TRAKRAP

A new study from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) has suggested that, by 2050, 14% of agricultural emissions could be avoided if the use and distribution of food was managed better, and this in turn could reduce some of the impacts of climate change, including rising seas and extreme weather.

Statistics suggest that between 30% and 40% of all food produced around the world is never eaten as a result of it becoming spoiled, or simply discarded by shops and consumers. Worryingly, this figure is likely to increase, as emerging economies like China are expected to adopt western eating habits, such as eating more meat.

The PIK researchers analysed historical food requirements and discovered that, although the demand for food per head has remained largely constant, food availability has increased over the last 50 years, resulting in an increase of emissions related to surplus food production of over 300%.

As things stand, emissions caused by food waste could climb from 0.5 gigatonnes (GT) of carbon dioxide equivalent annually to between 1.9 and 2.5 GT by 2050.

Andrew Steer, head of the World Resources Institute, said: “Food loss and waste hurts people, costs money and harms the planet. Cutting it is a no-brainer.”

Here at TrakRap, we’ve reduced the amount of food packaging on supermarket shelves – now we need a collective plan to reduce the excessive amounts of food.

Good news abound this week as recently released government energy statistics reveal that coal use fell by 22% in 2015, meaning that the rate at which it is currently being burnt is at its lowest for at least 150 years. This also means that the amount of carbon dioxide emitted nationally last year fell by 4%. 

Additionally, the overall generation of renewable electricity increased by 29% over the same period, with most coming from wind power and bioenergy. The use of solar power also rose by 50%. 

On top of this, the government’s Environment Minister has announced that plans to introduce a tax on disposable coffee cups could be introduced in a similar manner to that which has been placed on plastic bags.

It is currently estimated that less than 1% of the 2.5 billion plastic cups used per year are recycled. This is partly due to the fact that many are lined with plastic and there are only two sites in the UK with the ability to separate plastic from paper for recycling.

Here at TrakRap, we’re delighted with both of these developments. The success of the plastic bag tax has been obvious, so it’s great that disposable coffee cups might go the same way and further reduce waste. And the government is on course to hit its target of having no operational coal plants left in the UK by 2025 too!

It’s Easter this weekend and the associated chocolate eggs remain as popular as ever - more than 80 million are sold every year in the UK, or £250million worth – but what are the costs to the environment from the discarded packaging?

Traditionally, Easter eggs come in over-sized packaging designed to catch the eye of shoppers and thus increase sales. Unfortunately, something else that also increases as a result is the amount of waste – approximately 3,000 extra tonnes of it are produced at this time of year.

In 2008, a public outcry over the issue of unnecessary packaging and the resulting increase in waste led to a reduction in packaging sizes. However, the general strategy for confectionery manufacturers around Easter remains largely unchanged.

Further reductions to the amount of packaging that is being used is essential – and some companies, such as Nestlé, have vowed to do just that. Of their decision, City of York Council’s executive member for environmental issues, 

Ann Reid, said: “It is good to see that Nestlé has listened to consumers who are fed up with wasteful packaging. However, to have a real impact this packaging needs to be part of a broader trend, rather than a one-off.”

Here at TrakRap, we think it’s important to remember to do our bit too – regardless of the size of the packaging, we can still recycle every part of it.

According to a new survey concerning the financial and environmental impacts of the clothing industry - carried out by sustainability charity, WRAP – only the oil industry is more environmentally unfriendly than the clothing production industry.

This is because of the large amounts of non-biodegradable products that are used in the process, as well as the vast quantities of water which are required. One of the most common substances in clothing production, cotton, is also the most pesticide intensive crop in the world.

A recent trend has further contributed to the issue, with ‘fast fashion’ encouraging consumers to buy clothes which are cheap but which have a life-cycle of only one or two years, further adding to the 33%  of all clothing that ends up in landfills.

One entrepreneur attempting to buck the trend is London-based fashion designer, Tom Cridland, who has launched The 30 Year Sweatshirt – a sweatshirt that comes with a 30-year guarantee, making it a more environmentally friendly product that won’t be quickly tossed away, and doesn’t use such extensive resources to produce.

Here at TrakRap, apart from being shocked that more than 5% of the UK’s total annual carbon and water footprints come from clothing consumption, we think Tom’s approach to sustainability and responsible production is extremely commendable. Consumer buying habits are changing across many industries in the UK at the moment, so new approaches such as this are more important than ever.

The first plastic-eating bacteria known to science has been discovered by a team of Japanese researchers, potentially paving the way for its use in industrial recycling and the cleaning-up of pollution.

One of the most common plastics in the world – polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – can have its molecular bonds broken by the bacteria in as little as six weeks, as the bacteria actually uses the plastic as a food source.

Incredibly, the bacteria appears to have evolved enzymes specifically to enable it to break down plastic as a result of the massive amounts which are now ever-present in the environment.

Professor of microbiology at Swinburne University, Enzo Palombo, believes this to be the case. He said: “If you put a bacteria in a situation where they’ve only got one food source to consume, over time they will adapt to do that.”

Annually, around 33% of all plastics end up in either soil or waterways across the globe, causing huge damage to the environment.

Here at TrakRap, whilst we naturally think that this is fantastic news for everyone, it is equally important that we put measures in place in order to keep dumped plastics out of our environment in the first place. As everybody knows, prevention is better than cure.

Good news after the recent story regarding water shortages, as the construction of the world’s biggest floating solar farm is due for completion in a matter of days. Built on a manmade lake just outside of London, the farm will be used to generate power for local water treatment plants for years to come.

The farm features 23,000 solar panels and will be floated on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Heathrow - causing no harm to the ecosystem in the process. 

