Latest news with #wasteReduction
Irish Times
6 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
What exactly is in our bins? A new survey hopes to find out
Are you sick of the amount of plastic and packaging coming into your home? Milk cartons, cereal boxes, food packaging, junk mail, takeaway boxes – it can feel like we are locked in a cycle of creating a never-ending stream of rubbish. A new survey is looking for your help in stopping the flow. A national recycling bin survey, running for the next two weeks, aims to find out what exactly is in our bins and who else must shoulder responsibility for it. 'For too long, the blame for waste reduction has been on consumer behaviour, but maybe we need to look further upstream,' says environmental charity Voice Ireland, which is running the survey. READ MORE Plastic made up 50 per cent of the average Irish recycling bin, according to the same survey carried out in 2023. Doing a deep dive into their recycling bins, participating householders in Ireland catalogued more than 10,000 individual items. Supermarkets were responsible for two-thirds of all packaging waste, according to the citizen research group. 'This means the problem isn't just individual behaviour – it's what's being put on our shelves in the first place,' Voice Ireland concluded. 'The survey aims to flip the script and look at the source of packaging waste – retailers and producers – so we can push for changes that actually reduce waste at the design and distribution stages,' it says. Beginning on June 15th, households are invited to collect two full weeks of data, ending on June 30th. This entails counting and recording the packing in your household recycling bin, and noting where the items came from, for example the supermarket or takeaways. [ Ireland's recycling rate has not improved for a decade, while waste continues to grow Opens in new window ] There are two ways to take part. Simply use your recycling bin as usual for the next two weeks, then you can either spill out your recycling the day before collection and take a user-friendly online survey on your phone to record the items in it. Alternatively, you can use the special 'tally as you go' sheet to record the items you are recycling in real time. Collecting information like this is not just helping to shift all the blame from consumers, the data can also inform better policymaking. Some things have changed since the last survey. The deposit return scheme means some plastic bottles and cans are being recycled differently. The European Union Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will require actual reductions in packaging, not just changes in how we recycle it. By 2030, certain types of single-use plastic packaging – such as those for unprocessed fruit and vegetables – will be banned. These changes are a step in the right direction – but without independent, citizen-led data, it's hard to measure their real impact or make the case for going further, says Voice Ireland. Even though in Ireland we're recycling more than ever by weight, our overall recycling rate isn't improving – because our packaging consumption is growing 2½ times faster. That's why it's so important to track what's really happening on the ground, the charity says. Participating in this survey over the next two weeks is a small commitment, but it can have a big impact. People who are willing to look in their bins are helping to ask tough questions and build pressure for real change. Oh, and those who complete the survey will be in with a chance to win one of five €100 One4All gift vouchers. You can sign up at
CTV News
11-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Waste program in Waterloo recycles used chopsticks into furniture
Furniture and accessories… made from old chopsticks? CTV's Karis Mapp finds out how it works. A waste reduction program in Waterloo is giving used chopsticks new life. The initiative, ChopValue, transforms the utensils into a variety of furnishings, including shelves and desks. 'Around one-third of the world uses chopsticks everyday, with 80 billion being produced in China alone,' explained Monique Chan, ChopValue's community builder. 'We're only using them for 20 to 30 minutes and throwing them straight to the landfill,' she said. With the program spanning largely across the Greater Toronto Area, a student housing building in Waterloo is one of the latest locations to install collection bins. Two receptacles can be found in the food court of 203 Lester Street, a building owned by Asset Maintenance Pros (AMP). 'I didn't think it would take off as much as this has, but our residents are really engaging with the sustainability program,' said Roxane Bernhard, AMP's senior property manager. Organizers said the building was a perfect fit because the program resonates with the consumer's culinary elements. 'There are a lot of international students. There's a growing East Asian population, and with that comes a lot of demand for more cuisine that uses chopsticks as a utensil.' Since launching in Waterloo during fall 2024, 13,852 chopsticks have been recycled. That's lead to 42 kg of waste repurposed and up to 674 kg of CO2 emissions reduced. How it works Once someone has finished eating their meal, they can toss their used chopsticks into one of the bins. From there, the utensils are transported to a manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls. That's where they're made food-safe, dried and molded into uniform tiles to be used for future projects. 'We have a system of micro-factories across the world,' said Chan. 'Any orders that are put through our system are then shipped directly from the closest micro-factory to your address. That way, we're able to cut emissions.' Anyone can purchase a variety of home and office furnishings on the ChopValue website. They also accommodate custom orders. 'They already are a study material, bamboo in general. It's really easy for them to reprocess, remanufacture and make them into sustainable furnishings,' said Bernhard.
