packaging made from up-cycled agricultural residuals have been announced as the finalists for Bio-Based Material of the Year 2017.

Simple steps like charges and environmental messaging could reduce the use of disposable coffee cups by 50 to 300 million per year, according to new research.

West Midlands recycling company Arrow Recycling Ltd has been fined £160,000 after a worker was left in a coma when he was crushed by a falling stack of baled cardboard.

Leeds City Council has partnered with retailer Marks & Spencer to deliver a MetalMatters recycling campaign to 350,000 households – the largest single local authority campaign run by the programme.

Following updated guidance suggesting black plastic be added to ‘not recycled’ lists, the BBC magazine programme has taken a look at the difficulty in sorting such plastic trays, as well as a potential solution.

The European Parliament has voted to take on proposals to raise the European recycling target to 70 per cent by 2030 and to determine a single calculation method for recycling rates ahead of negotiations for the EU’s Circular Economy Package.

‘Packaging for people, planet and profit’ is intended to ‘support businesses in considering packaging as part of the total product system for delivering products from point of production to point of consumption’.