Plastic bags will be banned in retail and restaurants as of 2022. The ban will apply to bags under 50 microns but not to biodegradable bags. However, the ban will not apply to bags used for packing fresh fish and meat, bulk food and ice.
The report audited 484 clean-ups in over 50 countries and six continents in September to identify the biggest polluting companies. The results are - Coca-Cola is the biggest global plastic polluter for the second year in a row.
Dutch researchers have found recently announced that cells exposed to microplastics experience cell death three times faster than those that are not. With microplastic pollution everywhere, the findings are sobering.
Boyan Slat, the creator of the Ocean Cleanup project, tweeted that the 600 metre-long (2,000ft) free-floating boom had captured and retained debris from what is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Scotland has banned plastic-stemmed cotton swabs, in a move to help reduce plastic pollution in the country. Bits of plastic Q-tips get washed up onto beaches and are harmful to marine life and local animals.
The island of Tristan da Cunha is halfway between Argentina and South Africa. Recent study shows that it is hugely polluted by plastic that comes from international shipping.
The Pact is a set of guidelines and suggestions, including initiatives such as eliminating single-use plastic, reducing micro-pollution from synthetic materials, coming up with designs using old clothes and finding ways to recycle.
Studies have found that microplastics are in the human food chain. Recently Plastic by-products have been discovered in blood and urine samples of young children. They were found in 97% to 100% of the test cases.
India is set to impose a nationwide ban on plastic bags, cups and straws on Oct. 2, officials said, in its most sweeping measure yet to stamp out single-use plastics from cities and villages that rank among the world’s most polluted.
the ocean sediment tells a clear story of the world’s growing reliance on plastic. Between 1945 and 2009, the rate of plastic deposition doubled every 15 years on average.
The ban is part of a nationwide effort to curb plastic pollution, which has overwhelmed the tiny country in recent years. Vanuatu's is believed to be the first such ban on disposable diapers anywhere in the world.
Last month Philippines ordered Canada to take back 69 shipping containers filled with Canadian trash. And now Malaysia has announced that it will be shipping out 450 metric tonnes of plastic trash to its countries of origins.
On the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, researchers have determined over 414-million pieces of plastic have washed up on shore. In the Mediterranean, off the coast of Corsica Island, the island of floating plastic and garbage is several dozen km long.
Come March of next year, all New Yorkers will be required to bring their own reusable containers to the grocery store after a bill banning single-use plastic bags was signed into law on Monday.
Wherever that plastic is ending up, we know that it's breaking down over time, disintegrating into micro particles less than 5mm in size, and some even breakdown to the nanoscale at less than one micrometer (size of bacteria).
