As scientists and dozens of nations call for major reductions in plastic production, the plastics industry continues to push pyrolysis — dubbed chemical or advanced recycling — as a primary solution to the global plastic waste crisis.
The Korean Zero Waste Movement Network has spent four decades mobilising citizens, government and businesses to prevent, separate and recycle food waste across South Korea, work that has earned it a place among the 2026 Earthshot Prize finalists.
COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum says reducing methane, rethinking waste and protecting seas are as important as the pledge to transition away from fossil fuels. But the approach faces a harder question of whether domestic action can deliver the clean energy shift that climate diplomacy has promised.