• Chemicals in recycled board

  Packaging made from recycled board appears to be contaminating food with solvents - but little or no data is available on the potential risks to health

• Sewage and greenhouse gas

  Rivers contaminated with sewage effluent and run-off from farmland may be major sources of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, according to a US study

Waste management

• Packaging compliance costs

  Costs of complying with the packaging regulations have been found to vary greatly between different compliance schemes

• Renewed interest in LCA

  Industry and the Government are showing increasing interest in life-cycle assessment - backed by a new set of ISO standards

Parliament

• Setback for IPPC Bill

  A House of Lords Committee has launched a strong attack on plans to give Ministers broad regulation-making powers under the Pollution Prevention and Control Bill

• Tougher packaging targets

  The Government has set tougher targets for recovery and recycling of packaging waste, backed by moves to improve enforcement

• Row over GM crops report

  A House of Lords report on genetically modified crops was presented as offering support for the technology - but some Committee members have rejected this view

UK policy

• Setback on groundwater

  Lack of funds may prevent the Environment Agency from identifying farms and industrial sites which pose serious pollution risks

EU policy

• Clean air for Europe

  The European Commission has called for all the EC’s air pollution control programmes to be integrated into a single strategy

• Waterborne crypto comes from sewage, studies show
• Cosmetics and food preservatives are oestrogenic, study finds
• DETR first in Whitehall with environmental report
• One in ten vehicles fail inpilot roadside emission tests
• Agency reports progress on effluent toxicity assessment
• Loose ISO framework on measuring environmental performance
• FGD and Orimulsion planned for Northern Irish power station
• Cement industry
• Cement industry
• Enforcement action
• Enforcement action
• Enforcement action
• Enforcement action
• Waste news
• Energy news
• Mix of measures proposed for fluorinated greenhouse gases
• Public service White Paper disappoints on environment

Waste management

• Sarp plans salt mine disposal facility for hazardous waste
• Faltering progress on anaerobic digestion of household waste
• Signs of life for farm biogas projects

• Belfast council takes a lead on greening its supply chain
• EC eco-label criteria agreed for product groups
• Honda pulls advert for "green" New Accord
• Volvo issues externally verified product profile based on LCA
• Shell performs U-turn on ultra-low sulphur diesel

Parliament

• MAFF opposes tax on pesticides
• MPs hear evidence on environmental agenda for products
• Energy Saving Trust demands urgent action by Government and regulator
• Prosecutions for ship pollution
• Sustainability and local authorities
• Promises and broken promises on pollution rules

UK policy

• Draft regulations to implement IPPC
• Delay for "COMAH" regulations
• UK in trouble over nitrate Directive
• UK threatened on PCBs Directive
• Agency's eutrophication plans face credibility gap
• Ofwat plays with figures in bid to keep room for water price cuts
• Tough security measures in DWI proposals on new crypto rules
• Planning authorities to be told not to restrict waste disposal capacity
• Environmental assessment for water resource projects
• Draft Bill sets ball rolling for Food Standards Agency

EU policy

• Ministers agree controls on heavy vehicles, ozone depleters
• Non-binding EC guidelines on environmental inspections
• CEN consults on packaging standards

• Blips on the water industry's upward curve

• Air quality review

  TThe Government has proposed numerous changes to its air quality objectives - and looks set to water down its targets for particulates, nitrogen dioxide and ozone

• Zeneca puts price on waste

  Putting a price on the cost of waste has helped pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals giant Zeneca to save millions of pounds

• The problem with particulates
• Failed bid to put a price on health effects

• £4m fine for port authority

  Milford Haven Port Authority has been fined an unprecedented £4 million for its role in the Sea Empress oil pollution disaster

• Sentencing for environmental offences
• Agency's £118,000 costs for failed IPC prosecution
• £4,000 fine for petrol pollution
• Caird prosecution for water pollution
• Thames Water fined for over-abstraction
• Textile firm fined for false statement
• Vandals land developer in court
• Operator of notorious illegal tip sent to jail
• Court of Appeal opens way for claim under shellfish Directive
• "Top-tier" chemical works fined for acid blast
• Anglian awaits sentence over untreated drinking water error