Hypnetic, a German startup, has developed a way to retrofit shipping containers with an innovative pumped energy solution – minus the reservoirs.

The interconnected issues of digitalisation and sustainable development are reaching a wider audience - finally! Last week, Germany's Environment Minister Svenja Schulze set forth the country's latest digital agenda - calling for more sustainability in the digital economy and a push for much-needed action for more "digital for good".

As their popularity spreads throughout Europe, Germany has become the latest country to introduce electric scooters to its roads. Could they help solve traffic problems and make our cities cleaner and less polluted? What is their real environmental impact?

According to figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 51 million people are currently seeking asylum, have refugee status or are internally displaced. As a result of natural and humanitarian disasters, this number is growing.

A new technology uses flashes of light to make plastic polymers fluoresce, meaning special plastics can be identified and sorted accurately at a speed of 1.5 tonnes of plastic per hour. This new process enables and simplifies plastics sorting in recycling plants and facilitates the rapid separation of plastics for re-use.