UK councils could meet EU recycling targets by reducing residual waste collections and increasing separate food waste services – but at a significant extra cost without government intervention, according to a new report from the Environmental Services Association.

The final legislative hurdle to creating a more resource efficient Europe has been overcome after the EU Council approved the EU’s Circular Economy Package (CEP) in Brussels on Tuesday.

A huge fire at the Pepperhill HWRC in Kent needed eight fire engines at its height to get it under control - and the site looks to be closed until at least August.

The UK’s food waste data, setting out how much food is consumed, recycled and wasted across the country, has been restated by WRAP using new international standards of measurement, resulting in a reduction in the figure for overall household food waste.

In a bid to reduce its plastic footprint, the UK Parliament has announced a series of measures aiming to ‘virtually eliminate single-use avoidable plastics’ from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords by 2019.

As Wales leads the way in extending residual waste collections, Kate Dickinson learns how Powys went about introducing three weekly collections back in 2015 and how the council has fared.

The UK currently lacks the infrastructure capacity needed to treat all of its residual waste domestically, but how much will we need in the future? As the debate heats up, Resource attempts to weigh up both sides.

A splintered collection market, and landfill-friendly policy has put the green image of New Zealand at risk, but a new government and new thinking is offering fresh shoots of hope for a national turnaround. Ed Perchard reports

Environmental campaigners voice concern as proposed revisions to the Renewable Energy Directive’s ‘waste-based fossil fuels’ regulation could see plastics being used as transport fuel.

Paper manufacturer James Cropper has set its sights on recycling some of the 2.5 billion takeaway coffee cups thrown away every year in the UK, partnering with London waste collection company Paper Round.