waste

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>

UN Report on Food Waste Highlights a 'Travesty'

Researchers say that in 2022, nearly 20% of food produced globally went to waste

(Newser) - The world wasted an estimated 19% of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, per a new United Nations report. The UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report published Wednesday, co-authored by UNEP and the international charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP),...

Starbucks: You Can Use Your Own Cup at Drive-Thru
Starbucks Has
Gone 'Fully BYOC'

Starbucks Has Gone 'Fully BYOC'

Patrons can now fill up not only at the counter, but also at drive-thru or via mobile app with their own cups

(Newser) - Starbucks has made a big move in the new year—it's gone "fully BYOC." That's "bring your own cup," per the Washington Post , which reports that the coffee giant is now permitting customers to fill up on their favorite beverage using their own reusable...

Leftover PPE From Pandemic: 'What a Real Waste'

States are now dumping millions of masks, gowns, gloves, other protective gear due to excess supply

(Newser) - When the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared US, states scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, many states are now trying to deal with an excess of that gear, ditching their supplies in droves. With expiration dates...

Food Waste Accounts for 58% of Methane in Landfills

More than 50 local officials are asking the EPA to help accelerate food scrap recycling

(Newser) - More than one-third of the food produced in the US is never eaten. Much of it ends up in landfills, where it generates tons of methane that hastens climate change. That's why more than 50 local officials signed onto a letter Tuesday calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to...

In 'Texas' Gift to the Nation,' a Big Ol' Mess

Park rangers remind public to clean up after photos show Big Bend National Park strewn with trash

(Newser) - On Saturday, rangers at Big Bend National Park, affectionately dubbed "Texas' Gift to the Nation," didn't find any gifts on a trail near the park's Panther Junction Visitor Center. Instead, the Houston Chronicle reports that they discovered piles of plastic bags, chip containers, soft drink cups,...

This Whale Sucks In an Astounding Amount of Microplastics

Blue whales, as well as other baleens, are ingesting millions of the tiny particles daily

(Newser) - Baleen whales —which include blue whales and humpbacks—are a type of whale that uses special filters instead of teeth to collect and eat small prey like krill and fish. Now, in a research first, scientists examining the consumption habits of these marine mammals have found they're...

Caterpillar Saliva Could Be Potent Weapon in Plastic Fight

Researchers envision at-home degradation kits using enzymes found in wax worm drool

(Newser) - Five years after wax worms were found to consume the world's most commonly produced plastic, scientists have lost none of their optimism in touting the caterpillar larvae of wax moths as a potential solution to our growing problem of plastic waste. Indeed, new research finds the larvae's saliva...

Blame for World's Plastic 'Deluge' Lands Squarely on US

We're the biggest contributor to the waste problem, per new NAS analysis commissioned by Congress

(Newser) - There's a "deluge" of plastic mucking up the Earth's oceans, with the United States serving as the biggest contributor to it. That's according to a new National Academy of Sciences report ordered by Congress that's imploring the US to come up with a plan to...

Adult Diapers Are a Scourge in Japan—and an Opportunity

Rather than incinerating them, diapers are starting to be recycled

(Newser) - It's a somewhat ominous-sounding sentence, but the comparison isn't as grim as it seems: "The operations slightly evoke the factory scenes from Soylent Green, the 1973 dystopian thriller in which nutrition wafers are made from human remains." So write Motoko Rich and Makiko Inoue for the...

Here's the Tastiest Suggestion Yet on Plastic Waste
Here's the Tastiest Suggestion
Yet on Plastic Waste
new study

Here's the Tastiest Suggestion Yet on Plastic Waste

Researchers convert it into vanilla flavoring

(Newser) - Plastic waste is a problem . A big , big problem. Seemingly unrelated fact: Lots of people love vanilla. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have managed to combine these two ideas to come up with one of the most novel suggestions yet for reducing plastic garbage. They figured out...

France to End 'Scandalous' Practice That 'Defies Reason'

Nation to end dumping of unsold consumer goods worth hundreds of millions yearly

(Newser) - France has a wasteful problem that "defies reason," says the country's prime minister, adding that companies will soon be forced to end the "scandalous' practice. Edouard Philippe's remarks Wednesday were regarding the country's disposal of brand-new consumer goods that don't sell, an unused...

'People Would Be Outraged' by Teen's Find Off Calif. Coast

Alex Weber has pulled out more than 50K golf balls over the last two years

(Newser) - Two years ago, a central California teen began what NPR calls a "Sisyphean task"—hauling hundreds of pounds of golf balls off the ocean floor, only to have them reenter the sea as golfers from five nearby golf courses (including Pebble Beach) hit them right back in. Alex...

Florence Killed 5.5K Pigs in NC, Spewed Manure

3.4M chickens and turkeys also perished

(Newser) - Hurricane Florence unleashed torrential rain, dangerous wind gusts, and now a new environmental hazard in North Carolina: the overflowing of its hog manure lagoons—and it's "nasty," per the New York Times . Many of North Carolina's nearly 10 million pigs are located on large-scale farms...

Calif. Bill Would Punish Straw-Happy Servers

But harsh penalties for 'Straws Upon Request' bill will be amended, lawmaker insists

(Newser) - Restaurant servers who give customers plastic drinking straws they haven't asked for will have to suck up a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine or six months in prison under a controversial bill in California. The bill was introduced in the State Assembly by Majority Leader Ian Calderon...

How Smartphones Rob Bosses of Company Time

Survey finds most employees spend an hour a day playing on their phones

(Newser) - Everyone knows smartphones can steal hours from a day, but employees are turning to their mobile devices while on the clock, too. A new survey by staffing firm OfficeTeam finds that office workers spend an average of 56 minutes a day on their cell phones while at work, and another...

Scientists Offer First Analysis of How Much Plastic We've Made

Researchers estimate 9B tons have been produced

(Newser) - A new study puts a number on the amount of plastic the planet has manufactured in the roughly 65 years we've been cranking it out: 9 billion tons. If you're struggling to visualize that weight, the BBC helps out: That's as heavy as 25,000 Empire State...

Pentagon Finds $125B in Internal Waste, Kills Report

DOD official was warned when requesting study: 'You are about to turn on the light in a very dark room'

(Newser) - The good news: A Pentagon-requested study on administrative waste turned up plenty of fodder for officials to work with in streamlining operations. The bad news: The study found so much internal waste—$125 billion worth—that Pentagon officials seemingly tried to squash it, based on interviews and secret memos seen...

Brilliant Thieves Suck Bus Fuel— Er, No, Sewage

Mmmppfpfffpfpf

(Newser) - Turns out that stealing gas from a tour bus is more nuanced than one might think, as demonstrated by a would-be thief or set of thieves earlier this month in Australia. In what the Mirror refers to as a simple case of "mixing up poo and petrol," Laverton...

NYC to Stop Dumping Its Garbage in Other States

Mayor de Blasio plan to slash waste 90%, stop most trash exports

(Newser) - The nation's biggest city is marking Earth Day by announcing an ambitious goal of reducing its waste output by 90% by 2030. The plan, set to be unveiled today by Mayor Bill de Blasio, includes an overhaul of the city's recycling program, incentives to reduce waste, and tacit...

Sinking Oil Prices Are Hurting Recyclers

And so is a strong US dollar

(Newser) - A pound of new plastic for soda bottles cost 83 cents at the beginning of this year, whereas the recycled stuff comes to about 72 cents. But plastic is frequently made from oil, and as oil prices have dropped, so has the cost of new polyethylene terephthalate. Oil prices have...

Stories 1 - 20 |  Next >>
Most Read on Newser