Take-out coffee and bottled water symbolise both the luxury and the waste of the early 21st century. It is now a week since China implemented tight new controls on the kind of waste it will take for recycling. Although the UK is not the worst offender, it will have a big impact on recycling rates in the UK, where plastics are often not properly separated. They want a 25p levy applied to the 2.5bn cups used each year to pay for the recycling, which is possible but complex. Coffee cups look innocent.

Source: The Guardian January 07, 2018 18:56 UTC