Owned by Thames Water, the farm will cost £6million and has been in development for five years. Lightsource Renewable Energy is responsible for its development, and it can contain 6.3MW of energy – equivalent to the electricity consumption of approximately 1,800 homes.

Thames Water’s energy manager, Angus Berry, said, “This will be the biggest floating solar farm in the world for a time – others are under construction. We are leading the way, but we hope that others will follow, in the UK and abroad.”

A smaller farm is currently under construction on a reservoir near Manchester, and an even bigger farm will be completed on a reservoir in Japan in 2018.

Here at TrakRap, we’re always on the lookout for energy efficient solutions to larger problems and we think that this is a particularly good example. Not only will the floating solar farm generate clean energy, it will also benefit London’s water supply and the millions who rely on it.

Thousands of landfill dumps in the UK may begin to leak dangerous substances into streets, beaches and rivers as a result of coastal erosion, flooding and a historical lack of regulations, according to new research.

Analysis of ageing landfill dumps in the UK shows that 2,946 are located in flood plains, with 1,655 of these containing dangerous materials, including asbestos. Ageing dumps are particularly at risk as they pre-date EU waste regulations which state that they must include a protective lining to protect waste from severe weather.

The storms which ravaged the UK this winter have shown that even sturdy weather-defence systems can be breached by sustained rainfall. In 2015, extreme weather damaged the walls of a dump in Dublin and exposed hundreds of metres of rubbish, including rusted metal and heavy plastics, to the elements.

With climate change set to increase the frequency of floods and storm surges across the UK, sites will become even more vulnerable, increasing the risk to people and marine wildlife.

Friends of the Earth Campaigner, Guy Shrubsole, said: “The research is alarming. Britain’s leaky landfills could turn out to be a toxic timebomb.”

At TrakRap, whilst we’re longstanding advocates of recycling and environmentally friendly practices, we appreciate that landfill sites remain a necessity. However, we would call on the government to reinforce the UK’s ageing dumps in order to prevent further environmental damage.

Sobering news this week, as new research shows that four billion people globally face severe water scarcity for at least one month a year.

Water shortages affect two thirds of the world’s population, with 500 million people living in places where water consumption is double the amount replenished by rain. China and India are the two countries most in danger but Australia and central and western America are also under threat.

Professor Arjen Hoekstra, from the University of Twente team which led the research, was quick to point out that the UK can’t afford to relax either, saying, “(London doesn’t) have the water in the surrounding area to sustain the water flows” to it in the long term.

Separately, as population growth continues, so farming rates have to increase in order to meet demands for food – unfortunately, the farming industry is the biggest consumer of water. 25% of a person’s water footprint comes from meat consumption, as 15,000 litres of water is required in order to produce 1kg of beef.

“Caps on water use should be put in place, and companies should be transparent about how much water is needed to make their products and look to reduce it”, added Prof Hoekstra.

Water plays an important role in the manufacturing process. At TrakRap, we’ve already reduced the amounts of energy and materials we use - we also make every effort to ensure we are water efficient too.

A potentially game-changing development in the world of automation has been reported this week, as a Japanese company has announced that it is to open the world’s first robot-run farm, in an attempt to curb the country’s labour shortage.

Spread, a vegetable producer based in Kameoka, announced that, from 2017, all but one of the tasks necessary to grow the tens of thousands of lettuces it produces every day at its indoor farm will be carried out by industrial robots.

Apart from planting the initial seeds, everything, from watering to harvesting the crops, will be done by robots. This, claims Spread, will allow the business to increase production from 21,000 to 50,000 lettuces daily, whilst also increasing efficiency, reducing labour and energy costs, and allowing for 98% of the water used to be recycled.

“Our new farm could become a model for other farms, but our aim is not to replace human farmers, but to develop a system where humans and machines work together,” said Spread’s global marketing manager, JJ Price. “We want to generate interest in farming, particularly among young people.”

Using new technologies to increase energy efficiency and production rates, without increasing human unemployment, represents the holy-grail for environmentally friendly, technologically savvy companies. This development might just prove to be the breakthrough and template that many other organisations have been waiting for.

With changes to our shopping habits and the rise of discount retailers having made headlines recently, perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that easyJet founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, has applied his no-frills approach to the grocery trade with the opening of his first easyFoodstore.

Throughout February, everything on sale in easyFoodstore will cost a mere 25p, making it even cheaper than established budget-supermarkets Aldi and Lidl. And with the pilot store in north-west London selling out of all its stock within two days of opening, there is clearly a market for hyper low-budget retailers. But what does this mean for the associated packaging companies?

Because discount retailers tend to be frequented by consumers shopping ‘little and often’, and because the available space on the shelves and in storage areas of convenience stores is often much smaller than in large supermarkets, changes to pack sizes and designs becomes vital. 

Similarly, packaging which is easier and quicker to open is of paramount importance, as the speed with which stock can be replenished must be increased in order to maximise profitability. With a larger range of designs also becoming necessary, the result is that packaging costs are invariably driven up.

At TrakRap, we approve of developments that make everyday items more affordable, however it is absolutely vital that low cost retailers ensure sustainability remains a priority for everyone involved throughout the supply chain.

Incentives to boost the number of electric cars on the UK’s roads were announced by the Department for Transport earlier this week, in an attempt to encourage a greater uptake of the green vehicles.

Eight cities – London, York, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Oxford, Derby and Dundee – have been awarded funding and will share a £40m kitty between them. The cities all have different plans for the funds, with Milton Keynes and Derby to permit the use of electric cars in bus lanes, Bristol offering free parking and York installing new recharge points at a solar-powered park-and-ride facility.

