Exclusive: Five facilities named in documents tabled in NSW parliament defend practices, as independent experts question whether testing system is failing consumers
Recycling fill sold in Sydney stores tests positive for asbestos
Big waste companies broke rules on testing for contamination
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Facilities belonging to some of the leading commercial laboratory companies in Australia were among those that retested samples of landscaping products at the request of their waste company clients, after initial tests found contamination not compliant with New South Wales laws.
Guardian Australia revealed earlier this year the testing regime meant to limit toxic chemicals in landscaping material known as “recovered fines” had been compromised by the practice of waste companies asking private laboratories to retest samples until they passed.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
Leading Australian labs retested landscape products for waste companies after contamination findings
05/29/2024 - 10:00
05/29/2024 - 08:48
Global industry ‘in crisis’ as fears about Brazilian harvest help push wholesale prices to record highs
Orange juice makers are considering turning to alternative fruits such as mandarins as wholesale prices have “gone bananas” amid fears of poor harvests in Brazil.
Prices of orange juice reached a new high of $4.95 (£3.88) a lb on commodity markets this week after growers in the main orange producing areas of Brazil said they were expecting the harvest to be 24% down on last year at 232m 40.8kg boxes – worse than the 15% fall previously predicted.
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05/29/2024 - 06:35
Hundreds of Indian farmers who have been camping for more than 100 days between the Punjab and Haryana states to demand better prices for their crops have been enduring a savage heatwave sweeping swathes of northern India.
Temperatures in Delhi, not far from the protest, have hit a record high of 49.9C (121.8F), as authorities warned of water shortages in the capital
Delhi temperature hits 49.9C as India’s capital records hottest day
Record breaking heat hits Delhi – in pictures
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05/29/2024 - 06:00
Los Angeles has long owned large swathes of the Owens valley. An investigation reveals how the city has tightened its grip
This article is reported by AfroLA and co-published by AfroLA, Guardian US and Inyo County’s The Sheet. It’s the first of several stories examining the impact of Los Angeles’s extensive landownership in the Owens Valley.
A red horse statue perched on a 12ft pole greets drivers coming to the town of Bishop from the south. It’s one of the first landmarks here, part of Mike Allen’s corrugated metal feed store – a local institution that sells camping gear, livestock feed and moving equipment in this expansive region of inland California.
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05/29/2024 - 05:34
Regulator understood to be looking at ‘recovery regime’ for Thames Water and others in sector
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Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, is understood to be considering cutting fines for sewage-dumping water companies if they are facing financial pressures.
According to the Financial Times, which first reported the plan, the regulator intends to draw up a “recovery regime” for Thames Water, which is facing collapse or restructuring owing to its high debts, and others that find themselves in similar positions.
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05/29/2024 - 05:00
Officials are now incentivizing testing, but experts say workers need protective equipment and paid sick leave to prevent further spread
On a US dairy farm, working in the milking parlor can mean seven-day weeks, 12-hour shifts and intimate contact with cows and everything they expel.
“When you disconnect the machine from the udder, it can shoot milk in your face,” said José Martínez, a former dairy worker and United Farm Workers advocate based in Washington state. “And there’s no time or place to eat. So we ate our tacos in spare moments with cow shit on our hands.”
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05/29/2024 - 03:00
Study confirms huge concentrations of potentially dangerous PFAS in rivers, lakes and taps in Dhaka
Rivers, lakes and tap water in areas of Bangladesh that host garment factories are swarming with dangerous levels of toxic “forever chemicals”, some with links to serious health issues, according to new research.
In the first study of its kind conducted in Bangladesh, a global fashion hub supplying international brands, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as forever chemicals, were found in 27 water samples collected close to textile factories in the capital, Dhaka.
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05/29/2024 - 02:12
62% of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) designated to protect rare migratory fish species are outside of their core habitats, according to a new modeling study.
05/29/2024 - 00:00
IPPR research examines transport emissions by income, gender, location, ethnicity and age
Wealthy white men from rural areas are the UK’s biggest emitters of climate-heating gases from transport, according to a study.
Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) looked at transport emissions by income, gender, location, ethnicity and age. The study broke down the transport emissions into international and domestic flights, private road transport and public transport.
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05/29/2024 - 00:00
Widening government-run scheme would counter mistrust among householders, says consumer group
The next government should force all tradespeople who install home heat pumps, solar panels and insulation to sign up to a mandatory accreditation scheme to counter mistrust in the industry, a leading consumer group is demanding.
A report from Which? found that households face “significant anxiety” in choosing tradespeople to fit low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, and insulation after “press stories about poor work and rogue traders”.
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