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Pollution

Pollution can take many forms. But most agree that pollution is harmful for people and other life on Earth — whether dirty air, water or solid waste. What is more controversial is how to best prevent it and clean it up.

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All Content on this topic

DW "Eco Africa" Sendungslogo mit Partnerlogos (Composite)

Eco Africa — The Environment Magazine

A singer speaking up in Burkina Faso. Using sewage water to make beer. Replacing plastic with leaves.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 20, 202426:04 min
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REV – The Auto & Mobility Show

Testing the Dacia Duster. Helping Kenya address air pollution. And cars exploding in Venezuela.
Cars and TransportationJune 18, 202426:04 min
Video Still Eco Africa

Trashy tunes to raise awareness

DRC band Kin'Gongolo Kiniata use discarded objects to make music - and raise awareness about the huge issue of waste.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 18, 202402:30 min
Co2 emitting factory

Could a carbon tax help address the climate crisis?

Taxing CO2 emissions is designed to incentivize change. Could it be made to work?
ClimateJune 18, 202408:20 min
Video Still Eco Africa

Kenya: Drinking straight from the tap

To make clean water more accessible, an organization in Kenya harvests water from the air.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 17, 202405:01 min
DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

From big visions to big business - Global Us

Ghost Army: How a US unit fooled the Nazis during World War II. And how a carbon tax could help the climate.
BusinessJune 14, 202426:04 min
DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

More Climate Protection, More Democracy? Let's go for it!

Toxic ship graveyards in Bangladesh. Democratically-committed youth in Germany. Hugging trees in Uganda.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 10, 202426:04 min
Doku Plan KW 23 Giftwolken über dem Irak

Under poisoned skies - Iraq’s toxic oil fields

The air in many regions of Iraq is polluted and unhealthy, perhaps even carcinogenic.
SocietyJune 8, 202452:04 min
A man with a green helmet tries to get plastic bottles out of Lake Kivu with an oar in DRC, Africa.

Activists build an island while cleaning up Lake Kivu

Activists in the Democratic Republic of Congo are using plastic waste collected from Lake Kivu to build a huge island.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 4, 202404:00 min
DW Eco India (Sendungslogo)

Sustainable mangrove restoration in southern India

A mangrove restoration project in Tamil Nadu is using biodegradable bags to grow the seedlings, in a win-win for locals.
Nature and EnvironmentJune 4, 202406:11 min
A pile of discarded electronics products

EU: Right to repair aims to shrink e-waste pile

A new EU directive aims to encourage the repair of common household products. What will this mean for the economy?
BusinessMay 31, 2024
DW Podcast | Science Unscripted

'Bigger penises' & learning from our mistakes

Are male sex organs 'getting bigger' over time? Also, a study looks at why some of us stop learning from our mistakes.
ScienceMay 17, 202417:47 min
A glass box is filled with a green liquid on a street

Serbia's surprising solution to air pollution — liquid trees

Serbian scientists are trialing innovative liquid trees to help improve air quality in urban areas.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 15, 202401:30 min
A man dressed in a yellow and black striped shirt takes a photograph, with the camera pointed directly at the photographer

Indian photographers snap marginalized groups in Chennai

A photo exhibition in North Chennai is showcasing the lives of those living in poverty in the industrial region.
SocietyMay 13, 202405:41 min
A view of an art installation on the beach, showing several concrete statues of swimmers holding signs protesting sewage pollution

UK seaside town fighting water company pollution

Residents in an English seaside town are fed up with unfiltered wastewater, and are refusing to pay their water bills.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 13, 202406:49 min
DW Focus on Europe Sendungslogo

Focus on Europe — Spotlight on People

Many opposition members have fled Russia. They continue to resist Putin from exile.
PoliticsMay 9, 202426:05 min
EcoIndia Show | Dal Lake

Dal Lake: Can conservation efforts turn things around?