The new policy will also help to reduce the UK’s currently-illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution and to meet carbon budgets. A similar scheme, whereby the government subsidised £5,000 of every electric car purchased, was launched in 2011 and has proven very successful.

Transport secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, said: “I want to see thousands more greener vehicles on our roads and I am proud to back this ambition with £40m to help the UK become international pioneers of emission-cutting technology.”

At TrakRap, we fully support incentives which highlight the importance of sustainability in the UK. Positioning the country at the forefront of the electric car revolution is a great step to take as it sends out the message that we are fully committed to improving air quality and planning for the future.

After the recent story regarding Drax power station switching from coal to biofuel, we thought we’d take a look further afield at the practical benefits that sustainable energy production on a large scale has brought to parts of Scandinavia.

Denmark has revealed its wind power figures for 2015 and they make for fantastic reading – the above-average amount of wind last year helped Denmark to produce a world record 42% of its electricity from wind turbines.

On one occasion in September, the country was able to operate without needing to switch on a single central power station and, in July, Denmark produced so much electricity that it was able to meet all its electricity needs and export another 40% overseas!

Needless to say, the Danes are on course to meet their 2050 target of producing half of all their electricity courtesy of wind.

Chief policy officer of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), Kristian Ruby, said: “These figures show that we are now at a level where wind integration can be the backbone of electricity systems in advanced economies.”

Here at TrakRap, we’d like to applaud the Danes’ continued implementation of sustainable energy production. Their incredible success proves that an environmentally-friendly approach will deliver positive results, benefiting the country and the rest of the planet, and raising the bar for everybody else.

In the ongoing battle with climate change, trees are a natural first line of defence as they help to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that are present in the atmosphere. Unfortunately, there simply aren’t enough of them to cope with the quantity of greenhouse gases, and, at present, too few trees are being planted to make up the deficit. 

Happily, some interesting news from the US has reached us this week, as it has been revealed that two designers in Boston have been recruited to develop artificial trees capable of absorbing carbon dioxide, before either storing it or converting it into fuel. 

A spokesperson for the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions in Arizona claims that one square kilometre of artificial trees could theoretically remove four million tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually. 

There is a downside, however – the artificial trees don’t resemble real ones, as developers prioritise the efficiency of the carbon-removal process over realism. Affordability is also an issue, but once the technology has been perfected, its designers estimate that the cost of removing carbon dioxide will be as little as $100 a tonne.

Pioneering new technologies that challenge the norm and that are designed to lessen our impact on the environment is exactly what we deliver here at TrakRap.

Drax power station in North Yorkshire is the biggest in Britain and, historically, one of its biggest polluters. However, the gargantuan site has now switched from burning coal to burning low-grade wood pellets sourced from working forests in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.

Although converting a power plant from coal to biomass has never been done on this scale before, two of Drax’s six units have already been completed, and a third will be burning 100% wood before the end of the year, at a total cost of £700m and with an estimated carbon saving of more than 80%. Additionally, the two biomass-burning units at Drax already generate approximately 12% of the UK’s total renewable-electricity.

According to Drax Group’s chief executive, Dorothy Thompson, it is a switch the company has been keen to implement for some time. She said: “We used to be the biggest carbon emitter in the UK, which we were not comfortable with. (But) at the time, it was simply thought not possible to burn biomass in a unit of any size that had been used to burn coal.”

Here at TrakRap, we think that this represents an excellent example of an evolution in energy creation, and a very encouraging start to 2016. Drax used to burn around 30,000 tonnes of coal a day; today it uses about seven million tons of biomass waste a year.

With this winter’s unseasonably mild weather looking set to stay well into next year, it should come as no surprise to hear that 2015 has been the year with the highest ever average global temperature. Twelve months ago, 2014 was crowned the hottest year on record, and early indications already predict that 2016 will be hotter than 2015, meaning that the three hottest years ever are almost certain to fall consecutively between 2014 and 2016.

The high 2015 temperatures can be attributed to ongoing climatic changes being supplemented by the latest El Niño phenomenon - a recurring weather pattern caused by unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean.

According to the UK Met Office, “the current situation shows how global warming can combine with smaller, natural fluctuations to push our climate to levels of warmth which are unprecedented in the data records.”

The continuing rise of worldwide temperatures is obviously a huge concern, but at TrakRap we’re opting for optimism again.

There is still plenty of work to do to bring the planet in line with the new 1.5c heat limit target, not to mention working towards a zero-emissions future. 

However, the agreements reached at this month’s historic climate change summit in Paris have increased our confidence that, with a renewed focus on sustainability and environmentally friendly practices, we can collaboratively forge a greener future.

Clean energy research and development has received a boost, with 19 countries promising to double the amount of funds invested in the sector. The countries - which include the UK, the US and China - represent the biggest global economies and oil and gas producers, and will help to bring the total amount of investment to $20bn over the next five years.

The move comes parallel to an initiative from an elite group of business leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, who have pledged to take more investment risks in order to speed up the transition of environmental technologies from research to marketplace.

“This announcement should help to send a strong signal that the world is committed to helping to mobilise the resources necessary to ensure countries around the world can deploy clean energy solutions in cost-effective ways in their economies,” said senior White House advisor, Brian Deese.

More good news also surfaced this week, as figures regarding 2015’s global fossil-fuel emissions indicated that, for the first time during a period of global economic growth, the amount of carbon dioxide that was released remained stable for the second consecutive year.

At TrakRap, we’re happy to hear both pieces of news, and particularly excited about the clean energy investment announcement. Cleaner technology is an issue close to our hearts, so we see this as an early reason for optimism ahead of the new year.

