Norway recycles 97% of its plastic bottles: a blueprint for the rest of the world?

In order to encourage people to properly dispose of their waste, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has installed smart vending machines for recyclable waste at Connaught Place and India Gate. In return for making the sustainable waste choice, users receive monetary rewards via e-wallet.

The rapid development of emerging economies across Asia and Africa is lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty - but there is much debate as to how to best structure this growth. If these economies evolve in the same way as in the West - with unchecked, excessive resource consumption and heavy pollution - the planet may be on the fast track to disaster. Earthrise explores how these nations can grow sustainably using improved, eco-conscious technologies like renewable energy and eco-friendly farming practices.

The United States has refused to institute a carbon tax, but Canada has agreed to a carbon tax in all provinces by 2018. The carbon tax has received support across party lines, however, some elections remain to see if the carbon tax favoring candidates are elected.

What do you get when you combine the efforts of an engineering company with an energy company? In the Netherlands, you get a new type of environmentally sustainable roads. PlasticRoads, a piloted initiative in the city of Zwolle, uses discarded plastic to build bike paths that help cut down on plastic waste.

Plastic is a leading cause of much of the world's pollution problem. But thanks to a discovery in a Japanese recycling center, scientists believe they may have identified a substance that can drastically reduce the amount.

Despite being the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, the UK passed the Climate Change Act in 2008, a move that reduced coal-fired electricity generation by 33 percent in only five years. The UK's carbon tax helped spur the phasing out of coal, but the political and economic conditions that enabled it are by no means universal.

In the wake of a massive natural gas extraction project by Chevron, the Australian government asked the oil behemoth to bury as much as 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, which would otherwise be released into the atmosphere. The technology fueling the burying initiative, called carbon capture and storage (CCS), has had success in similar projects around the world in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the oil creation process.

In Eskilstuna, Sweden, there is a different kind of shopping mall – one that sells used and upcycled goods. In an effort to combat consumerism and bolster sustainability, the mall, called ReTuna, is nicely curated and organized, making second-hand shopping mainstream. The mall sees 700 people each day, on average, and has sold nearly $3.5 million worth of items.

Fly ash bricks help reduce construction waste by utilizing the powdery by-product of burning coal. They are a green replacement for red clay bricks, which contribute to 5-15% of India’s emissions. They also utilize waste from coal-based thermal plants, which often gets disposed of by being dumped in water bodies and on roadsides. In comparison to red clay bricks, fly ash bricks are less expensive and the production process doesn’t emit smoke or use the more fertile top soil. Their use has been mandated by some regions and about 150 small fly ash enterprises have emerged.

Securecycle is a nonprofit working to reduce the number of young students not attending school in Ogun State, Nigeria. The organization collects old jeans to turn into bags and finds students who are, or will likely, drop out of school to teach them bag production and give them a scholarship to finish primary school.