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80. How to remove colour from plastic, with Steven Burns
Episode 80
Much of the plastic packaging we use every day contains colours and additives that can be harmful, and that often prevent the plastic from being recy…
4 months, 2 weeks ago
79. How colour drains the value from plastic recycling
Episode 79
Colour can make plastic more eye-catching, but it can also make it far less valuable, dramatically reducing the chances that it will ever be recycled…
4 months, 3 weeks ago
78. Birmingham bin strike - what happens when waste piles up?
Episode 78
A year ago, Birmingham’s bin workers walked out, and the city began to fill with rubbish. What started as a dispute over changes to job progression e…
5 months ago
77. Is recycling a scam?
Episode 77
“It’s all burned. It’s all shipped to Turkey. Recycling is a myth.”
We hear these claims all the time, that our carefully sorted waste ends up in land…
5 months, 1 week ago
76. Why your council tax isn't paying for your recycling anymore
Episode 76
New legislation is shifting the cost of recycling from taxpayers to the brands that create packaging in the first place. After decades of public fund…
5 months, 2 weeks ago
75. Sustainability around the world, with Ellie Piper
Episode 75
In 2021, Ellie and James left their jobs and spent 15 months travelling around the world. Along the way, they paid close attention to how sustainabil…
5 months, 3 weeks ago
74. Should LEGO use recycled plastic?
Episode 74
In 2021, LEGO announced an ambitious plan to make its iconic bricks from recycled plastic bottles. Just two years later, the project was quietly scra…
6 months ago
73. Battery fires - the growing problem within recycling
Episode 73
Imagine accidentally starting a fire that caused £30 million in damage and destroyed 60,000 tonnes of UK recycling, and never even knowing you did it…
6 months, 1 week ago
72. Why labels on bottles could ruin our recycling
Episode 72
In 2017, Lucozade bottles were branded a “recycling villain”, not because of the bottle itself, but because the label wrapped around it was stopping …
6 months, 2 weeks ago
71. Dirty business - is waste crime on the rise?
Episode 71
A vast illegal waste dump in Oxfordshire, stretching 150 metres and sinking two storeys deep, has sent shockwaves through the waste industry. It’s a …
6 months, 3 weeks ago