Products

Rumoured plans to ease EU restrictions on crop and animal varieties produced through gene editing and other new genetic modification techniques should be cancelled, a coalition of 162 NGOs has said.

Europe’s biggest manufacturers of laminated beverage cartons have pledged to use only renewable materials by 2030, and to ensure a collection rate of 90% and a verified recycling rate of 70% by that date, as the EU reviews rules on packaging in a bid to reduce waste.

Thirty-one members of the European Parliament have written to the European Commission asking to clearly define the meaning of ‘natural’ for food products.

The technology to identify plant strains developed using novel gene editing techniques already exist providing producers hand over the necessary reference material, a scientist said on Wednesday in a forum hosted by the organic farming lobby IFOAM.

The European Commission should encourage the uptake of greener technologies to process raw materials, more tightly regulate hazardous mining waste and drive down resource use to build a more sustainable mining sector, a green group has said.