Category Archives: Plastics

Unilever to scale back environmental and social pledges

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Environmental groups say bosses should ‘hang their heads in shame’ as firm bows to pressure from shareholders to cut costs

Unilever is to scale back its environmental and social aims, provoking critics to say its board should “hang their heads in shame”.

The consumer goods company behind brands ranging from Dove beauty products to Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream was seen as perhaps the foremost proponent of corporate ethics – particularly under the tenure of its Dutch former boss Paul Polman.

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UK gives £600m backing to Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘carbon bomb’ petrochemical plant

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Campaigners say Ineos project in Antwerp will turbocharge plastic production on a scale not seen before in Europe

The UK government is providing a €700m (£600m) guarantee for the billionaire Jim Ratcliffe to build the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years that will turbocharge plastic production.

The huge petrochemical plant has been described as a “carbon bomb” by campaigners. Being constructed in the Belgian city of Antwerp by Ratcliffe’s company Ineos, it will bring plastic production to Europe on a scale not seen before, just as countries are trying to negotiate a binding global treaty to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution.

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Jim Ratcliffe’s vast petrochemical plant in Antwerp faces new legal challenge

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Proposed Project One cracking plant is ‘hugely destructive’, says Client Earth

The creation of the biggest petrochemical plant in Europe in 30 years faces a new legal challenge by a group of NGOs arguing that the true impact of the development on people, nature and the climate has not been considered.

Client Earth lodged papers on Wednesday evening in court which aim to halt the building of Project One, a vast cracking plant to produce the chemicals to make plastic, which is being built in Antwerp by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company Ineos.

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Woolworths, Coles and Aldi to roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores

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Supermarkets will ask customers to recycle scrunchable plastic food packaging for first time since REDcycle ended

Woolworths, Coles and Aldi will roll out soft plastics collection bins in 12 Melbourne stores, giving customers a place to recycle their scrunchable food packaging for the first time since the demise of REDcycle.

A spokesperson for the Soft Plastics Taskforce – made up of the three supermarkets and chaired by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water – said the trial, which begins this week, is possible because of new soft plastic recycling facilities that began operating last week.

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EU will force cosmetic companies to pay to reduce microplastic pollution

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Draft rules follow the ‘polluter pays principle’ and will mean companies cover 80% of extra clean-up costs

Beauty companies will have to pay more to clean up microplastic pollution after EU negotiators struck a new deal to treat sewage.

Under draft rules that follow the “polluter pays principle”, companies that sell medicines and cosmetics will have to cover at least 80% of the extra costs needed to get rid of tiny pollutants that are dirtying urban wastewater. Governments will pay the rest, members of the bloc said, in an effort to prevent vital products from becoming too expensive or scarce.

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Murray Watt says compounding weather events the ‘new reality’; girl hospitalised in K’gari dingo attack – as it happened

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Melbourne: two suspected arson attacks could be linked to crime group conflicts, investigators say

Two suspected arson attacks that destroyed a Melbourne tobacco shop destroyed by fire could be linked to ongoing violent conflict between crime groups, investigators say, AAP reports.

In Spain, improved public understanding of the dangers of heatwaves, coupled with a national heatwave plan, has helped save lives. We should consider adopting a framework for alerts and communications here that builds on Seville’s heatwave naming approach.

Heatwaves have killed more people in Australia than any other natural disaster since 1900, and without sustained and ambitious policies to improve our resilience to extreme heat the challenge will get even harder.

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It’s not snow, it’s styrofoam: Lake Tahoe littered with thousands of ‘detrimental’ beads

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Beads, believed to be remnants of a floating dock and made of polystyrene, can harm environment and aquatic life, say experts

The shores of Lake Tahoe were dusted with white after winter weather hit the area over the weekend. It wasn’t snow, however, but thousands of small plastic styrofoam beads.

A storm released the pollutants, the remains of a floating dock, on to the shoreline of Incline Village beaches. Staff with Clean Up the Lake, a local non-profit, and at least two dozen volunteers staged a major cleanup to clear the area, which has faced a host of environmental problems in recent years amid a surge in tourism and popularity.

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‘A biodiversity catastrophe’: how the world could look in 2050 – unless we act now

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The climate crisis, invasive species, overexploitation of resources and pollution could break down crucial ecosystems. We asked experts to lay out the risks and offer some solutions

The continued destruction of nature across the planet will result in major shocks to food supplies and safe water, the disappearance of unique species and the loss of landscapes central to human culture and leisure by the middle of this century, experts have warned.

