Almost one billion tonnes of plastic will be dumped on land and in the oceans over the period from 2016 to 2040 unless the world acts, say a team of 17 global experts.
It has been one year since Prince Edward Island in Canada banned single-use plastic bags, and the results are impressive. It used to collect 15-16 million plastic bags annually for disposal, but all those have now disappeared.
The pandemic is impacting yet another part of the U.S.' world: recycling programs. Since people have become more cautious about person-to-person transfer of COVID-19, single-use items are increasing.
The masks are made of the plastic polypropylene, which is not easily biodegradable. The accumulation of discarded face masks litters the environment and poses serious risks to the equilibrium of habitats and the health of wildlife.
According to a recent study, up to 1.9 million pieces of microplastic is located in a 5 cm-thick layer covering just one square metre. It is the highest levels of microplastics yet recorded on the ocean floor.
It seems we're releasing anywhere around 10 to 30 nanograms of plastic fragments just a few nanometres across for every 3 metres (about 10 feet) of plastic we break apart.
The Earth Island Institute asked for unspecified damages and an order for Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle USA, Procter & Gamble and six other companies to clean up plastic waste that the group says has created a global pollution crisis.
Non-degradable bags will be banned in major cities by the end of 2020 and in all cities and towns by 2022. The restaurant industry will also be banned from using single-use straws by the end of 2020.
Big moves to ban plastic are big news – and I dare say, "radical." It's not easy bucking big oil and the plastic industry, nor is it easy to convince consumers to give up the convenience of disposables.
No list of banned products has been released yet, but it will likely include plastic shopping bags, straws, disposable cutlery, cotton swabs with plastic sticks, drink stirrers, and takeout food containers and cups.
Malaysia will no longer allow other countries to dump their plastic waste on its land. The country has successfully returned 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mostly wealthy nations since the end of last year.
Plastic bricks made via a recycling process developed by a Colombian social enterprise are being used to help tackle a huge shortfall of classrooms in the West African nation of Ivory Coast.
Mexico City has joined a growing number of cities in banning single-use plastic bags. Mexico City has had problems with excessive amounts of trash for years now. Plastic only recently became recyclable in the city.
Petrochemical manufacturers are building 11 new ethylene plants on the Gulf Coast, with capacity for polyethylene growing by 30 percent as developing nations' demand for petrochemical/chemical products continues to increase.
