Tetra Pak has become the first carton packaging company to launch paper straws in Europe – and has released the intellectual property into the public domain.

Coles has come under fire for the return of its “Little Shop” promotion, which consumers and environmentalists have slammed as wasteful.

Pact Group has obtained government funding for sustainability initiatives in both New Zealand and Queensland, with the aim of boosting its ability to recycle.

Sidel has signed on to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, joining more than 400 organisations working towards a circular economy for plastics.

Plastic bag litter in Queensland has seen at least a 70 per cent drop since the bag ban was introduced last July, with around 900 million single-use plastic bags eliminated entirely over the last year.

Air New Zealand will more than double the single-use plastic products it is cutting from its operations this year, from 24 million to almost 55 million items.

Indonesian authorities are preparing to return at least nine containers of what it says is toxic waste sent from Australia for recycling, which was marked as non-toxic “non-B3” mixed plastic scrap.

Wellgrove and Stone & Grove, subsidiary brands of Boundary Bend, have released a new range of supplements and teas, packaged in cardboard canisters and including a QR code-based ‘trace your leaf’ solution for consumers.

The NSW return and earn recycling scheme for bottles and cans has seen its two billionth container handed in, just 19 months after the launch of the scheme, a number way above expectations.

TerraCycle has recycled more than 1.5 million coffee capsules in Australia, a weight which the company says is roughly equivalent to one and a half African elephants.

Victoria’s Richmond train station is the new front line in the war on waste, with recycled plastic sleepers installed for an 18-month trial.

The World Circular Economy Forum 2019 said urgent action is needed to push back against the growing climate crisis, with a massive investment in the circular economy the solution.

The planned Port Coogee community in the City of Cockburn, Western Australia, has sealed two of its roads with recycled waste.

Queensland-based specialised paper products supplier Alliance Paper has joined forces with Planet Ark to boost safety and sustainability in the thermal paper and food packaging markets.

A trio of University of Sydney graduate students has found a way to produce biodegradable packaging from crustacean skeletons.

Tetra Pak has partnered with a New Zealand company to recycle used beverage cartons into building material by the end of the year.