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It all started when the Queen agreed to work alongside fellow 91-year-old Sir David Attenborough on a conservation documentary dealing with wildlife in the Commonwealth.

She became personally interested in the damage to oceans caused by dumped plastic.

One thing led to another, and the Queen has now declared war on plastic, banning straws and bottles from the Royal estates.

Buckingham Palace has outlined new waste plans, which will include gradually phasing out plastic straws and bottles in public cafes and banning them altogether in staff dining rooms.

Internal caterers at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh will now only be allowed to use china plates and glasses, or recyclable paper cups.

Takeaway food items in the Royal Collection cafes must also now be made of compostable or biodegradable packaging.

As well as the Queen’s interest, The Prince of Wales also regularly speaks about the damage to the oceans caused by dumped plastic and recently warned that the world was facing an "escalating ecological and human disaster" from refuse in the seas.

Buckingham Palace is currently undergoing a 10-year refurbishment program which will make the royal residence far more green, The Telegraph reported.

Food & Drink Business

Australia’s food ministers have voted to begin the process of making the Health Star Rating (HSR) system mandatory on eligible packaged foods, after new monitoring showed the voluntary scheme fell well short of its agreed uptake target and has struggled to build consistent consumer confidence.

South-east Melbourne’s largest speculative cold storage facility has been launched to the leasing market, with Hale Capital Partners’ 27,291sqm “Adapt” project at Oakleigh South targeting completion in December 2026.

Asahi Beverages and Toll Group have launched what they describe as Australia’s largest single-location electric “route-to-market” heavy vehicle fleet, rolling out five battery-electric rigid trucks to service metropolitan beverage deliveries across Perth.