BBC News
06-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Kent County Council Doge head quit due to 'doubt' over project
The tech entrepreneur who quit heading up Reform UK's Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) says he did so because the resignation of the party's chairman left him with "a bit of doubt" about the future of the 11 months in the role, Reform UK chairman Zia Yusuf resigned on Thursday alongside Nathaniel Fried, who was said to be leading the unit. Speaking to Politics South East, Mr Fried said the outgoing chairman was "spearheading" the Doge initiative and expressed concerns that the scheme "might not turn out how I wanted it to" without councillors at Kent County Council (KCC) have said it is "business as usual" following the double resignation. KCC deputy leader Brian Collins said "absolutely nothing's changed" following the double departure."We have a focus, we have a mission, that mission hasn't changed, business as usual," he told BBC South East on Friday Mr Yusuf and Mr Fried were part of the Doge team which attended its first meeting at KCC on said the meeting was "very productive" but the party admitted it did not know how long it would take for the unit to produce scheme, modelled on the Doge unit created by billionaire Elon Musk as part of Donald Trump's second term as US president, aims to identify and eliminate wasteful to claims that the "engine room" of the unit had now been lost, Mr Collins said: "The engine room is the 57 councillors that have been elected to run this council." 'Circus coming to town' Conservative councillor Sarah Hudson described the current situation as a "mockery".She said: "It's like a circus coming to town, and then you've got various clowns, and they've thrown their toys out of the pram at the first issue that's come along."Mr Fried said he took on the project for free because he felt the "social contract between tax payers and the British government has been a little bit broken".Asked what people in Kent would make of the resignations, just four days into the project, he said he was sure they were "disappointed"."I have great confidence in the local councillors who are working very hard at the moment, especially the head of the council," he said."I'm sure that people are disappointed but thus is politics."A spokesperson for Reform UK said: "The work of the Reform UK Doge unit will continue. The team is larger than just one man."Many Reform-controlled councils already have their respective Doge cabinet members, so this work was happening before and will continue after."
Telegraph
01-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Reform launches ‘Doge' council unit
Reform UK will launch a new 'Doge' council unit to crack down on waste and inefficiency. Nigel Farage's party has assembled a team of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors, which will visit each of the 10 councils Reform controls – starting with Kent on Monday – to look at ways to save money. The group, appointed by Zia Yusuf, the Reform chairman, is modelled on Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency in the US. It will be headed by a leading tech entrepreneur. Reform has not yet named him, although the party says he has a specialism in data analytics and has also been a turnaround chief executive. The announcement comes a month after Reform gained its first foothold in local government when it seized control of eight local authorities from the Tories and two from Labour. Mr Yusuf said: 'For too long, British taxpayers have watched their money vanish into a black hole. Their taxes keep going up, their bin collections keep getting less frequent, potholes remain unfixed, their local services keep getting cut. 'Reform won a historic victory on a mandate to change this. As promised, we have created a UK Doge to identify and cut wasteful spending of taxpayer money. Our team will use cutting edge technology and deliver real value for voters.' Mr Farage told the BBC after the local elections: 'I think every county needs a Doge. I think local government has gone under the radar for too long. 'We've seen the high-profile cases of Croydon, of Thurrock, where they've gone bankrupt, Birmingham indeed, where they've gone bankrupt.' Last week, Mr Musk stepped down from his role in the Trump administration, days after he had attacked the US president's spending plan by claiming it 'undermines' his Doge work. The Reform 'Doge' team's first visit will be to Kent, where it won more than two thirds of the seats in May. The county council has a gross budget of more than £2.5 billion. Linden Kemkaran, the Reform council leader, has written to Amanda Beer, the chief executive, to announce her intention to undertake a review of the council's 'financial management, procurement activity, and associated governance arrangements'. 'This review is part of Reform's commitment to transparency, accountability, the prudent management of public funds and the highest standards in public life,' the letter states. 