Single-use plastic bag sales in England fall 86% since 2015
Campaigners are now calling for charges on plastic bottles and disposable coffee cups in the hope of producing a similar effect.
Europe
This archive covers progress stories and milestones from across Europe, spanning health, climate policy, social equity, and scientific research. From small-nation experiments to E.U.-wide initiatives, these reports highlight what is working and why.
U.K. offshore wind power set to double as government confirms future auctions
The U.K. offshore wind energy industry is set to double after the country’s Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy announced long-term political support.
Scotland’s groundbreaking offshore wind test site generates first power
The groundbreaking project has delivered its first power to the U.K. National Grid this week, marking yet another landmark moment for the offshore wind industry.
Sweden to reach its 2030 renewable energy goal this year
An exciting new report shows that Sweden has installed so much wind power, the country is now 12 years ahead of schedule for its renewable energy goals.
U.K. to ban “abhorrent practice” of gay conversion therapy
The British government says it will ban gay conversion therapy as part of 4.5-million-pound ($5.9 million) effort to make society more inclusive for LGBT people.
Transgender woman makes history by winning Miss Universe Spain
Ãngela Ponce, 26, beat off competition from 22 other finalists to triumph at the contest in Tarragona, six years after Miss Universe was opened to trans contestants.
Europe’s first solar panel recycling plant opens in France
Solar panel recycling is finally catching up to solar power’s rapid growth, and France is showing the world how it’s done. A new facility in Rousset recovers glass, silicon, copper, and silver from aging panels — materials that can feed directly into making new ones, closing the loop on clean energy hardware. IRENA projects global PV waste could exceed five million tonnes by 2050, making infrastructure like this urgently needed. The plant currently handles crystalline silicon panels only, leaving thin-film recycling unsolved at industrial scale. Veolia hopes Rousset becomes a global template.
Renault to invest more than €1bn in French electric car plants
Renault will invest more than €1bn into four plants in France to increase its electric car production in the country.
Scottish greenhouse gas emission rates ‘halved since 1990’
Government statistics show levels in 2016 were 49% below the 1990 baseline, with a 10.3% drop on the previous year.
Temple University researchers successfully reverse cognitive impairments in mice with dementia
New research shows, for the first time in an animal model, that tau pathology — the second-most important lesion in the brain in patients with Alzheimer’s disease — can be reversed by a drug.