#plastic environment
Canberra bans single-use plastics as laws pass ACT Assembly
Laws banning single-use plastics in Canberra have passed the ACT Legislative Assembly, and businesses could be fined up to $40,000 if they breach them. Under the ban, plastic cutlery, drink-stirrers and polystyrene cups will be outlawed in the territory from July 1 this year.
Post link
Centre lays down plan to phase out single-use plastics by 2022
The ministry has issued a draft notification on March 11 which lays down how various single-use plastic products will be prohibited in phases next year. The All India Plastics Manufacturers Association, however, underlined that the move could impact at least 1 million jobs
The Union environment ministry has proposed to implement a countrywide ban on manufacture, use, sale, import and handling of some of the single-use plastic products by 2022.
Post link
Shortage fuelled switch from virgin to recycled polyolefins could prove permanent for some grades
Severe shortages of virgin polyolefins are driving substitution to recycled polyolefin alternatives. With ongoing regulatory and consumer pressure against single use plastics, for some grades there may not be a swich back.
Europe recycled polyolefin pellet values are once again at their most competitive levels against virgin on record across all grades, as virgin price rises continue to outpace those in the recycled polyolefins chain.
This is despite recycled polypropylene (R-PP) currently being at record high levels, and prices for recycled polyolefin pellets having risen by up to 55% since the start of 2021.
Post link
Queensland passes laws banning ‘killer’ single-use plastics
Queensland has become the second Australian state to pass laws banning single-use plastics including straws and cutlery that are blighting the state’s waterways and beaches and endangering wildlife.
Environmental groups congratulated the Queensland government after it passed legislation on Wednesday night that will ban single-use plastic items, including polystyrene food containers and cups, from 1 September.
Post link
Polystyrene to be phased out next year under Australia’s plastic waste plan
Conservation groups welcome aspects of the largely voluntary packaging and recycling targets but warn regulation will be necessary
Polystyrene foam commonly used to package consumer goods will be phased out in Australia by mid-2022 as part of a national plan to combat mounting plastic waste.
Post link
‘Biodegradable’ plastic will soon be banned in Australia. That’s a big win for the environment
To start dealing with Australia’s mounting plastic crisis, the federal government last week launched its first National Plastics Plan.
The plan will fight plastic on various fronts, such as banning plastic on beaches, ending polystyrene packaging for takeaway containers, and phasing in microplastic filters in washing machines. But we’re particularly pleased to see a main form of biodegradable plastic will also be phased out.
Biodegradable plastic promises a plastic that breaks down into natural components when it’s no longer wanted for its original purpose. The idea of a plastic that literally disappears once in the ocean, littered on land or in landfill is tantalising — but also (at this stage) a pipe dream.
Post link
Plastic recycling results in rare metals being found in children’s toys and food packaging
Some of the planet’s rarest metals—used in the manufacture of smartphones and other electrical equipment—are increasingly being found in everyday consumer plastics, according to new research.
Scientists from the University of Plymouth and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tested a range of new and used products including children’s toys, office equipment and cosmetic containers.
Through a number of detailed assessments, they examined levels of rare earth elements (REEs) but also quantities of bromine and antimony, used as flame retardants in electrical equipment and a sign of the presence of recycled electronic plastic.
Post link
Coca-Cola turns to 100% recycled plastic bottles in U.S.
Coca-Cola Co will sell its popular sodas in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic material in the United States
The soda and beverage giant, criticized for being one of the biggest producers of plastic waste, pledged a couple of years ago to collect and recycle a bottle or can for each one it sells globally by 2030.
The company will start rolling out the new 13.2oz bottles of Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Flavors this month in select states in the Northeast, Florida and California.
The Atlanta, Georgia-based firm said the new recycled bottles would help reduce its use of new plastic by more than 20% across its North American portfolio compared with 2018.
Post link
Estonia’s EU plastics tax bill comes to €23.6 million for 2021
Estonia’s European Union non-recycled plastics tax bill come to €23.6 million this year, ERR reports, though some experts say that Estonia pays considerably more than it should do in proportion to its size and wealth. The tax proved unpopular with the former Center/EKRE/Isamaa coalition when it was introduced last year.
Post link
The UK is dumping our waste on other countries
Well over half of the household plastic packaging the government claims is recycled is sent abroad, most of it going to countries with very low recycling rates and a serious problem with plastic waste being dumped or burned illegally.
Unbelievably, the amount the UK sends abroad is the equivalent of three and a half Olympic swimming pools every single day.
The government claims all of this exported plastic gets recycled, but the truth is we have no idea what really happens to it because no one bothers to check.
The North America plastic bottles and containers market was valued at USD 35.79 billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD 49.99 billion by 2026 and grow at a CAGR of 5.95% over the forecast period
Microplastics found to alter shape of and de-cluster human lung cells
A growing body of research has started to illuminate the widespread impacts of plastic pollution, and the downstream effects of it on the environment and human health. A new study has delved into the kind of damage microplastics can cause to human lungs, with researchers observing changes to the shape of lung cells and a slowdown in their metabolism when exposed to these tiny plastic particles.
‘Single-use plastics’ to be phased out in Australia from 2025 include plastic utensils and straws
National agreement on items covered by ban should provide businesses with certainty and ease consumer confusionPlastic cutlery and straws are among the types of single-use plastics to be phased out in Australia from 2025 under a plan to reduce plastic waste.
79% support UK ban on sample sachets to reduce plastic waste
Almost eight-in-ten Britons say plastic sample sachets should be banned in the UK, and more than four-in-five say the Government should not ignore their impact on plastic pollution.
These figures come from a poll of 2,000 over-18s in the UK, conducted by One Poll and commissioned by campaign group A Plastic Planet as part of its Sack the Sachet campaign.
Malaysia sends back over 300 containers of illicit plastic waste
Malaysia said on Tuesday it had sent 267 containers of illegal plastic waste back to their countries of origin since 2019, and was in the process of returning 81 more.
Malaysia became the destination of choice for the world’s plastic waste after China banned imports in 2018, but is struggling to fend off a deluge of generally unlicensed unrecyclable garbage.
New U.N. rules on the trade of hazardous waste under the Basel Convention came into force on Jan. 1, intended to discourage the production of hard-to-recycle plastics and to prevent rich countries dumping trash in the developing world, where it often ends up polluting the local environment and the ocean.
Signatories to the Convention may only trade plastic waste if it is clean, sorted and easy to recycle - unless the importing country has granted an exemption.
PFE Continues to Expand into the European Plastics Recycling Industry
Plastics Recyclers Europe, the leading organization to define recyclability in Europe and to develop the RecyClass recyclability testing standards, has recognized Plastics Forming Enterprises (PFE) as an accredited laboratory.
Post link
Bioplastic made from wood waste is durable yet degradable
The race to make plastics renewable has led to bioplastics made from cornstarch, sugarcane, potatoes, coffee grounds, food waste, and algae. Researchers now introduce a new contender made of waste wood powder that they say could be a stronger, cheaper, and more sustainable alternative.
The bioplastic, reported in the journal Nature Sustainability, is strong: it can hold liquids without degrading and resist damage from UV light. Yet at the end of its life, it can be fully recycled or biodegraded.
Post link
