The world is suffocating in plastic, but PET is an alternative to single-use plastic. Unisensor has developed sorting machines that can produce 100 percent pure PET flakes from recycled bottles. Could it help to beat the plastic problem?

Clothing chain C&A is now producing jeans in Germany. With the help of robots powered by green energy, its factory in Mönchengladbach churns out 420,000 pairs a year. C&A’s motivation: more sustainability and the ability to react to trends faster.

In the US state of North Dakota, firms and environmental activists are pushing for renewables to counter the oil industry. For Cody Two Bears, a Sioux from the Standing Rock reservation, it's about showing respect for his ancestors and their culture.

DW reporter Miltiades Schmidt says his family belongs to Germany’s middle class. But with prices rising fast, he wonders how much longer they’ll be able to make ends meet. A look at how one family is dealing with the energy crisis.

In Germany, high inflation and rising energy costs are making it hard for many people to get by. Some are being forced to pawn their possessions. More and more people from all walks of life are leaving items at pawnshops in exchange for loans.

France’s favorite condiment is disappearing from supermarket shelves. Drought has crippled harvests of mustard seeds in one of the major export nations: Canada. A report from France’s Burgundy region, where mustard is part of the local culture.

Autonomous trains are set to make rail travel more punctual and more efficient – while boasting energy savings of 30%. Operators also expect less wear and tear on the machinery. We look at a pilot project in Hamburg.

Heat pumps are in big demand as an alternative to oil and gas. But they’re big energy consumers themselves – especially when not properly configured. And there’s a shortage of professional installers.

Cities like Bangkok and Berlin could face flooding due to climate change. Bangkok faces rising sea levels and extreme weather. In Berlin, increasingly heavy rainfall is challenging drainage systems. The 'sponge city' idea could be the way forward.

Computers are a heat source whose potential has yet to be tapped. The more data they process, the hotter they run. A home desktop PC may only produce enough thermal energy to warm up a small office, but there are data centers that have lots of potential.

The Greek government is speeding up its energy transition by promoting wind energy in particular. But resistance to wide-ranging wind farm construction is growing on Evia, a large island near Athens.

The production of avatars for the metaverse relies on the provision of full-body scans. That's complicated. Entrepreneur Naureen Mehmood from Pakistan has developed a platform which simplifies the process.

Digital systems are increasingly voice-operated. Two-thirds of people in Africa are at a digital disadvantage due to not speaking a global language. The big tech companies focus on clients in Europe and the US – but why not Africa?

The war in Ukraine hadn’t had much of an impact on Alaska until recently, when the US banned fish imports from Russia. Although it’s possible to maneuver around the sanctions, Alaskan fishers are hoping to fill the gap.

Peatlands are great for the climate because they store huge amounts of carbon, but the majority of them were dried out for peat mining and agricultural purposes. Now peatlands are being rewetted by the very farmers who destroyed them.

German farmers are struggling due to droughts and dryness. Heat waves and intense sunlight cause crops to grow quickly, but the edible grains are underdeveloped because of lacking water. The climate crisis is now reality in many regions.

The demand for energy is enormous, so why is wind power having such a hard time taking hold in Germany? Getting permits for wind turbines can take years, and production is expensive. Has Germany lost its footing in this industry of the future?

No rain. Rivers running dry. Sinking water tables. Europe's harvest in danger. Innovative ideas are called for. In Germany, farmers are investing in new reservoirs in the hope of turning waste water into groundwater.

How should you answer the phone if someone calls you? Why is it important to smile on the phone, even if no one can see you? Do young people still know how to talk on the phone?

An underground tunnel system for autonomous freight transport is being built in Switzerland. Two corporations have joined forces for the mammoth project — but it also needs government support.

Flying taxis could soon dominate the skies. The company Lilium is already developing them. Initial test flights will still be without passengers or a pilot on board. But the first commercial flights are already scheduled to depart in 2025.

Baidu, China's equivalent to Google, has become the first company to introduce driverless cars on China’s public roads. At the same time, Teslas have been banned, supposedly for safety reasons. A new front in the tech war between China and the US?

Many companies renew their computers and servers every few years. It comes at a huge cost, both financially and to the environment. But in recent years, the market for refurbished computer equipment has really taken off.

Workers at US giants like Amazon, Starbucks, Apple and Google are opting to form unions at an astonishing rate. And they’re having surprising success, despite those companies trying to suppress their efforts.