Plastic Pollution

What we refer to as "plastic" hasn't been around for long. But its usefulness has caused production to skyrocket -- from about two million tons in 1950 to almost 400 million tons a year now, and rising steadily. It's a problem. Although much of it can be recycled, most isn't. That's led many…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Plastic pollution is ubiquitous today, with microplastic particles from disposable goods found in natural environments throughout the globe, including Antarctica. But how those particles move through and accumulate in the environment is poorly understood. Now a Princeton University study has revealed the mechanism by which microplastics,…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain The combined environmental threat of plastic pollution and ocean acidification are having significant impacts on species living in our oceans, according to new research. An international team of scientists found that after three weeks of being submerged in the ocean, the bacterial diversity on plastic bottles…

A study published today in the journal Science Advances has revealed that the United States ranks as high as third among countries contributing to coastal plastic pollution when taking into account its scrap plastic exports as well as the latest figures on illegal dumping and littering in the country. The…

Pictures | Fri Oct 16, 2020 | 9:14pm EDT Products made entirely of plastic bags are pictured at the Plastic Bag Store, a pop-up to raise awareness of the environmental issues with plastics in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Reuters / Friday, October…

Pictures | Sat Oct 17, 2020 | 2:14am BST Products made entirely of plastic bags are pictured at the Plastic Bag Store, a pop-up to raise awareness of the environmental issues with plastics in Times Square in Manhattan, New York City, October 16, 2020. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri Reuters / Friday, October…

It is no secret that Asia has trouble with managing plastic waste. According to a 2015 report by the Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey, 60% of all plastic waste in the ocean comes from five Asian countries—China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. All around the world, scientists are developing innovative…

Nowhere, it seems, is immune from plastic pollution: plastic has been reported in the high Arctic oceans, in the sea ice around Antarctica and even in the world’s deepest waters of the Mariana Trench.But just how bad is the problem? Our new research provides the first global estimate of microplastics…

Ecologists studying the prevalence of plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems around the world are concerned after measuring the scale of human response needed to reduce future emissions and manage what's already floating around out there. "Unless growth in plastic production and use is halted, a fundamental transformation of the plastic…

Too much plastic is getting into the world's waterways. (Photo: Christopher Furlong, Getty Images) In recent years, world leaders have taken steps to curb plastic pollution in the oceans, But a new study, published in Science on Thursday, says these measures are nowhere near enough to get the problem under…