All the rubbish from last week's news.

Garbage - the good news: Pure Energy Corp, a company based in New York, has announced that it is preparing to launch a petrol substitute that is made mainly from garbage. They hope to set up fuel plants in suitable areas with "lots of trash, lots of people, lots of cars and bad air", according to the company President, Rick Andlinger.

Garbage - the bad news: The Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv will be shut down during afternoon hours to avoid collisions between planes and flocks of birds that have been attracted by a huge rubbish dump nearby. The government has promised to move the dump, but has not been able to find a new site.

More left-overs: The food minister of Sri Lanka, Kingsley Wickremaratne, has urged that a committee be set up to stop food wastage from the parliamentary kitchen. The restaurant prepares a daily spread of 67 dishes for the 225 members of parliament, officials and other visitors, but 30 per cent of the food is thrown away uneaten. Mr Wickremaratne thinks that Sri Lankans eat too much anyway.