The World from PRX

recycling

a man standing in front of a colorful bottle cap mural
Arts
Venezuelan artist uses recycled bottle caps to create large eco-murals
man with trash
Justice
‘We were treated as disposable beings’: Waste pickers in Colombia fought for their rights after 11 murders
Plastic pollution has become a major concern in Ghana.
Environment
Ghana’s fishermen are drowning in plastic. The govt is trying to tackle pollution before it’s too late.
An empty Amazon box sits outside a north Jackson, Miss., residence, awaiting pickup for recycling
Environment
A new law in Maine requires large companies to pay for recycling packaging waste
Two people enjoy bubble tea.
Environment
Backlash from bubble-tea fans after China bans plastic straws in restaurants
A man picks through a huge heap of plastic trash
Environment
‘More waste, better taste’: This Garbage Café offers food in exchange for plastic
refill station
Lifestyle
Meet the consultant who can help your business go zero waste
A man is shown wearing a dark-color vest and carrying a large garbage bag full of plastic bottles.
How to solve the plastic waste problem: Build a better plastic
Plastic beach pollution
Environment
‘Beyond the crisis point on plastic waste’: New bill is wake-up call, says senator
Ethane crackers pollution, carbon emissions
Environment
New ethane cracker factories raise climate change and pollution concerns
A hand holds small micro-plastics.
Pushing plastics
As the world grapples with plastic, the US makes more of it — a lot more
a big pile of plastic garbage
Pushing plastics
America’s grungy ‘recycled’ plastic is creating wastelands in Asia
Workers in a dark building sort trash from a conveyor belt.
Pushing plastics
Inside the long war to protect plastic
Local Communities Feel the Effect of Change in Global Recycling Policies
Full Episode
a man climbs a pile of garbage
Environment
If you recycled all the plastic garbage in the world, you could buy the NFL, Apple and Microsoft
At the Wellesley recycling center, just west of Boston, residents drop their recyclables into 43 different sorting stations.
Environment
New Chinese policy is forcing people to think: Is there a better way to recycle?
Paper coffee cups have a thin layer of plastic on the inside to prevent leaking. It’s a well-engineered vessel, but difficult to recycle.
Environment
Starbucks tries to save 6 billion cups a year from the trash … with help from McDonald’s
Cody Marshall, with The Recycling Partnership, looks through a recycling bin in Lynn, Massachusetts. His organization is working with cities across the nation, helping them educate residents on how to recycle better.
Environment
As China gets tough on recycling, will America get cleaner?
the singapore skyline in the background and a landfill in the foreground
Environment
In Singapore, where trash becomes ash, plastics are still a problem
Arts, Culture & Media
Architects Samuel Mockbee and Andrew Freear on the Art of Recycling
Arts, Culture & Media
Dumpster-Diving for Fashion
Arts, Culture & Media
Mel Chin’s Revival Field
Arts, Culture & Media
Architects Samuel Mockbee and Andrew Freear on the Art of Recycling
Arts, Culture & Media
Commentary: Re-vamp, Re-use, Re-run
Plastic collection worker
Environment
The Plastic Banks works to turn plastic trash into cash and other necessities for the world’s poor
Wynn, Lose and Draw For the RNC
Full Episode
A man in a vest stands next to a wall of baled paper products, about 12 feet tall and several hundred feet long.
Economics
Mountains of US recycling pile up as China restricts imports
Rainbow scarab beetle
Science
Dung beetles navigate using the Milky Way and other facts about ‘nature’s recyclers’
Najat Rabat and Yassine Mazzout used to work picking trash from a landfill outside Morocco's capital. Now they work together at a new recycling cooperative.
Jobs
These trash pickers used to have miserable jobs. Now they run their own recycling cooperative.
Environment
Company making detergent bottles out of ocean plastic
Garbage piles up in a riverbed near Beirut in late 2015. The region's almost year-long trash crisis prompted a political crisis, but also the emergence of nascent recycling programs.
Environment
Never waste a good waste crisis: Beirut’s trash woes give birth to recycling
A Small Town’s Advice for a Big City’s Plastic Water Bottle Ban
Full Episode
concord water
Environment
Here’s a small town’s advice for cities considering a plastic water bottle ban
Coffee pods
Environment
Germany’s second largest city just says ‘nein’ to coffee pods
A proof-of-concept device built by MIT researchers demonstrates the principle of a two-stage process to make incandescent bulbs more efficient. This device already achieves efficiency comparable to some compact fluorescent and LED bulbs. Photo courtesy of
Science
Can we recycle light? And can it help us fight global warming?
Justin Bettman and Gözde Eker animate their sets with actors hired through a local casting website. After they’ve staged their photo, they leave the set up for passersby to explore, photograph, rearrange or selfie. This living room was the first set they
Arts
Here’s how you can find a bathroom, or a living room, on the streets of New York
Agbogbloshie, Ghana in 2012.
Environment
Here’s how to keep that old cell phone you’re about to toss from becoming toxic e-waste in a developing country
Police officers take pictures of giant puppets as they move through the streets of Liverpool, northern England July 25, 2014.
Global Scan
This is how many times British cops fired guns all of last year: 3
The CarbonLITE facility, which opened at the end of 2011, processes about 2 billion bottles a year. It's a closed loop recycling facility: plastic bottles are turned back into bottles to maximize recovery of the raw material.
Environment
China’s ‘Green Fence’ is cleaning up America’s dirty recycling
Environment
Cigarette butts beware: Vancouver is coming after you
New Study Shows Damaged Products Less Likely to Be Recycled
Environment
Group of scientists argue plastic should be treated as hazardous waste
Business, Economics and Jobs
Successful energy development program in Haiti shut down because of funding
Environment
Sweden imports waste from European neighbors to fuel waste-to-energy program
Environment
Dutch company turns cremation remains into global charity
Environment
‘Green magician’ uses magic to show power of recycling
Environment
Nigeria turns to empty plastic bottles to build homes in remote villages
Environment
Western e-waste dumped in Africa
Abongile Xeketwana and Monwabisi Dingane with a summary of their chemistry experiment.
Development & Education
School Year Blog: Chemistry Champions of South Africa, and Now the World?
Recycling for Food
Environment
‘New’ House in England to be Made Entirely from Waste Materials
Global Politics
In Haiti, Success Isn’t Enough to Keep Innovative Energy Program Alive
Michael Recycle
Paper Made
Conflict & Justice
Following Cremation, Recycling Surgical Implants
Recycling Christmas Trees in the Bayou
Trashing Recyclables
The Singing Garbagemen
Industry Waste Swap
The Joy of Paper