Plastic Pollution

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the plastic bag was in retreat.Single-use plastics had become the subject of aggressive — and increasingly successful — restrictions. Consumers were becoming mindful of the need to reduce the amount of plastic they used. Companies were switching to more sustainable materials.Now, rollbacks of regulations, sanitary concerns…

(Natural News) As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, many environmentalists are now sounding an alarm over another enemy this global outbreak is highlighting: plastic. Millions of people around the world are now living in a country where wearing masks has been deemed mandatory. From Vietnam, Israel to Cuba, Germany and…

Rotterdam, October 26, 2019 - The Ocean Cleanup unveils the Interceptor, the first scalable river ... cleanup technology. Pierre AUGIER for The Ocean Cleanup Deloitte has calculated the annual cost of marine plastic pollution to be $6-19 billion a year to key economic sectors for coastal communities. One of the…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Dr. Fengwei (David) Xie is currently a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at the International Institute for Nanocomposites Manufacturing (IINM), WMG, University of Warwick. His research focuses on "green"/bio-polymers for sustainability, environmental protection, people's better life and health. He works on developing "green" processes and "green" materials…

COVID-19 has sparked a global arms race for personal protective equipment (PPE) as governments scramble to protect frontline workers.But while no-one disputes the current urgency, campaigners are concerned it could worsen another epidemic: plastic pollution.The UN estimates that 13 million tons of plastic are dumped in the sea each year…

Yorkshire-based British textiles manufacturer, Camira, has teamed up with the SEAQUAL Initiative – which turns waste plastic captured from the sea by fishermen into yarn – to make the industry’s first upholstery fabric to contain ocean plastic. We caught up with Camira’s group design manager Ciara Crossan to find out…

AbstractMicroplastics are ubiquitous in estuarine, coastal, and deep sea sediments. The impacts of microplastics on sedimentary microbial ecosystems and biogeochemical carbon and nitrogen cycles, however, have not been well reported. To evaluate if microplastics influence the composition and function of sedimentary microbial communities, we conducted a microcosm experiment using salt…

One winner in the coronavirus pandemic: single-use plastic. Just a few weeks ago, states were implementing sweeping plastic bag bans and limiting the availability of plastic straws. But as the virus has spread through the U.S., states are rolling back their plastic bag bans, stores are banning the use of…

By: Express News Service | Pune | Published: May 8, 2020 11:12:25 pm During the decade, all attempts will be made to provide free and open access to ocean data and information to all. (AP) (Representational)India is a participating member-country in the six upcoming major ocean missions planned during this…

Florian Schneider, a founding member of Kraftwerk, has died from cancer, a representative for the band tells Pitchfork. Schneider was 73 years old.After meeting as classical music students at the Düsseldorf Conservator, Schneider and Ralf Hütter collaborated in a project called Organisation beginning in 1970. Schneider’s main instrument was flute,…