London councils push for plastic bag ban

London shops could be banned from handing out plastic bags under a new law intended to make the capital more environmentally friendly.
Council leaders have suggested an outright ban on the bags, or the introduction of a 10p levy, in a bid to reduce the waste going into landfill.
The measures, proposed by the capital's 33 councils in a new London local authorities bill, will be put before MPs in November.
Merrick Cockell, Conservative leader of the London Councils organisation, said:

"The proposals for a plastic bag levy underline our commitment to addressing these concerns. We hope Londoners will join with us in commending these proposals to parliament to create a greener, safer city."

Source: http://environment.guardian.co.uk/waste/story/0,,2125825,00.html

Aborigines volunteer land for nuclear waste

The latest twist in the saga of what Australia's federal government might do with its nuclear waste sees aboriginal people offering a piece of land in the Northern Territories for the job. (EDIE)

Although Australia is rich with uranium deposits which fuel reactors the world over, Australia is not itself a major nuclear player, having a handful of small reactors for research purposes but no large power stations.

However, the question of how to dispose of the waste from these research facilities along with that from industrial and medical sources has been a major headache for central government. But now the aboriginal Ngapa clan has proposed a 1.5 sq km site, part of its 200sq km holding near Muckaty Station, roughly half way between Alice Springs and Darwin in the Northern Territories.

If it gets the go ahead, the site could be used to store both low-level nuclear waste such as contaminated soil and lab equipment and intermediate level waste including that from hospital radiotherapy departments and Australia's reactors.

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