The 519 Lego Technic pieces come in half a dozen nonresealable bags, forcing you to waste time sorting and storing.

FORBES: BYOB: Build Your Own Bot

The report calls for a common EU standard for colour-coding waste for sorting and recycling, as a way of increasing recycling rates.

BBC: Debate on treatment of waste

It portrays the innovative work of former Mayor of Curitiba (Brazil), Jaime Lerner, who was responsible for developing an efficient public transport system (the MetroBus), and a clever system of sorting of waste (Cambio verde), which offers to the poorest urban dwellers the possibility to exchange recyclable waste for fruits and vegetables.

UNESCO: Social Sciences

Houston won with its proposal to allow residents to mix trash, recyclables and lawn waste in a single bin ready for automatic sorting.

WSJ: RI city wins $5M Bloomberg prize with word gap fix

The Old Bailey heard the material - which came from waste collected by 30 councils - had been shipped to Brazil by three companies to avoid the expense of sorting and cleaning it in Britain.

BBC: UK firm fined over illegal waste exported to Brazil