Archive

The international steel sector is working to reduce its climate change impact through closer links to the renewable energy sector, along with steel making innovation and more recycling.  

This industry is responsible for between 7% and 9% of human-generated carbon dioxide, according to the World Steel Institute.…

The European Chief Prosecutor Laura Kövesi has called for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to be strengthened with rule changes to make it more independent and effective. Presenting the EPPO’s annual report for 2021 to a joint meeting of the European Parliament’s committees on civil liberties, justice and home affairs and on budgetary control April 20, Kövesi argued for “radical simplification” of the founding EPPO regulation (1) and a shift of competence and budget to the central office in Luxembourg to guarantee the independence of delegated prosecutors in the 22 EPPO countries (2).…

Fraud skyrocketed in the UK in 2021 as the pandemic drove work, shopping and daily life online, two April 28 official reports confirm. Fraud and computer misuse jumped 54% year on year to December 2021, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ‘Crime in England and Wales: year ending December 2021′ (1).…

Finishers are innovating to overcome the past weaknesses of natural and organic dyes such as low yields when extracting dyes from sources such as vegetation, insects or molluscs, inferior wash performance and weaker fastness in general, compared with synthetic dyes. 

A key focus of progress has been the improved use of mordants fixing natural dye stuff onto yarns and fabrics.…

RUSSIA’S invasion of Ukraine has prompted a major increase in sugar prices, the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said. Its FAO Sugar Price Index averaged 117.9 points in March, up 7.4 points (6.7%) from February, and up 20% year-on-year.…

When the can manufacturing sector looks at the Czech Republic, it focuses especially on beer. The country, trading on its tasty classic lagers, is a brewing giant. In 2020 the overall production of beer in Czech Republic was 20.1 million hectolitres, of which 5 million hectolitres was exported, said the Czech Beer and Malt Association (its most recent figures).…

The Covid-19 crisis has not stopped the dynamism of the drinks can market in France – where six billion cans are produced every year, indeed it seems to have strengthened sales. More than two drinks out of 10 – 22.3% – sold in French shops in 2021 were in cans, according to France’s drinks can industry association, La Boîte Boisson.…

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia in the devastating war started by President Vladimir Putin on February 24 has decimated the Ukraine dairy sector as well as being a humanitarian disaster, European dairy experts have told Dairy Industries International (DII).

“Dairy operations have come to an abrupt halt in parts of the country with all the consequences in terms of dairy supply to the population,” said Alexander Anton, secretary general of the European Dairy Association (EDA).…

Renewable energy systems are growing fast in scale and diversity worldwide. But as with any innovative technology, commercial criminals seek to exploit new online vulnerabilities. Keith Nuthall and Sarah Gibbons report.

Cybercrime attacks on energy systems can be high profile – witness the American Colonial Pipeline energy company ransomware attack, when the company paid out USD4.4 million to hackers.   …

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned that the UK’s booming ‘challenger banks’, that use online services to work with customers, often fail to comply with their AML/CFT obligations.

The verdict came from a detailed FCA review of the sector, which is growing fast, with statistical service Statista saying the top 10 UK challenger banks had a combined asset base of GBP307 billion (USD391 billion) in 2020 alone.…