Three councils have begun trialling kerbside recycling collections of flexible laminated packaging as part of a new Defra-funded study.

New laws enhancing enforcement authorities’ powers to seize vehicles suspected of involvement in fly-tipping and waste crime have been in laid in England and Wales.

The Budget 2015 reveals that government will provide an extra £4.2 million to tackle waste crime, reform the Landfill Communities Fund, and introduce a raft of initiatives to “put Britain at the forefront of the online sharing economy”.

DCLG has announced the 46 projects that have been awarded Recycling Reward Scheme funding, and has inflated the fund by a further £6.1 million ‘due to its popularity’.

Eunomia is calling on government to introduce a deposit-refund scheme for drinks packaging and introduce levies on chewing gum and cigarettes to reduce litter.

The CLG Committee is calling on government to assign a portion of any increase in tobacco levies to local councils to help cover the cost street cleaning.

Perpetrators of certain waste crimes could face unlimited fines after a new regulation came into force this week lifting the cap on magistrates’ fining powers.

The Material Security Working Group has introduced a parliamentary paper reiterating calls for the establishment of a central Office for Resource Management.

Six people have been arrested for waste crime and human trafficking following dawn raids led by the Environment Agency.

Senior parliamentarians from the four major political parties have agreed that political will, rather than money or technology, is holding back the UK’s renewable energy sector.