The EU will use this week’s climate change conference in Paris as a platform from which to launch ambitious plans to increase worldwide recycling rates, with a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2-4% within 15 years.

The new targets also state that, by 2030, all European countries will be required to recycle 65% of their municipal rubbish and 75% of product packaging. Additionally, no more than 10% of all disposed waste will be permitted to enter landfill dumps, and the amount of food waste is to be halved.

As well as hopefully prompting non-EU countries to follow suit, the new measures should bring into line Europe’s recycling rates, which fluctuate wildly from 66% in Austria to just 4.5% in Romania. The UK’s rate currently stands at 45%.

European Commission vice president, Frans Timmermans, said: “Our planet and our economy cannot survive if we continue with the ‘take, make, use and throw away’ approach. We need to retain precious resources and fully exploit all the economic value within them. The circular economy is about reducing waste and protecting the environment, but it is also about a profound transformation of the way our entire economy works.”

Here at TrakRap, we’re delighted that the issue of recycling is being placed front and centre before a global audience. It is an issue of which everyone can take ownership to help combat climate change.

In the next few years, Cornwall’s Eden Project could become one of the only geothermal plants in the UK after it was announced that ‘hot rocks’ situated three miles beneath the site could generate enough clean energy to power the entire park, and an additional 4,000 homes.

Energy would be generated by pumping heated water up from the rocks through small bore holes, with the geothermal energy then being used to power features such as fish tanks, biomes and greenhouses.

Ultimately, it is hoped that geothermal energy will be used to produce up to 20% of the country’s overall power, allowing the UK to join a select group of only five countries who currently do so, including Iceland and the Philippines.

Augusta Grand, head of policy at the Eden Project, said: “The government has clearly understood the benefits of geothermal power. Given that the North Sea oil and gas is now running out, this would be a good follow-on and a great opportunity for our oil and gas industries to look at an industry that they would really understand. It’s incredibly important for the UK to have a secure energy future.”

Here at TrakRap, we believe that any big organisations employing renewable fuel sources is fantastic news and we hope that the Eden Project’s ambition influences others to do likewise.

Factors including a rise in the cost of power as a proportion of household budgets have resulted in The World Energy Council downgrading the UK’s energy supplier status from AAA to AAB in its annual ‘Energy Trilemma Index’ this week.

The index refers to a country’s ability to provide sustainable, secure and affordable energy – something the UK has struggled with recently. As well as the price increase, the strain on the infrastructure was made abundantly clear only last week, when the power industry was asked by the National Grid to generate more electricity as a result of several energy breakdowns.

The UK will, however, be able to regain its triple-A rating if it provides more backing for the renewable energy sector, although the Government’s recent decision to cut subsidies in this area means that a further downgrade is also a possibility.

In response, a spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: “The UK is still a world leader for energy - and our priority is providing clean, secure and affordable power for hardworking families and businesses. We’ve made record investments in renewables and are committed to lower-carbon secure energy.“

At TrakRap, energy efficiency influences everything we do. Although disappointed to hear that the UK’s energy status has slipped, we are pleased that plans are in place to turn things around.

With the UN climate change conference taking place in Paris later this month, the mayor of the French capital, Anne Hidalgo, has won a timely victory over the French Government in a row about air pollution, and the best way to combat it.

Hidalgo’s proposal to introduce emergency traffic bans – whereby cars are only permitted to be driven on alternate days, and speed limits across the city are reduced - faced resistance from France’s ecology minister. However, after air pollution levels spiked earlier this week, and with the climate change conference now only weeks away, the proposal has now been brought in with immediate effect. Similar emergency measures were temporarily introduced in March this year to combat smog, successfully reducing traffic by 40%.

Christophe Najdovski, deputy mayor in charge of transport, said: “We have to change people’s attitudes - the fact is you don’t need a car to get around in Paris and there is no reason to use one most of the time. You can take public transport, bicycles and even walk.”

Here at TrakRap, we think that this is a great example of an individual standing their ground in the face of considerable opposition. We hope that other influential decision-makers will follow suit and show such resolve for the good of the environment.

Following on from last week’s look at sustainable tourist attractions, we’re happy to be able to report that theme parks aren’t the only ones doing their bit.

An increasing number of theatres across Britain are going green as a result of the Arts Council’s decision to include environmental sustainability into their funding criteria. From solar panel and LED light installations reducing energy consumption in one theatre in Brecon, to the huge redevelopment of London’s National Theatre which will feature a water supply courtesy of the building’s own bore-hole, sustainability and the arts are beginning to go hand-in-hand.

Sholeh Johnston, from the charity Julie’s Bicycle, agrees: “(the creative industry) has been one of the most receptive sectors in terms of the speed with which they have taken up the challenge – and we are seeing that at every level.”

Meanwhile, Alpine ski resorts have begun work to minimise their environmental impact. Chamonix has self-imposed a target of reducing its carbon emissions by 20% by 2020, and Switzerland’s Villars resort now operates a hybrid bus service for its customers, as well as low-energy snow-making systems.

At TrakRap, we know that it’s never too late to start making changes which benefit our environment. We hope that the examples being set by some of the oldest sporting and entertainment institutions  will encourage others to do the same – regardless of their size or heritage.  

GreenWood Forest Park, in North Wales, has become the first solar powered theme park in the UK after investing in 550 new solar panels. The energy generated will power 80% of the park on a daily basis, reduce carbon expenditure by 1,700 tonnes over the next 25 years and save the company in excess of £1million in the process.

The 150kw solar array system also has the capacity to generate more than twice the amount of energy required, with the excess then exported back to the grid.

One of the rides to be powered by the solar panels will further reduce the park’s energy usage by foregoing the installation of an electronic lift, ensuring visitors walk to the top of it instead.

