Plastic Pollution

EnvironmentPlanet or Plastic?The plastic pollution crisis has been widely blamed on a handful of Asian countries, but new research shows just how much the U.S. contributes. ByLaura Parker Published October 30, 2020 • 9 min read When the Environmental Protection Agency released its plan earlier this month for addressing marine…

Riverrecycle and Clean Planet Energy have today announced that they have entered into a partnership agreement in a bid to support global efforts of removing non-recyclable plastics from rivers and the environment in Southeast Asia, and then re-purposing the waste as new ultra-clean fuels. The focus of the partnership begins…

Catching a big blue barrel floating on the ocean surface in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from the German research vessel SONNE during expedition SO268/3 crossing the North Pacific Ocean from Vancouver to Singapore in summer, 2019. Credit: ©Roman Kroke UFZ Current rates of plastic emissions globally may trigger effects…

Plastic is the most common type of debris floating in the world’s oceans. Waves and sunlight break much of it down into smaller particles called microplastics—fragments less than 5 millimeters across, roughly the size of a sesame seed. To understand how microplastic pollution is affecting the ocean, scientists need to…

Single-use plastic tableware, such as straws, cutlery and plates, could be phased out in Hong Kong from 2025 under a government's plan aimed at reducing pollution. A green group welcomed the plan outlined by environment officials on Friday, saying people needs to change their habits. Officials say around 200 tonnes…

Greenpeace UK has released additional video clips of its explosive, undercover interview of one of ExxonMobil’s top lobbyists. In these new video segments, Keith McCoy, senior director of federal relations for the oil giant, describes how the company’s playbook for dealing with public outrage over its plastic pollution is “just…

Surface-floating macroplastic item with a decapod, sampled from the German research vessel SONNE during expedition SO268/3 crossing the North Pacific Ocean from Vancouver to Singapore in summer, 2019. ©Gritta Veit-Köhler Senckenberg. Credit: ©Gritta Veit-Köhler Senckenberg Current rates of plastic emissions globally may trigger effects that we will not be able…

The food industry wants to find a solution to the problem of the dramatic rise in the production of throwaway plastics that are failing to be contained, controlled, reused and recycled. According to researchers at the University of Edinburgh, low cost and low intensity technologies to valorise post-consumer plastic waste are…

media captionSchoolchildren in Cornwall gave partners of world leaders a special performance in an open-air theatreChildren have held a special performance for the partners of the G7 leaders at a cliff-top theatre. A motorcade wound down narrow lanes to reach the Minack Theatre which overlooks picturesque Porthcurno beach on Cornwall's…

EnvironmentPlanet PossibleEven producers have an interest in global rules on plastic waste that would resolve the inconsistencies among countries. ByLaura Parker Published June 8, 2021 • 8 min read The simple plastic bag has come to symbolize the world’s growing problem with plastic waste. Yet globally, there are seven definitions…