Local conservation efforts could turn things around for polluted Dal Lake in Srinagar.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 7, 202406:35 min
Eco Hospital staff and patient walking with ducks in Ghana

Ghana’s Eco Hospital helps patients heal

The Eco Hospital in Wa in northwestern Ghana uses the healing power of nature to treat patients.
Nature and EnvironmentMay 2, 202402:27 min
Women sorting fish by the sea in The Gambia

Overfishing and pollution: Threats to Gambia’s blue economy

A coastal community in The Gambia faces the dual threat of overfishing and industrial pollution.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 29, 202404:22 min
Fruit packaged in plastic or arranged in cardboard boxes

Shopping showdown — what's greener, plastic or paper?

Paper packaging is more environmentally friendly than plastic, right? But it's not so simple.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 24, 2024
An art installation made with discarded plastic bottles

A Nigerian museum turns waste into art

A museum in Nigeria is attracting visitors with decoration and works of art made from recycled materials.
ArtsApril 22, 202401:36 min
Living Planet 210318 Podcast Cover

Deep Dive: Mercury’s promise of gold in South America

Mercury’s a known pollutant in fish, but did you know its biggest emitter is actually small-scale gold mining?
Nature and EnvironmentApril 18, 202427:23 min
Ther River Seine in Paris by Notre Dame Cathedral

Ahead of Paris Olympics, outcry grows over water pollution

Worries about the water quality for Paris 2024 events in the River Seine follow other scandals in western Europe.
SportsApril 18, 2024
A landfill in front of smokestacks

How European trash illegally ends up in Southeast Asia

The illegal waste trade from Europe to Southeast Asia has emerged as a highly profitable, low-risk criminal enterprise.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 17, 2024
A pair of glasses with a black frame against a yellow background beside contact lense kit on a pink background

Eyeing sustainability: Contact lenses vs. glasses

Is all the waste associated with contact lenses better than the environmental impact of manufacturing glasses?
Nature and EnvironmentApril 12, 2024
DW "Eco Africa" Sendungslogo mit Partnerlogos (Composite)

Eco Africa - The Environment Magazine

Preserving the environment and growing green livelihoods—a mix of high-tech and low-tech empowers people and communities
Nature and EnvironmentApril 11, 202426:06 min
A power station in the distance amid heavy air pollution

Africa's fight against urban air pollution

Cities are growing rapidly in Africa, but many countries lack effective technologies to measure air pollution.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 6, 2024
DW Eco Africa (Sendungslogo mit Partnerlogos englisch)

Eco Africa — The Environment Magazine

Ghana tackles pollution with citizen science and Kenyan scientists wage fungal warfare against witchweed.
Nature and EnvironmentApril 4, 202426:06 min
Dokumentation YT Plan KW 52 | Faserfarmer - Bei Jutebauern in Bangladesch

The Golden Fiber - Jute farmers in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the largest jute producers in the world.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 28, 202442:36 min
A man throws empty batteries into a cardboard recycling box in Poland, Europe.

Avoiding landfill: Recycling batteries in Poland

An activist in Poland has encouraged the public to recycle batteries to keep them out of landfill, and it's catching on.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 26, 202401:54 min
Desalination plant in Spain

Desalination — can it help us survive water scarcity?

It is known for being energy-intensive, expensive and polluting. But with dwindling freshwater, is desalination vital?
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 22, 2024
DW Eco Africa (Sendungslogo mit Partnerlogos englisch)

Eco Africa — The Environment Magazine

Water management in rural Ghana, upcycled solar lamps in Zimbabwe and the Kenyan TV show that’s changing farming.
Food SecurityMarch 21, 202426:06 min
Pile of discarded electronic devices, including computers, wires and a sewing machine

UN warns of e-waste 'catastrophe'

Recycling lags far behind the mass of electronic waste created, including discarded phones and computers, the UN says.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 20, 2024
View of the city

Lima: Poor air quality causes respiratory diseases

Air quality is a big problem in Lima. Reforestation is one part of the solution.
HealthMarch 18, 202405:18 min
Containers ships unload their cargo at northern Germany's Bremerhaven port on February 24, 2022

Red Sea attacks cause global trade to splutter

Ships have been forced to make detours due to Houthi attacks on the Suez Canal route and low waters in the Panama Canal.
BusinessMarch 15, 2024
DW Projekt Zukunft | Tomorrow Today (PZ) Sendung

How harmful are forever chemicals?