Stephen Bristow, owner and managing director of the park, said: “Many theme parks use huge amounts of electricity and could do more to address the issue of carbon reduction. We have always managed to run our business using less than one unit of electricity per visitor per year.”

At TrakRap, we think this is fantastic news. Whilst any investment in sustainability is encouraging, we particularly enjoy learning about a company that takes a different approach to energy saving, and hopefully this particular example will result in other popular tourist attractions following its lead.

News of the recent automotive industry scandal - in which a car manufacturer has been found to have fitted devices to 11 million cars which reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) under test conditions - is currently unavoidable. Regrettably, the story looks unlikely to stop there.

Data has now emerged suggesting that diesel-powered cars produced by a much wider range of global manufacturers also emit more pollution than previously thought when subjected to more rigorous testing.

All this potentially adds up to in excess of one million additional tonnes of air pollution having been released into the atmosphere annually since the devices were installed. This is equivalent to the UK’s combined emissions for all power stations, vehicles, industry and agriculture.

The uncertainty which now surrounds the cleanliness of diesel vehicles has led the ‘Clean Air in London’ campaign to call for a royal commission to investigate carmakers’ activities in the UK.

Here at TrakRap, we’re choosing to stay positive. This episode highlights both the importance of personal responsibility, and the need to never rest on our laurels. We sincerely hope that the fallout will result in new, worldwide manufacturing developments which will prevent anything similar from happening again.

Last week, we discussed how glad we are to see ‘reductions in the effects of packaging and plastics on the environment’ and it appears we aren’t the only ones - an edible water bottle, called Ooho, has won the UK round of an EU competition to discover new, more sustainable products.

The spherical packaging breakthrough, created by students from Imperial College London and consisting primarily of seaweed, is hygienic, completely biodegradable and only costs 1p per unit to produce. This is in stark contrast to traditional plastic bottles, which can take as long as 450 years to degrade completely and are both expensive and environmentally unfriendly to produce.  

Already this year, 223 billion litres of packaged water have been sold. With investors increasingly keen to go green wherever possible – investments in clean technologies across global markets increased 16% to £205 billion in 2014 - the signs are that the Ooho could prove to be a splashing success.

Pierre Paslier, designer of the Ooho, said: “People are really enthusiastic about the fact that you can create a material for packaging matter that is so harmless that you can eat it.”

Here at TrakRap, we applaud the Ooho team, who have demonstrated that packaging can not only be reduced but also completely reimagined.

Following last week’s focus on the issues surrounding plastic bags, new research released by the WWF and the Zoological Society of London has turned the microscope on threats facing the world’s oceans.

Between 1970 and 2012, tuna and mackerel populations have plummeted by almost 75% as a result of overfishing, climate change and pollution. Pollution is also responsible for the staggering statistic that 52% of sea turtles have almost certainly eaten some form of plastic.

At the current rate, 99% of seabirds worldwide will have consumed some form of plastic by 2050. By the same year, almost all of the planet’s coral reefs will effectively be wiped out if worldwide pollution rates are left unchecked.

Consumption of plastic – or ‘debris ingestion’ – is continuing to rise amongst marine-life due to the catastrophic amount of rubbish which can be found in the oceans. At present, 12 million tonnes of plastic are introduced to them annually. This is equivalent to five trillion pieces of plastic, which is more than the weight of every human on the planet.

At TrakRap, we are always glad to see solutions developed to reduce the effects of packaging and plastics on the environment and are keen to see these findings taken on board by manufacturers across the globe.

From 5^th October, all large retailers in England will begin charging at least 5p for single use plastic carrier bags as a result of new legislation. Failure to comply will result in a fine of up to £5000, plus enforced publicity stating that they have broken the law.

In Wales, where charging for bags came into place in 2011, a new report commissioned by the Welsh government has shown that the number of single-use plastic bags has declined by 70% during that time. Almost 75% of consumers said that they support the charge, which has raised between £17million and £22million for charities and other good causes, and nearly 90% of retailers said that the charge has had either a positive effect or no effect on their businesses.

Plastic bags, which take longer than other bags to degrade, damage wildlife and are one of the main causes of litter in the UK. Wales’ natural resources minister, Carl Sargeant, said: “I am pleased that consumer habits seem to be changing, which is having a positive knock-on effect on the environment as well as raising a significant amount of money.”

Here at TrakRap, we understand that creating behavioural change is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, so we welcome the move.  Let’s hope that we are reporting the same positive changes as Wales in the years to come.

The ongoing row over the use of banned pesticides on UK crops took another twist this week, as environmental charity Friends of the Earth announced that they are heading to the high court to challenge the government’s decision to permit their use on a limited scale.

Three pesticides were banned by the EU in 2013 following risk assessments carried out by the European Food Safety Authority, which found that their on-going use was having an ‘acute affect’ on bees. Since then however, farmers have found that the absence of the pesticides have allowed the number of cabbage stem flea beetles to flourish, resulting in the devastation of a number of crops.

In order to counteract this, the government have allowed the use of two of the banned neonicotinoids for a 120-day period on approximately 5% of England’s oil seed rape crop.

Friends of the Earth’s Dave Timms, who campaigns for the welfare of bees, said: “The distribution of these (pesticides) should be halted until the courts can decide whether their use is lawful. The scientific case that they harm bees and other pollinators is absolutely overwhelming.”

This is a major issue that will impinge on food production around the world and, here at TrakRap, we are hopeful that steps can be put in place to protect the future of both bees and crops.

Recently released figures have shown the alarming scale of worldwide food wastage and the numbers involved are truly staggering.

