La veille

Nonylphenol is a toxic xenobiotic compound classified as an endocrine disrupter capable of interfering with the hormonal system of numerous organisms. It originates principally from the degradation of nonylphenol ethoxylates which are widely used as industrial surfactants. Nonylphenol ethoxylates reach sewage treatment works in substantial quantities where they biodegrade into several by-products including nonylphenol. Due to its physical–chemical characteristics, such as low solubility and high hydrophobicity, nonylphenol accumulates in environmental compartments that are characterised by high organic content, typically sewage sludge and river sediments, where it persists.

Elon Musk has achieved astonishing power in Trump’s administration – and spent the weekend wielding it

Japan has doubled down on the nuclear industry’s routine practice of spreading radioactive pollutants to public air space and to common waterways. In addition to the pumping of tens of thousands of tons of radioactively contaminated cooling water to the Pacific Ocean from the Fukushima-Daiichi reactor complex, the government has announced its intention to spread around the country as much as 14 million cubic meters of radioactively contaminated soil, reportedly for road-building, construction projects, and even agricultural underlayment.

Plastic waste in aquatic environments may be severely disrupting the reproductive behavior of marine animals. 

Donderdag werd aan de Scheldeoevers in Hoboken een nieuwe samenwerking gelanceerd tussen River Cleanup en de Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek (VITO). Burgers worden opgeroepen om met drones het zwerfvuil langs de Schelde te spotten en zo hotspots in kaart te brengen. Artificiële intelligentie combineert de beelden, zodat nadien gericht opgeruimd kan worden.

Du 29 mai au 2 juin 2023, la France accueillera à Paris la deuxième session des négociations internationales pour mettre fin à la pollution plastique. Zero Waste France se mobilise aux côtés de ses partenaires associatifs pour rappeler les conditions nécessaires à l’adoption d’une réglementation environnementale vraiment ambitieuse.

De energieprijzen gaan door het dak en na de federale moet ook de Vlaamse regering aan de bak om de energiefactuur voor gezinnen en bedrijven behapbaar te houden. Maar in deze bittere noodzaak ligt ook een uitgelezen kans om van de huidige energiefactuur eindelijk een hefboom te maken voor hernieuwbare energie.

one-third of all food produced each year is squandered or spoiled before it can be consumed. Research also suggests that high-income countries waste as much food as sub-Saharan Africa produces. This food waste then ends up in landfills to rot – which releases greenhouse gases. And when this is combined with the amount of energy it takes to produce, manufacture, transport and store this food, it contributes a staggering 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide to our planet.

Only 17.4 per cent of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled. This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum, and other high-value, recoverable materials conservatively valued at US $57 billion — a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries — were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.

Atlas du Plastique : faits et chiffres sur la crise du plastique

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The NGO Shipbreaking Platform is a global coalition of organisations working to reverse the environmental harm and human rights abuses caused by current shipbreaking practices and to ensure the safe and environmentally sound dismantling of end-of-life ships worldwide. Just as the goods they transport, ships too become waste when they reach the end of their operational lives. Yet only a fraction is handled in a safe and clean manner. The vast majority of the world's end-of-life fleet, full of toxic substances, is simply broken down - by hand - on the beaches of South Asia. There, unscrupulous shipping companies exploit minimal enforcement of environmental and safety rules to maximise profits.