'Conducting this work was a core part of Reform's local manifesto. We believe it is in the public interest to ensure that the council's financial and procurement systems are robust, lawful, and value-driven. To that end, Kent council has appointed the Doge team, a unit of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors to conduct this review on our behalf.' The review will look at contractual arrangements with suppliers and consultants, all capital expenditure, any off-book or contingent liabilities, the use of reserves and financial resilience, and any problems flagged by internal or external auditors in the last three years. The team has demanded access to all relevant documents, reports, records, data, minutes and correspondence, as well as 'any internal investigations or whistleblowing reports relevant to financial matters'. The letter warns: 'Should you resist this request, we are ready to pass a council motion to compel the same and will consider any obstruction of our councillors duties to be gross misconduct. We trust this will not be required.' Last week, Reform announced plans to axe gold-plated pension schemes for council staff. Richard Tice, the deputy leader, said final-salary pension schemes would end in the councils it now controls, describing them as an 'outrage'. He said the money would be redirected to improving council services such as bin collections. The party has also pledged to reduce spending on diversity, equality and inclusion schemes and called for an attack on government waste to save £5 out of every £100.
Fast Company
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How this marathon runner has spared 900,000 disposable cups from landfill
Kristina Smithe was running the California International Marathon in 2019, grabbing cups of water to stay hydrated, when she started to think about how much waste such events produce. On the flight home, she did the math: 9,000 runners, 17 aid stations, and something like 150,000 cups used once and thrown away. 'I was just shocked that, even in California, it's not sustainable,' Smithe said. That sparked her idea for something more durable—a lightweight, pliable silicone cup that could be used again and again. After working out a design, Smithe ordered her first shipment and tested them at a race in 2021. Now her business, Hiccup Earth, has 70,000 cups that Smithe rents out to interested races to replace the typical white paper cups that can pile up like snowdrifts at busy water stops. Billions of disposable cups are used around the world each year. These cups are often made of plastic, but even if they are made of paper, they typically have a plastic lining that makes it difficult for them to biodegrade. And making these cups, and disposing or burning them, generates planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. 'That's just a small subset of the amount of plastic waste that we produce, but it's a pretty visible one,' said Sarah Gleeson, solutions research manager and plastics waste expert at climate nonprofit Project Drawdown. 'It's something that generates a lot of waste, and waste—depending on what exactly it's made of—can really last in landfills for hundreds of years.' As she was getting her business off the ground, Smithe emailed race directors to ask if their event used disposable cups. 'The answer was always yes,' she said. Her response: 'If you're looking for a sustainable solution, I have one.' Now, she rents out the cups by the thousand, driving them to events in massive totes and leaving bins with the company logo for collection after use. Smithe picks up the used cups and washes them in a proprietary dishwasher. At the PNC Women Run the Cities race in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, in early May, Smithe helped quench the thirst of thousands of runners, dropping off 17-gallon tote bags full of her flexible blue cups. After that race, Smithe, 35, estimated she's taken her cups to 137 races and spared 902,000 disposable ones from the landfill. She also says her washing process needs only 30 gallons (114 liters) of water per 1,500 cups. An average efficient household dishwasher uses three to five gallons (11 to 19 liters) for far fewer dishes. 'It's just a solution to a problem that's long overdue,' Smithe said. One trade-off is that the cup rentals cost race directors more than other options. Disposable cups might run just a few cents each, while 10,000 Hiccup cups would rent for about 15 cents each. That price drops if more cups are needed. Gleeson, of Project Drawdown, sees the reusable cups as just one of many ways that innovators are looking to cut down on waste. Such solutions often have to be rooted in convenience and grounded in local or small applications to get more people to adopt them. Some cities, for instance, are experimenting with reusable food takeout containers that customers return to nearby drop-off spots later on. While no one solution can fully tackle the problem, 'The scalability is there,' Gleeson said. 'I think in general, high adoption of these kinds of solutions is what is able to bring costs down and really maximize environmental benefits that you could get.'
