A recent report for the government-sponsored Battery Implementation Working Group (BIWG) has found that the recycling rate for handheld batteries was only 2.7% in 2012-13, thus supporting the need for a national product stewardship scheme. [ + ]

The Daily Telegraph claims to have obtained a secret government report, written in March this year, which contains figures for a proposed national container deposit scheme (CDS). Such a scheme could cost consumers $8 billion a year - up from the $1.4 billion originally estimated. [ + ]

A new study by researchers from RMIT University's Centre for Design and Society has found planning meals is crucial to cutting household food waste, regardless of socioeconomic status. [ + ]

The majority of the world's major cities have disclosed that climate change presents a physical risk to the businesses operating in their cities - and local governments are taking action in response. This information was published in the report Protecting our Capital, written by not-for-profit organisation CDP, infrastructure and support services firm Aecom and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. [ + ]

ARC engineers created a customised version of the Rollmax prefabricated reinforcement for use at Meridian Energy Australia's Mt Mercer Wind Farm. The company now expects the remodelled version to be used on wind farm developments in the future. [ + ]

Engineers from Aurecon New Zealand have been helping to develop wind energy projects around the world. The team has been led by Blair Walter, Aurecon's global head of renewable energy. [ + ]

The Abbott government was dealt a massive blow today as senators from the Palmer United Party (PUP) withdrew their support for the repeal of the carbon tax. [ + ]

University of Waikato PhD student Monica Waters has won a NZ$3000 Fulbright New Zealand Travel Award for her research into citizen science and water-quality monitoring. [ + ]

Funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the GREEN Grid project is a wide-ranging investigation into how New Zealanders use power, how demand can best be met using renewable sources and how the national grid can be made smarter and more efficient. [ + ]

Swiss inverter manufacturer SolarMax has provided its technology to the Middle East by partnering with solar technology development and manufacturing facility Qatar Solar Energy (QSE). [ + ]

The latest carbon emissions index (Cedex), released by consultancy company pitt&sherry, finds that demand for electricity in the national electricity market (NEM) has been falling steadily since the introduction of the carbon price in June 2012. [ + ]

Researchers from Victoria University of Wellington have developed a technique that can detect minute levels of oestrogenic hormones - molecules with the potential to affect human and animal reproductive cycles - in the environment. [ + ]

Researchers from Rice University have found that palladium-gold nanoparticles, found to be suitable catalysts for cleaning polluted water, are also able to convert biodiesel waste into valuable chemicals. [ + ]

Wave energy developer Carnegie Wave Energy has received an Australian Government grant to support the company's new, $46 million wave power project. [ + ]

Unitywater has invited residents of the Brisbane suburb of Ferny Hills to paint a mural on the walls of their local water reservoir, in an effort to reduce graffiti. [ + ]