June 2026 : Environment news round-up

The small island nation vetoed a proposal to ship in 900,000 tonnes of trash annually from across the region and burn it in a vast incinerator near the tourism gateway of Nadi. The plan was branded “waste colonialism” by local villagers. It is a strong reminder that waste-to-energy is not the clean fix it is often sold as, and that the communities asked to host it are increasingly fighting back.

The kits were made through the “advanced chemical recycling” of textiles, a technology heralded as the future of “circular fashion”, but experts say it’s far messier than it sounds. Chemical recycling is expensive, difficult to scale and only works with clean industrial scraps, not the mixed material, dyed, zip-and-label reality of used clothes.  Even the most optimistic industry targets are a drop in the ocean next to the 169 million tonnes of polyester being churned out each year, making it more of “an excuse to keep producing plastic clothes” than a silver bullet to textile waste.

Supporters at Malmö FF’s stadium are taking part in an unusual experiment: their urine is being collected, treated, and turned into fertiliser, as an alternative to synthetic petrochemical feeds. The aim is to cut dependence on fossil-fuel-based fertilisers, which globally generate around 1.13 billion tonnes of CO2E a year, more than the entire aviation sector. Researchers estimate urine could theoretically replace up to 30% of the synthetic fertilisers used in Sweden, turning something we flush away into a genuinely circular resource.

UK environmental lawyer Paul Powlesland has been charged for removing trash without permission, by the very government agency whose duty it is to keep the river clean. He and a group of volunteers cleared a heavily polluted stretch of the River Roding in East London, filling over 200 bags with rubbish including packaging, needles, household appliances and even weapons. Shortly after, the Environment Agency opened an investigation into him for operating without a licence, an offence carrying a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

The “completely unnecessary” single-use plastic-and-metal cup, used by trendy cafés for iced drinks, is not accepted in return schemes and can’t be easily recycled – what a waste. The best packaging award, by contrast, went to a refillable milk keg system that has replaced an estimated 4.5 million single-use plastic milk bottles since 2021, proof that reuse already works when businesses choose it.

Is air con the solution to human-caused heat waves or part of the problem? The dilemma is real in French politics, as the need to protect the vulnerable is being pitched against tackling the root causes of climate breakdown. Only 25% of French households have air-conditioning, compared to 50% in Spain and Italy and 90% in the US and Japan, partly because environmentalists argue that la clim treats the symptoms of climate change while worsening its causes. But with schools closing and hospital staff describing intolerable conditions, even France’s Greens now concede it may be unavoidable.