Pollution | Verde - Complete Environmental Solutions

Moving towards zero pollution in Europe – EEA report

Moving towards zero pollution in Europe - EEA report What is pollution and how does it affect us and the environment? Europe is taking action to reduce pollution and, as part of the European Green Deal, the European Commission put forward a zero-pollution ambition for Europe. A new European Environment Agency (EEA) report, published today, looks at the pollution challenge in Europe from differe...
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What drives firms’ decisions to spend on environmental protection?

The ESRI have produced a working paper examining factors underlying firms’ capital and current expenditures on environmental protection. Using micro data from Ireland’s industry sector over the period 2008-2016, they analyse a range of such factors including firm haracteristics, environmental regulations, competition and spillover effects from firms with investment and spending on environmental...
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EPA takes Cork County Council to court for allowing ‘dangerous’ level of polluted liquid to build up at landfill site

Cork County Council has appeared in court charged with allowing a build up of potentially explosive gas and an accumulation of a "dangerous" level of polluted liquid at a Carrigtwohill landfill site. The local authority admitted it has not burned off gas arising from the East Cork Landfill Site in line with its responsibilities as site licence holder. The Environmental Protection Agency - t...
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Breakthrough Could Remove Polluting Materials from Environment

Trinity chemists have created a new self-assembling 2D material that could remove polluting and hazardous materials from the environment, a breakthrough that could help spur advancements in health and technology. The new technology, whose lead author was Prof Thorfinnur Gunnlaugsson from the College’s School of Chemistry, could make it possible to remove polluting and hazardous material...
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North Cork Creameries Co-operative pleads guilty to polluting Allow River

North Cork Creameries Co-operative Ltd received the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act following a guilty plea on two charges under fisheries and local government legislation at a sitting of Mallow District Court on Tuesday, 17th September. The charges followed an investigation by Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) in relation to a pollution incident, which occurred on the River Allow at Kan...
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Plastic particles found in Arctic

Even in the Arctic, microscopic particles of plastic are falling out of the sky with snow, a study has found. The scientists said they were shocked by the sheer number of particles they found: more than 10,000 of them per litre in the Arctic. It means that even there, people are likely to be breathing in microplastics from the air - though the health implications remain unclear. The region is o...
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Suspected ‘pollution incident’ turns UK River blue

A mysterious substance that has turned a tributary of a river in the West Country bright blue is being investigated by the UK Environment Agency. Tests are being carried out on the River Frome in Somerset this weekend after the water turned a luminous colour. The Environment Agency said it was treating it as a suspected pollution incident but there were no reports of dead wildlife. Test results ...
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40-times more plastic in soils than in waters

Overall, around 5,120 tons of the seven types of plastic are discharged into the environment each year. According to Empa's modelling, around 4,400 tons of macroplastic are deposited on soils every year. In addition, about 100 tons of macroplastic are emitted to waters. 600 tons of microplastics end up in or on soils and about 15 tons in waters. The amount of microplastics is thus much smaller tha...
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What are European countries doing to tackle plastic waste?

Despite some promising efforts to address the growing problem of plastic waste like banning plastic shopping bags or straws, specific prevention targets for different plastic waste are still not widespread in Europe, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published today. Only nine countries have explicit targets in place for plastic waste prevention. The EEA report ‘Preven...
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Malaysia returning plastic waste to countries of origin

Malaysia has become the latest Asian country to reject rubbish from rich countries. It is to send as much as 3,000 tonnes of plastic waste back to the countries it came from, its environment minister said. Malaysia last year became the world's main destination for plastic waste after China banned its import, disrupting the flow of more than seven million tonnes of the rubbish a year. Dozens o...
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