14 h. ago Rushden fire sparks urgent warning for residents to close doors and windows

A fire has broken out at a recycling warehouse in Rushden, sending a towering plume of smoke over the area that can even be seen from space which has sparked an urgent health warning

Events

15 h. ago Firefighters rush to massive warehouse blaze as enormous plume of smoke is seen 10 miles away and businesses are evacuated while tons of plastic waste burn

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the inferno at Monoworld recycling centre on the Sanders Lodge Industrial Estate, Rushden, just before 6.30am today.

Events

17 h. ago Rushden fire LIVE: Huge plume of smoke seen for miles amid massive blaze

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue has advised people to keep doors and windows shut in Rushden, after a large fire broke out in a warehouse, causing black smoke to billow into the air

Events

4 d. ago UK town plagued by 'giant fridge' that looms over homes and gardens

Locals have dubbed a massive Chinese supermarket warehouse an "eyesore" – as the local community are enraged by the thought of the monstrosity overshadowing their homes and tanking property value

Politics

7 d. ago Loughton fire LIVE: Firefighters rush to tackle huge blaze as smoke billows high

Dramatic photographs from the scene showed large plumes of smoke billowing from behind a row of houses in Loughton, Essex, with multiple fire crews now tackling the blaze

Events

1 week ago More than 200 firefighters battle massive warehouse blaze in Baltimore. No injuries reported

A massive blaze in a mattress warehouse in Baltimore has been contained to the building after a response including more than 200 firefighters

Events

1 week ago Live Wigan fire updates as plume of black smoke rises over area

The smoke can be seen for miles around - updates as we get them

Events

1 week ago The ultimate spiritual pilgrimage for our times? A trip to a waste management site | Eleanor Margolis

As I stood there, awed by how disgusting and wasteful our species is, I realised that everyone needs to see thisLike all the best things in life, this story starts with an argument about bins. Admittedly, I could do better at recycling. I can try to chalk this up to having read too much about how all our plastic waste ultimately ends up in landfill sites in the poorest parts of south-east Asia. But I’m also lazy and so well-acquainted with cognitive dissonance that I could probably cry over the death scene in Bambi while comforting myself by chowing down on a giant haunch of venison.My partner, Leo, is the total opposite: diligent and principled. Which is why she finally lost it with me for failing to put a plastic yoghurt tub in the recycling. I went on the defensive, citing half-imagined reports about megadumps in the Philippines and inescapable doom. She retaliated by booking us on an educational tour of Southwark Reuse and Recycling Centre.Eleanor Margolis is a columnist for the...

Politics

1 week ago Moment inferno rips through shopping centre car park as huge plume of smoke spotted from miles around

An investigation has been launched after a number of vehicles caught fire in a car park at Brent Cross Shopping Centre in north London today.

Economics

1 week ago Cars catch fire as huge plume of smoke seen over London's Brent Cross shopping centre

Cars catch fire as huge plume of smoke seen over London's Brent Cross shopping centre  lbc.co.uk

Events

2 w. ago Toxic tofu? How plastic waste from the west fuels food factories in Indonesia

Tofu factory owners in Indonesia’s East Java feed their boilers with tonnes of foreign plastics each week to produce tofu sold in the regionPlastic waste from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, the US and Britain is being used to fuel tofu production in Indonesia, the Guardian has learned.Five factory owners in an industrial village in East Java, and one environmental organisation told the Guardian that imported plastic is burned daily to fuel furnaces in factories that produce tofu, prompting concern about serious health impacts. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Worksop 'explosion': Firefighters rush to scene as people told 'shut windows'

Locals have reported hearing an 'explosion' as firefighters rush to put out a blaze in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, this afternoon - emergency services have also put out a desperate warning to locals

Events

2 w. ago Massive breakthrough as Amazon develops warehouse robot with key human sense

Mass job losses are feared after Amazon announced its vulcan devices which are ‘capable of grabbing three-quarters of items in warehouses’ and don't need ladders

Events

2 w. ago New reports tell us cattle and sheep farming can be sustainable – don’t believe them, it’s all bull | George Monbiot

Feeding the world sustainably is an incredibly complex challenge, yet some people are trying to sell us a bucolic fairytaleThe fire that has just destroyed 500 hectares (1,230 acres) of Dartmoor should have been impossible. It should not be a fire-prone landscape. But sheep, cattle and ponies have made it so. They selectively browse out tree seedlings, preventing the return of temperate rainforest, which is extremely difficult to burn. In dry weather, the moor grass, bracken and heather covering the deforested landscape are tinder.The plume of carbon dioxide and smoke released this week is one of the many impacts of livestock grazing. But several recent films, alongside celebrities, politicians, billionaires and far-right podcasts, seek to persuade us that cattle and sheep are good for the atmosphere and the living planet. This story, wrapped in romantic cottagecore, is now the most active and seductive frontier of climate-science denial. It is heavily promoted by the meat industry,...

Politics

2 w. ago [Award Alert] Book American’s New Business Class Suites to London From 55K Miles

[Award Alert] Book American’s New Business Class Suites to London From 55K Miles  Upgraded Points

Events

2 w. ago Plastics industry pushed ‘advanced recycling’ despite knowing problems – report

Producers promoted chemical recycling – processes used to break plastics into constituent molecules – but knew of limitationsPlastic producers have pushed “advanced recycling” as a salve to the plastic waste crisis despite knowing for years that it is not a technically or economically feasible solution, a new report argues.Advanced recycling, also known as chemical recycling, refers to a variety of processes used to break plastics into their constituent molecules. The industry has increasingly promoted these technologies, as public concern about the environmental and health effects of plastic pollution has grown. Yet the rollout of these technologies has been plagued by problems, according to a new analysis from the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), a fossil-fuel accountability advocacy group. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Gaza blockade: a Palestinian widow, her children and a cupboard that is almost bare

Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children are just one of the families living on brink of starvation with no sign of an end to blockadeEvery day, Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children count their remaining stocks of food. These are meagre: a kilo or so of beans, a bag of lentils, a little salt, some herbs, spices, and enough flour for half a dozen flatbreads cooked on a griddle over a fire of wood splinters, waste plastic and cardboard.In the two months since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, stopping food, medicine, fuel and anything else from entering the devastated territory, Ghalia’s “cupboard” has slowly diminished. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘We want the fear to end’: a Palestinian widow relives the trauma of loss and struggle for survival

Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children are just one of the families and thousands living on the brink of starvation after blockade on GazaEvery day, Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children count their remaining stocks of food. These are meagre: a kilo or so of beans, a bag of lentils, a little salt, some herbs, spices, and enough flour for half a dozen flatbreads cooked on a griddle over a fire of wood splinters, waste plastic and cardboard.In the two months since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, stopping food, medicine, fuel and anything else from entering the devastated territory, Ghalia’s “cupboard” has slowly diminished. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Dozens of firefighters battle huge moorland blaze near Buxton

A large plume of smoke can be seen for miles around

Events

3 w. ago Smoke billows from Beirut suburbs after third Israeli strike since ceasefire

A huge plume of smoke billowed over Beirut’s southern suburbs after Israeli jets struck on Sunday, 27 April.

Events