An unbelievable 1.3 billion tonnes of food - approximately one third of all food which is produced worldwide – is being wasted each year, including 45% of all fruit and vegetables, 35% of fish and seafood and 30% of cereals. This means that nearly 30% of the world’s available agricultural land is being used to grow food which is ultimately wasted.

In the UK, 15 million tonnes are discarded annually, equivalent to an average family throwing away £700 worth of food every 12 months.

Robert van Otterdijk, coordinator of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Save Food programme, believes that the problem lies primarily with those in the developed world. He said: “Food waste is happening in countries where people can afford to throw away food. One statistic is that the amount of food wasted by consumers in industrialised countries is almost the same as the total net food production of sub-Saharan Africa.”

At TrakRap, we’ve long believed that making small behavioural changes and developing innovative packaging solutions holds the key to reducing food waste. If we can develop solutions which keep food fresher for longer, reduce material waste, save money and minimise food waste, we will be able to take a positive step forward.

Huge news from across the pond this month - on August 3rd, Barack Obama announced his long-awaited clean power plan. The plan has since been billed as the strongest action ever on climate change by a US president, as it aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants across America by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030.

This plan will benefit the entire planet, as America is second only to China in terms of its carbon emissions. Across the globe, and especially in America, we can expect to see both health and financial benefits, as cleaner air becomes more commonplace and renewable energy becomes cheaper.

Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, a network of businesses and investors that wrote to 29 state governors to strongly support the plan, said: “The clean power plan is the right measure at the right time. It’s a flexible, practical and economically sound blueprint to transition America toward a low-carbon future.”

Here at TrakRap, we believe that this plan is a genuine milestone in the battle against fossil fuels, and we admire President Obama’s determination in bringing the plan to life. We sincerely hope that the UK government will follow suit and attempt to reposition itself as a leader in the fight against climate change.

Tentative positivity has been on the increase lately; following the news of London’s fightback against air pollution, good news from the Arctic has reached us now too, with the surprising announcement that the ice volume of the region actually increased in 2013.

Cooler temperatures that year revived the sea ice levels, suggesting that a recovery could be possible if global warming is curtailed. With the UN’s climate change meeting in Paris later this year looming large, carbon emissions could soon become much more limited, which would result in cooler global temperatures, which should in turn lead to more ice forming in the Arctic.

University College London’s Rachel Tilling, who led the study, said: “You see Arctic sea ice as dwindling and in decline, but then there is a cold year and you get some of the ice back. It shows there is hope.”

The findings are the result of the first ever analysis of the entire ice cap’s volume, as carried out by the European Space Agency’s Cryosat satellite. Until now, satellites had focussed on collating information on the area covered by the ice, rather than its thickness.

Here at TrakRap, we’re delighted to hear this news but would urge people not to get too carried away – average temperatures are still rising and much more data is required before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. However, the shoots of recovery are beginning to appear.

London’s air pollution is even more dangerous than previously feared, as new research released by King’s College London shows that more than twice as many people died from exposure to it in 2010 than records had suggested.

Previous reports only took into account the effects of one type of pollutant – PM2.5. Now, however, the pollutant NO2 (nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas) is also being factored in and, as a result, the figures are far higher. Just 3,537 deaths were initially attributed to air pollution in London in 2010, when only PM2.5 was recorded. However, 5,879 deaths were separately attributed to NO2 the same year, bringing the combined figure to 9,416 – more than double the original number.

Dr Penny Woods, chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “Exposure to air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer and impairs child lung development. It is time we stop talking and take immediate action to prevent more people being needlessly killed by the air that they breathe.”

Here at TrakRap, we’re shocked by this news. Although steps have already been taken to tackle the problem, such as the introduction of electric buses and emission-free taxis, we believe that much more still needs to be done. We also believe that the entire country should be made aware of these extremely worrying statistics.

Heathrow, one of the UK’s pollution hot-spots, has moved a step closer to securing a third runway after the government’s Airports Commission recommended that it should be built. It means that air quality standards and UK climate targets are very likely to suffer as a result, despite the recommendation coming with the caveat that a legally binding commitment to control air pollution must be strictly adhered to.

The estimated 250,000 additional flights a year that the new runway will enable will naturally increase the amount of CO2 emissions above London. Regrettably, London’s air quality is already so bad that the government does not expect it to meet EU safety thresholds before 2030 – a full two decades later than the European deadline.

Greenpeace UK’s chief scientist, Doug Parr, said: “A new runway will almost certainly derail our legally-binding climate targets. In the year the world is coming together to tackle climate change, we should be talking about how to manage demand, not where to store up a new carbon bomb.”

Here at TrakRap, we appreciate the benefits that a third runway will bring to the UK – a £150bn boost to GDP over 60 years; 70,000 new jobs - but at what environmental, health and climate costs? Collectively, it is more important than ever that we ensure that the negative environmental impacts don’t outweigh the positive socio-economic ones.

Last week, the UK government announced plans to limit the development of new onshore wind farms, as well as plans to drop subsidies for them earlier than previously stated. This week, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it is to investigate the levels of noise produced by turbine blades, in order to apply a maximum noise-level to them. As a result, people are becoming concerned that these recent developments may signal the beginning of the end for UK wind farms.

Any attempts to hinder wind farms would represent a significant backwards step for the UK. In 2014, 9.3% of the UK’s energy was produced by wind power, and it is the sixth largest producer of wind-derived energy in the world, with almost three quarters of the population in favour of the practise.

Fortunately, scientists at Cambridge University have made a breakthrough in creating quieter turbine technology. By studying owls, who fly silently because of the structure of their wings, they have been able to create a new material which can be applied to turbine blades, reducing the noise substantially. Additionally, the quieter blade-turns produce more energy because of the increased speed.

