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Pollution

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Datai Bay is celebrated as one of the world’s top 10 beaches by National Geographic.

Tourists have ruined many of Asia’s best islands, but not this one

It is not so easy to find an island where the culture hasn’t been compromised to chase the tourist dollar.

  • Lee Tulloch

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Hutcheon said single-use plastics used outside the home lead to the most litter.

‘Nothing seems to be happening’: Is Queensland falling behind on plastic bans?

Queensland paused its single-use plastics road map two years ago and is yet to decide a new direction.

  • Julius Dennis
Most of Australia’s skies are dark.

‘We took them for granted’: Australia’s cities are losing their stars

Light pollution means city dwellers, and even residents of country towns, are increasingly missing out on the majesty above their heads.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Kedron Brook, Brisbane.

The Brisbane creeks with 4000 microplastics in just a kilo of sludge

QUT researchers sampled sediment from Kedron Brook, Enoggera and Bulimba creeks four times a year looking for plastics. They found a lot.

  • Julius Dennis
The “deep burial” section of Werribee tip, in Melbourne’s west, where batteries were allegedly dumped.

Supermarkets seek answers over battery recycling scandal

Residents have reported fumes, fires and unusual activity at a scrapyard at the centre of improper battery recycling claims.

  • Ben Cubby
Former recycling company employees say millions of batteries dropped off at major retailers are being dumped, stockpiled or burned.

Hidden AirTags and ‘black mass’: The mystery of Australia’s missing batteries

The nation’s biggest battery recycling company is facing allegations of serious malpractice.

  • Ben Cubby and Bianca Hall
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Head of business development for Salvos’ Merielle Chamberlin, has experience as a textile engineer.

How an Australia-first facility is tackling south-east’s fashion waste

Second-hand clothing stores seem to be on every corner, but a new local facility is aiming to solve the issue of textile waste, with the help of AI.

  • Neesha Sinnya
A worker removes mulch at Rozelle Parklands, which was closed in 2024 after asbestos was found in several areas.

Infrastructure giant pays up after Rozelle asbestos-in-mulch saga

John Holland and a contractor have entered into an enforceable undertaking with the NSW Environment Protection Authority over asbestos contamination.

  • Ben Cubby
Dave Szabo says the small he has to lock up his house multiple times a week to keep the stink out.

Meat processor told to stop ‘strongly offensive’ odour

Dave Szabo describes the smell outside his dream home as like “boiling meat … sometimes with a mix of burning hair or sometimes almost like septic”.

  • Julius Dennis
Firefighters battle the petrol tanker crash at Medlow Bath in 1992. Test results suggest the fire may be a cause of the PFAS contamination.

The forever chemicals giving Blue Mountains peas no chance

EPA testing has found some Blue Mountains vegetable garden soils laced with poisonous chemicals.

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