In the US, PFAS have been phased out of all fast-food packaging. Just how toxic are these forever chemicals?
ScienceMarch 15, 202401:56 min
DW Projekt Zukunft | Tomorrow Today (PZ) Sendung

A new chemical process facilitates plastic recycling

Lots of packaging is made from mixed plastics. Now PET can be separated from other varieties using chemical recycling.
ScienceMarch 13, 202404:16 min
REV Elektrofahrzeuge in Indien

Going electric in Indian cities

E-mobility in Indian aims to cut high levels of emissions and save people money. But is it enough?
Cars and TransportationMarch 12, 202404:19 min
DW Projekt Zukunft Sendungslogo Englisch (Tomorrow Today)

Tomorrow Today - The Science Show

Plastics and PFAS have useful properties, but they can also be highly toxic. How can we get rid of these contaminants?
ScienceMarch 8, 202426:06 min
DW Sendung Afrimaxx

Afrimaxx - Modern African Lifestyle

Nigerian clay pots go viral, road-tripping through South Africa and Kenyan fashion made from trash
LifestyleMarch 6, 202426:05 min
DW Sendung Afrimaxx | 08.03.2023

Don't waste your clothes! Trashion is the Kenyan way

Would you wear fashion made out of trash?
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 6, 202404:43 min
Global Us vom 04.03.2024 - Chennai Indien Taucherin

Child scuba diver spearheads plastic clean-up in India

A nine-year old and her scuba instructor father have sparked a movement, collecting garbage off the coast of Chennai.
Nature and EnvironmentMarch 5, 202402:55 min
DW "Global Us" Sendungslogo Composite

Migration and the dangerous path to safety

We meet migrants on the dangerous route between Colombia and Panama, and two refugees fleeing from Sudan to Niger.
GlobalizationMarch 1, 202426:06 min
Three images of different types of packaging

Why companies struggle with repackaging and recycling

The packaging for our everyday products – diapers, foods, and toiletries – is taking on new significance.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 29, 202406:28 min
Magazin Global Us vom 27.11.2023 - Schwefel

Sulfur stinks for the environment

Sulfur can be both harmless and toxic. It's a cause of acid rain and a pollutant present in coal.
ScienceFebruary 29, 202406:58 min
A man's hand holds a reusable plastic cup in front of a deposit machine in Aarhus, Denmark

Danish city combats single-use trash with deposit scheme

Denmark's second-largest city is trialing a deposit scheme that does away with single-use trash like coffee cups.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 28, 202402:23 min
Electric aircraft soaring over land

Eco-solutions in the air and on the ground

E-aircraft, new batteries, heat storage facilities and less packaging waste – all contributing to a better environment.
InnovationFebruary 27, 202426:06 min
Residents of Montpellier getting into a public bus in the morning.

Could free public transportation cut city emissions?

Residents of the French city of Montpellier no longer have to pay for public transport. But not everyone's applauding.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 27, 202405:56 min
A man's hand installing a sensor to measure air pollution in downtown Nairobi.

The fight for clean air by tackling pollution in Nairobi

Activists in Nairobi are gathering data on air pollution from traffic to pressure authorities into taking action.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 26, 202405:12 min
DW's Eco Africa

Eco Africa — The Environment Magazine

The fight to cut emissions and improve air quality in Kenyan and European cities, plus tackling waste and saving sharks.
Nature and EnvironmentFebruary 23, 202426:06 min