Here at TrakRap, we absolutely advocate the use of renewable energy and wind farms are a fantastic way of producing it. Ensuring the quieter operation and increased productivity of the turbines will hopefully ensure their place for generations to come.

The European Commission’s report tracking the progress of the EU member states’ attempts to meet the goal of getting 20% of all their energy from renewable sources by 2020 was published this week, and it doesn’t make good reading for the UK.

Just 5.1% of the UK’s energy came from renewable sources in 2013, missing its interim target, and continued growth at the current rate will be insufficient to hit the 2020 target, leading to claims that current policies are ineffective. 

A spokesman for the European Wind Energy Association said: “The EU as a whole is on track to meet the 2020 target but some countries need to pick up the pace, notably the UK, the Netherlands and France.”

Here at TrakRap, we’re concerned to hear this news. Although the report doesn’t mean that the UK WILL miss its target, what it does mean is that much more still needs to be done. With five years still to go until the deadline is reached, we’re confident that the UK can reverse the current trend, but we all need to be aware that time is running out.

With the UK’s festival season fast approaching, we’ve been impressed with the green credentials of Iceland’s Secret Solstice.

Now in its second year, the Secret Solstice music festival takes place in Reykjavic over the weekend of the summer solstice, when it never gets dark. As a result of this, the festival has minimal lighting needs and no need for diesel generators, meaning no greenhouse gas emissions.

What little power is required is provided by Iceland’s vast geothermal energy and hydropower reserves. Indeed, at the inaugural event last year, 8,500 kilowatt hours of renewable energy was supplied to the festival by the city itself.

To lessen the environmental impact of the festival further still, visitors and bands are encouraged to share vehicles wherever possible, and intensive on-site recycling plans are also in place.

Giles Bristow, Secret Solstice’s 2014 production manager, said: “This was the first-ever outdoor event I had produced where not one drop of diesel was used in producing the event’s on-site energy needs”.

Here at TrakRap, we love the idea of a country harnessing its pure energy supply to power a major festival. The Secret Solstice has laid down the gauntlet to other organisations by proving that it is possible to stage a major event without having a major impact on the environment.

A major international effort to tackle Earth’s reliance on fossil fuels was launched this week, in the shape of the Global Apollo Programme.

Devised by some of the UK’s most high-profile scientists, economists and businessmen, the Global Apollo Programme aims to double the amount of money that is invested globally into the research and development of renewable energy, in order to make the cost of clean electricity lower than that from coal-fired power stations within ten years. Currently, only 2% of the world’s research and development budget is spent in this area.

Sir David King, the UK’s climate change envoy and one of the founders of the programme, is calling for an annual global spend of £15bn. He has already garnered support for the scheme from all over the world, with countries including the US and China showing an interest in joining up.

Here at TrakRap, we’re excited to see a programme such as this one coming to prominence and being supported by so many eminent professionals. Climate scientist and former advisor to Angela Merkel, Professor John Schellnhuber, has described it as “ingenious” and Sir David Attenborough has also given it his seal of approval. 

Swedish firm Ripasso has produced what it claims is the world’s ‘most efficient solar electricity generation system’, and is currently testing it in the Kalahari desert in South Africa.

The system uses giant mirrors which are able to rotate and follow the sun, focussing the sun’s energy to a miniscule point, which then drives a zero-emission engine. An impressive 34% of the sun’s energy which hits the mirrors is converted to electric power – approximately twice as much as standard solar panels. The electricity generated by the Ripasso system also has the advantage of being immediately grid-available.

Independent tests have confirmed that just one Ripasso dish can generate between 75 and 85 megawatt hours of electricity annually – enough to power 24 typical UK homes. Around 81 metric tonnes of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere if the same amount of power was generated by using the out-dated method of burning coal.

Paul Gauche, director of the Solar Thermal Energy Research Group from South Africa’s University of Stellenbosch, said: “The technology looks good to me. I’ve seen it working and I believe it meets the efficiency goals.”

Here at TrakRap, we are constantly on the lookout for sustainable innovations and Ripasso’s new system has made us green with envy. In a week that has seen both Boris Johnson and the University of Edinburgh reject calls to divest, this announcement is a reminder that companies the world over are continuing to work to ease the strain on the planet.

Religion played a part in raising climate change awareness this week, as top Vatican official Cardinal Peter Turkson described the increasing use of fossil fuels as being disruptive to Earth on an ‘almost unfathomable scale’. He then went on to call for a ‘moral awakening’ of politicians and people of all faiths.

The comments, made at a Vatican summit on climate change and poverty earlier this week, are likely to be precursors to Pope Francis’ June encyclical, which will focus on the environment. The encyclical is then likely to influence the next round of international negotiations regarding greenhouse gas emissions in November.

UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, who was the summit’s keynote speaker, said: “The encyclical will convey to the world that protecting our environment is an urgent moral imperative and a sacred duty for all people of faith and people of conscience.”

The message is clear – we need to work together to tackle the problem of climate change. Here at TrakRap, we think that having any leading figurehead campaigning on behalf of sustainability is incredible news. As a global icon, the Pope is in a position to reach an enormous worldwide audience in a way that very few other people can, and there is no doubt that his involvement will bring the debate to a wider group of people than ever before.

Investors have long clung to the outdated adage that they need to have fossil fuels in their portfolios in order to get good returns, believing that divestment would hurt the financial performance of their investment funds.

However, recently released data from MSCI, the world’s leading stock market index, has shown that fossil fuel-free funds have outperformed conventional ones over the last five years by 1.2%, with an average return of 13%, versus 11.8%.

