The government says it wants to “streamline planning rules” to kickstart the building of three “new towns” and a new environment secretary has promised to make DEFRA a department of growth. So is nature getting squeezed out?

ENDS Report’s deputy editor Tess Colley reveals her key takehomes from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool with Eco Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons.

The team also spotlights an £80m unpaid tax bill rising from the notorious Walley’s Quarry landfill, PFAS’s 1,100°C kill zone and fears that national park protections are at risk of being watered down.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, ENDS Report’s deputy editor Tess Colley speaks with news editor Pippa Neil.

After obtaining never-before-seen documents, ENDS Report can reveal that the chemical manufacturer, AGC Chemicals Europe Ltd, is making products containing the banned and carcinogenic forever chemical PFOA, and allowing it to be released into the air.

The company says that production of the chemical is inadvertent and within regulations – but it is on-going – and Pippa has uncovered that AGC has known about the risk posed to its workers for almost 20 years.

PLUS: a Reform UK-led council has dropped its climate change emergency declaration on climate skeptic grounds; Natural England has pulled the plug on its hen harrier conservation project and the EA has come out swinging against accusations that it is being pressured to waive through construction projects.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, in a departure from business as usual, ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons sits down with the creators of Boy Wasted – a Smoke Trail production for ENDS Report and De Groene Amsterdammer, developed with the support of JournalismFund Europe.

The investigation started with a photo: a concrete yard with piles of plastic, and lying on the ground was the body of a boy - grotesquely ripped apart.

Who was he? And what really happened to him?

All three episodes of Boy Wasted can be streamed on the Eco Chamber podcast feed now.

In this bonus episode, we find out how this story came about and what we as listeners can do next.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this finale episode, the team asks a disturbing question: what if there is not just one body, but hundreds? As the team join the dots between Britain and Turkey, they begin to uncover the awful scale of deaths, lies and secrets that are buried in our recycling.

Boy Wasted is the thrilling three-part environmental true crime investigation, presented by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, and brought to you by ENDS Report, Journalismfund Europe and De Groene Amsterdammer. Dan and Lucy bring together a team of award-winning journalists across Europe to pursue the truth about a secret global scandal.

Presenters and Producers: Dan Ashby, Lucy Taylor and Adnan Khan

Reporters: Tess Colley and Pippa Neill

Sound Design and Series Mixing: Jarek Zaba

Editor: Jamie Carpenter

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a case that doesn’t make any sense: a boy's body found shredded in a bale of plastic, kept entirely secret. The team begin investigating the people who know about the death. When an eye witness comes forward, the allegations get even bigger.

Boy Wasted is the thrilling three-part environmental true crime investigation, presented by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, and brought to you by ENDS Report, Journalismfund Europe and De Groene Amsterdammer. Dan and Lucy bring together a team of award-winning journalists across Europe to pursue the truth about a secret global scandal.

Presenters and Producers: Dan Ashby, Lucy Taylor and Adnan Khan

Reporters: Tess Colley and Pippa Neill

Sound Design and Series Mixing: Jarek Zaba

Editor: Jamie Carpenter

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When a mystery body of a boy is found in a bale of recycled plastic in Turkey, a team of investigative journalists decide to work out what happened. They go looking for answers in industrial yards and dodgy offices, but the story gets more risky. Tensions explode in Istanbul and one of their team is arrested. But they have to know: who was the boy? And could it be linked to Britain?

Boy Wasted is the thrilling three-part environmental true crime investigation, presented by Dan Ashby and Lucy Taylor, and brought to you by ENDS Report, Journalismfund Europe and De Groene Amsterdammer. Dan and Lucy bring together a team of award-winning journalists from across Europe to pursue the truth about a secret global scandal.

Presenters and Producers: Dan Ashby, Lucy Taylor and Adnan Khan

Reporters: Tess Colley and Pippa Neill

Sound Design and Series Mixing: Jarek Zaba

Editor: Jamie Carpenter

This investigation was developed with the support of Journalismfund Europe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every week, the ENDS team enters the ECO Chamber to discuss the UK’s biggest green news stories and bring you up to speed on the latest developments in environmental policy.

This week, ECO Chamber host James Agyepong-Parsons speaks with editor Jamie Carpenter about Reform UK’s party conference hosted at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham over the weekend.

With prominent fringe events hosted by groups such as the US conservative think-tank, the Heartland Institute, we discuss how climate denialism has permeated Reform UK’s thinking around climate policy.

And what does it mean now Steve Reed is leading the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government? And who is his replacement at DEFRA? This and more…

PLUS: A new legal opinion casts doubt on Planning Bill protections, a new report suggests sewage capacity fears are holding up housing, and a first-of-a-kind local nature recovery strategy has been published.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's a concrete yard with piles of plastic, and lying on the ground is the body of a boy - grotesquely ripped apart.  

Who was he? And what really happened to him? A team of award-winning investigative journalists set out to find out.

You can listen to all three episodes of Boy Wasted on the Eco Chamber podcast feed from 16 September 2025.

A Smoke Trail production for ENDS Report and De Groene Amsterdammer, developed with the support of JournalismFund Europe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.