When it comes to the right shopping bag, paper is often thought of as the greener choice. This intuition is actually "environmental folklore", according to Australian design and sustainability consultant, Leyla Acaroglu, speaker at the recent prestigious TED2013 conference in the US.

Food Lovers Market in Noordhoek, Cape Town, claims it's the first retailer in South Africa to truly invest towards a zero waste solution by adopting a composting method which breaks down cooked food waste, helping to minimise the strain on overflowing landfills.

Meet Viraj Puri, New York City's only commercial farmer. His farm, Gotham Greens, comprises 15,000 square feet of rooftop greenhouse, yielding roughly the same as a traditional 6-acre farm. As the planet’s population swells, particularly in major cities, scientists and public officials believe urban farms will play an important role supplementing our food supply.

Less than 20 miles from Singapore's skyscrapers is a completely different set of high-rise towers. The first commercial-scale vertical farm recently opened in the tiny, densely populated city, with the aim of decreasing dependence on food imports.

As much as half of all the food produced in the world – equivalent to 2bn tonnes – ends up as waste every year, UK engineers have warned in a new report.

The water and wastewater treatment market in the global food and beverage industry will continue to be fast growing and future-oriented, remaining extremely positive towards innovations and technological upgrades that enhance water management, notes a new Frost & Sullivan report.

In a first for African retail, the World Wide Fund for Nature South Africa (WWF-SA) and Woolworths have announced a broad-based, multifaceted partnership to drive greater sustainability through selected Woolworths products and operations.