The European Parliament is working to ban consumers from throwing out their electroscrap, and make producers of equipment responsible for its safe disposal.

Used electrical Electroscrap isequipment (electroscrap) is the fastest growing waste stream in EU countries, with more than six million metric tons being disposed annually.

The European Parliament is working to ban consumers from discarding electroscrap, and make producers of the equipment responsible for their safe disposal.

One of the amendments approved by the European Parliament requires EU member countries will have to make producers of electrical equipment provide guarantees for financing the disposal of their products upfront to discourage a free-rider problem and implement a plan to make it compulsory .

The Japan's Ministry of the Environment is recommending stricter regulations on emissions from diesel-powered vehicles to be sold from 2005. The new regulation would tighten the relatively relaxed existing emission standards to levels comparable with standards currently implemented in United States and Europe.

The USEPA has adopted a final rule in 11 Apr, which establishes final national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) for sources at petroleum refineries. on 11 Apr 02. The affected sources are catalytic cracking units (CCU), catalytic reforming units and sulfur recovery units.

The identified hazardous air pollutants (HAP) identified that would be reduced by this final rule under the rule include organics,; reduced sulfur compounds,; inorganics and particulate metals. These HAP are identified because of their health impacts such as cancer, respiratory irritation and damage to the nervous system.

The UK government has announced further fiscal measures aimed at reducing the environmental burden of transport in its draft budget for the financial year to March 2003.

Following a lead set by Germany, UK is proposing tax incentives for sulphur-free road fuels to be introduced in 2002. Meanwhile cars that emit less than EU's target level of 120 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer will benefit from a UK£30 discount in annual excise duty. Duty rates are to be cut for the cleanest motorcycles as well as for vans that meet the euro-IV emission standards ahead of the 2005 legal compliance deadline.

In order to avert the threat of global warming, changes have to be made to the way energy is produced. Scientists are researching into ways to cCapture ing greenhouse gases emitted from energy facilities before theyse gases get into the atmosphere to make it easier to transit is a form of "carbon sequestration", and scientist say this is one means by which an easier transition can be made from "conventional" power generation to a system that utilizes uses renewable alternatives easier.

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is now adding another three new projects to its research efforts, in recognition that light of carbon sequestration isbeing one of the fastest growing areas of research.

US Los Alamos, NM, researchers are studying a use a method being studied by the US Department of Energy to extract CO₂ directly from ambient air - work that could help stem growing concern over global climate change.

Under the method, being studied at Los Alamos, CO₂ reaches an extraction site through wind and atmospheric mixing. The air is drawn into an extractor where it is then exposed to an extraction agent, often a solution of quicklime. T, where the CO₂ from the air reacts with the agent and is converted into limestone, which falls to the bottom of the extractor.

When heated, the limestone produces pure CO₂ and quicklime. The quicklime is then recycled into the extractor system. The CO₂ is then converted to its soildsolid state and sold to the petrochemicals industry, which uses it to extract fossil fuels.

T In Sacramento, California, grants totaling more than $2.5 million from the California Integrated Waste Management Board will aims give grants totaling more than US$2.5 million to make playground a safer and more accessible place while , but also providing a second chance for materials. It funds up to 50% of projects.

The recycling effort involves upgrading playgrounds with recycled materials like safety mats made from old tires, desks and slides made from recycled plastics - including wheelchairs accessible platforms, horizontal ladders, rings, and steering wheels, and interactive panels, signs, and related play equipment that are made of recycled content.

Firms in the Dutch packaging chain have committed to achieving a major reduction in litter by drink cans and bottles under a voluntary agreement with the government. This is Netherland's third packaging covenant replacing the previous commitment agreed in 1997.

The newThe new packaging agreement would include longer-term litter reduction targets which requiresrequiring an 80% cut in levels of bottle and can litter, and a 45% cut in all other types of packaging litter by 2005. Over the period of 1999 to 2005, total packaging use must grow less than two-thirds the level of economic growth.