So if a major charitable institution with £100m in funds had divested from fossil fuels in November 2010, it would be around £7m better off today.

Following on from this announcement, investment experts Standard Life have declared shares in coal companies ‘the greatest risk to investors’ at this moment in time. Indeed, all coal, gas and oil investments are in danger of becoming ‘stranded assets’ and, in a clear indication of how seriously they are taking the issue, corporate giants Aviva and HSBC have confirmed that they will be funding a 4-year research programme into the risks posed by stranded assets at Oxford University.

Here at TrakRap, we’re glad to see fresh discussions continuing to be stimulated around the subject of climate change. Now that there is proof that a green future will be more profitable as well as safer, there are fewer reasons than ever for organisations to continue to invest in fossil fuels.

The global slump in the price of oil, coupled with the ongoing supermarket price war, has forced the price of reprocessed plastic to skyrocket and is threatening the existence of Closed Loop Recycling – the UK’s biggest plastic milk bottle recycler.

Closed Loop recycle 35,000 tonnes of used plastic milk bottles (875 million individual bottles) every year and produce more than 80% of the recycled plastic that is used in the UK’s milk bottles. The process saves approximately 52,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

However, despite their sterling efforts, they could be just days away from administration as reprocessed plastic has become between £300 and £500 more expensive per tonne than virgin plastic. Closed Loop’s chief executive, Chris Dow, said the company was in urgent need of financial support: “Our customers want to buy recycled plastic but they don’t want to pay more (than virgin plastic). Without the support of the industry or the government it is inevitable we will go into administration.”

Here at TrakRap, we want to raise awareness of this issue and show solidarity with other environmentally-minded businesses as we continue to fight for the future of sustainability. Closed Loop say that they recycle in order to ‘minimise their environmental impact for the benefit of future generations.’ We intend to do all we can to encourage others to do the same.

After our story last month regarding the importance of sustainability to prospective students, we’re pleased to see the universities themselves investing in sustainable practices, as the results of this years’ University Awards ‘sustainability’ category prove.

The University of Nottingham took home first place for its helium recycling hub, which combines existing helium recovery techniques into a single system, with an increased hourly liquid litre production of 70%. This has reduced both electricity consumption and the plant’s running time by a third, saving money and conserving helium. The increase in efficiency has also reduced the need for outside deliveries of helium, and, therefore, its carbon footprint.

Helium reserves are vital as they are used in MRI scanners and, at the current rate of usage, they will be exhausted by 2050.

Special mentions must also go to the two runners-up: the University of Manchester (for their ‘Give it… Don’t bin it’ project, which saved over 183 tonnes of waste from being disposed into landfill in 2014) and Kingston University (for their PowerSave computer power management tool, which has saved the equivalent of 77.2 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere).

Here at TrakRap, we strive to make a difference in the here and now without compromising on the future and enjoy nothing more than seeing other organisations doing likewise.

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The Guardian newspaper’s newly launched ‘Keep It in the Ground’ campaign has already received major backing - both the UN organisation in charge of global climate change and UK energy and climate change secretary Ed Davey are supporting it.

Aimed primarily at convincing the world’s two largest charitable foundations (the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust) to divest from fossil fuels, the campaign also seeks to convince other organisations to do the same, as well as highlighting the issues surrounding the ongoing climate change debate. To date, in excess of 72,000 have signed up in support of it.

Both charities currently invest in companies who search for, and subsequently burn, reserves of oil, gas and coal. This is a major concern, as recent analysis suggests that 82% of coal reserves must remain untouched if temperature increases are to be kept below 2C – the widely accepted threshold for dangerous climate change.

Here at TrakRap, we applaud the Guardian’s efforts. We believe that it is vital to have measures in place to counteract the effects of climate change before it’s too late - after all, prevention is better than cure. The example being set by the likes of The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which has already divested from coal and oil or tar sands, is a stellar example and we would urge other organisations to follow its lead.

Following on from last week’s Apple-related story, this week sees more good news and another major publicity coup for renewable energy - the Eiffel tower has been fitted with two vertical axis wind turbines.

US-based renewable energy company Urban Green Energy (UGE) successfully installed the VisionAIR5 turbines as part of the tower’s high profile renovation project.

The turbines, which have been painted to match the rest of the tower, are ‘virtually silent’ and are capable of delivering 10,000kWh of electricity annually. They have been located 400 feet high in order to maximise energy production and to take advantage of the steady, multi-directional winds.

The renowned landmark already features energy efficient LED lights, a ten metre squared solar thermal array to provide hot water to the site and a rainwater recovery system.

Here at TRAKRAP, we know that establishing your company as environmentally friendly is easier said than done, so we believe that the green efforts being made by high-profile businesses and landmarks recently are fantastic news for everyone. The heightened publicity keeps the issue in the public consciousness, making it easier for smaller businesses to follow suit and build up their renewable credentials.

Last week we mentioned the growing importance of sustainability to businesses. This week, corporate giant Apple has revealed it is to make a significant investment in the European renewable energy sector for the first time.

Plans for two new £1.25bn Europe data centres that will run entirely on renewable energy were announced earlier this week. At 120, 000 square metres each, the centres, which will commence operation in 2017 in Denmark and Ireland, will represent the company’s largest ever European project.

This announcement marks something of a turnaround by Apple, which was named the ‘least green tech company’ by Greenpeace in 2011. At the time, the company relied heavily on coal power for its data centres.

Such an industry giant making such a major commitment to renewable energy, and doing so overseas, is a huge boost for global sustainability. Here at TRAKRAP, we sincerely hope that others will follow suit and put their money where their mouth is in the fight for the future of sustainable energy.