The European Commission issued a policy statement to launch a broad consultation exercise on potential measures for recycling in preparation for new laws on waste reduction.

The six-month consultation exercise on the formal policy, "Towards a Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling" focuses on quantitative waste prevention targets and measures to ensure that these targets are met.

In addition, the policy paper proposes to align the cost of recycling and disposing waste in landfills and incinerators through tradable certificates, the coordination of national landfill taxes, promoting pay-as-you-throw schemes and making producers responsible for recycling. Disputes over EU definitions of waste, recycling, recovery and disposal will also be resolved and the most effective national strategies amongst the EU member states will be identified and broadened to the EU level.

The Commission is expected to determine the final objectives of the thematic strategy and the measures to propose for final adoption by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in 2004.

The California electronic waste recycling bill requires manufacturers of toxic electronics sold in California to develop and finance a free and convenient system for recycling their devices when their useful life has ended.

The bill also prohibits manufacturers or their agents from exporting electronic waste to any foreign nation unless they demonstrate that all hazardous devices sent to foreign destinations will be handled in a safe manner and the importation of the waste is not prohibited by the country of destination.

U.S. engineers have developed a system for charging electric vehicles on the move. Besides eliminating the need to stop for recharging, electric vehicles using the proposed system will require fewer batteries to run than conventional electric vehicles.

The charging system is based on the principle of electric transformers. It consists of specially designed metal plates buried beneath the road surface at intervals such as bus stops and connected to the mains electricity supply. A similar plate is suspended just beneath the chassis of the vehicle.

Sensors in the ground detect when the vehicle has stopped overhead and switch on the current to the buried plate. The sensors will also optimise the frequency of the current to speed up charging and provide the vehicle with enough power to travel to the next charging station. Although the vehicles cost up to 30 percent more than conventional diesel buses, their life-cycle costs are 30 percent less and the annual fuel bill is about 60 percent lower.

A trial run for two prototype buses has been scheduled for early 2004 on a 6.8 km loop in Boston.

Researchers from the University of Michigan have found a new material for storing hydrogen gas that can pave the development of safer, low-pressure fuel tanks for electric cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The cubic, cage-like molecules called metal organic frameworks (MOFs) can lightly adsorb hydrogen molecules for ease of storage and release at room temperature and low pressure. Compared to heavy cylinders at more than 300 times atmospheric pressure, MOFs store hydrogen at 20 times atmospheric pressure, which is about twice that in a cigarette lighter's fuel reservoir.

More research on customising the organic links in MOFs to improve its hydrogen capacity will be carried out before commercial applications on low-pressure storage can be realised.

UK scientists reported that a common pond fern and a simple powder of ground-up seaweed could be used to clean up water contaminated with heavy metals.

The study uses floating fern Azolla Filiculoides to bind metals like cadmium, mercury and nickel. The idea is to grow the fern in polluted water, then harvest and incinerate it to recover the metals. The study is also looking at ways to use seaweed and algae waste products from the food industry to mop up metals.

Two U.S. companies have launched SolarQuilt, a solar energy product designed with a self-cleaning device. The interconnecting solar panels can be installed on existing roofing materials without penetration and can be removed and re-installed when the roof is replaced.

The system uses thin firm amorphous silicon solar panels on a slope of 1 degree to allow water and dirt to run towards existing roof drains. The company claims that the panels require virtually no maintenance following installation and is an ideal solution for those with existing flat roofs who want a solar energy system.

Some prominent Minnesota businesses have committed to an environmental movement to design products that can be easily disassembled and recycled with minimal waste generation during and after their life cycles. The movement, called Design for Environment, is similar to those in Europe and Japan.

The aim of the movement is to reduce pollutants and hazardous ingredients and spare landfills by considering the design, manufacturing steps and recycling efforts before production begins. In this way, companies can save money as well as the environment. Similarly, consumers have a strong incentive to conserve as trash removal in America costs two to three times as much for Europe.

A report on Global Climate Change said that transportation sources account for nearly a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. It is also the source of one fourth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, spewing more carbon dioxide than any other nation except China.

The report addresses the reduction of U.S. carbon emissions from transportation by using a set of existing technologies and policies and building on them. The following findings are highlighted in the report:

1. Research and development and voluntary efforts will not be enough to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Mandatory policies will be necessary to introduce technological improvements into the market place.
3. Fuel cells and hydrogen hold out the promise of eliminating greenhouse gas emissions but the government must provide clear policy direction to drive massive private investment by the fuel and vehicle industries.

The European Union aims to link its greenhouse gas emissions trading system to the rest of the world so EU firms can buy pollution permits from other countries to help meet pollution targets.

The EU trading scheme will set a cap on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and industrial plants from 2005 and allow firms to buy and sell emissions rights within the EU. Draft legislation to set out rules on how EU companies can exceed their own pollution limits by "buying" reductions made by firms outside the bloc will be produced in the coming weeks.

Countries like Canada and Russia that want to trade pollution rights will only have limited access to the EU market, amidst concerns that countries outside the EU can be selling bogus credits or selling reductions in greenhouse gases achieved by using nuclear power rather than fossil fuels.

A new assessment of future energy trends by the European Union predicts that worldwide pollution from carbon dioxide is set to double in less than 30 years.

The forecast assumes that countries make desultory efforts to meet the Kyoto Protocol, market forces are unrestricted and technological innovation is dictated by commercial need. Over the next three decades, carbon dioxide emissions will rise by 2.1 percent a year with a 1.8 percent annual rise in energy use. The apparent backward step in carbon efficiency can be attributed to an increased use of cheap and abundant coal and a decline in the proportion of energy from renewable sources. The use of renewable sources and adoption of more efficient ways of using fossil fuels will not keep pace with urbanisation and increasing energy consumption.

Europe's Research Commissioner said that the report's findings could not be ignored and called on governments to double efforts to develop new, clean energy sources such as fuel cells and hydrogen power.