By 2050, if humanity does not follow through on commitments to tackle the five main drivers of nature loss critical natural systems could break down just as the human population is projected to peak.

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EU agrees to ban exports of waste plastic to poor countries

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Rules, still subject to formal approval, stop exports to non-OECD countries and limit them elsewhere

The EU has struck a deal to stop ships of waste plastic landing in ports of poor countries.

European lawmakers and member states agreed on Friday to ban exports of plastic rubbish to countries outside the OECD group of mostly rich countries from the middle of 2026. The deal comes as diplomats meet in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out a global treaty on plastic pollution.

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Microplastics found in clouds could affect weather and global temperatures

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Scientists in eastern China find 24 out of 28 water samples have plastic particles commonly seen in synthetic fibers and packaging

Air, water, soil, food and even blood – microplastics have found their way virtually everywhere on Earth, and now that list includes clouds.

Bits of plastic particles were recently discovered above eastern China, with new research showing that these microplastics could influence cloud formation and the weather.

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Countries meet in Kenya to thrash out global plastic pollution treaty

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Delegates in Nairobi for talks in what experts say could be most important multilateral treaty since Paris accord

• The godfather of microplastics on how to stop them

Government delegations will gather in Nairobi, Kenya, to hammer out details of what could be the first global treaty to tackle the plastic pollution crisis.

A key focus for the discussions on Monday will be whether targets to restrict plastic production should be decided unilaterally or whether states should choose their own targets; this is, say environmentalists, the “centre of gravity” for the treaty’s ambition.

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Plastic waste ‘spiralling out of control’ across Africa, analysis shows

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Predicted 116m tonnes of waste annually by 2060 is six times higher than in 2019, driven by demand in sub-Saharan Africa

Plastic waste is “spiralling out of control” across Africa, where it is growing faster than any other region, new analysis has shown.

At current levels, enough plastic waste to cover a football pitch is openly dumped or burned in sub-Saharan Africa every minute, according to the charity Tearfund.

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EU to crack down further on microplastics after glitter ban

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The European Commission aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade

The EU has announced further plans to crack down on microplastics after its ban on glitter came into force.

The proposal, which tackles tiny pellets used in nearly all plastic products, aims to cut plastic pellet pollution by 74% by the end of the decade. Overall, it would lead to a 7% reduction in Europe’s microplastic pollution, according to the European Commission.

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‘It was a plague’: Killarney becomes first Irish town to ban single-use coffee cups

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A blanket ‘bring or buy’ reusable scheme has been introduced in the town, which was getting through 23,000 cups a week

Killarney used to accept it as a price of being a tourist town: ubiquitous disposable coffee cups spilling from bins, littering roads and blighting the area’s national park.

The County Kerry town went through about 23,000 cups a week – more than a million a year – adding up to 18.5 tonnes of waste.

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Glitter sales surge in Germany before EU microplastics ban this week

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Celebrities reportedly fuelling glitter hysteria with one Big Brother ex-contestant buying 82 packets

German reality TV personalities and influencers are reportedly driving a surge in sales of glitter and everything made with it, from nails to makeup, before an EU ban on loose glitter that is aimed at tackling pollution from microplastics.

Many products containing glitter are to be banned from shops in the bloc from the end of this week, creating an unprecedented demand for them.

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Australia’s annual plastic consumption produces emissions equivalent to 5.7m cars, analysis shows

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Plastics consumed nationally in 2019-20 created 16m tonnes of greenhouse gases, report says

The plastics consumed yearly by Australians have a greenhouse emissions impact equivalent to 5.7m cars – more than a third of the cars on Australia’s roads, new analysis suggests.

A report commissioned by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and WWF Australia has found that the plastics consumed nationally in the 2019-20 financial year created 16m tonnes of greenhouse gases.

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Mysterious pile of ‘dumped’ PPE angers people in New Forest

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Inquiry launched by Environment Agency into huge pile of medical aprons found in Calmore, Hampshire

The “dumping” of hundreds of thousands of pieces of unused personal protective equipment near a nature reserve on the edge of the New Forest has mystified and angered local people.

But the council has revealed the giant pile of boxes containing medical aprons in Calmore, Hampshire, will be recycled into plastic bags.

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Australian governments impose recycling rules after packaging industry fails on waste

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New rules agreed at meeting of environment ministers welcomed as breakthrough by conservationists

Industry will be forced to do more to cut waste and boost recycling after Australia’s federal and state governments agreed for the first time to impose mandatory packaging rules on manufacturers and retailers.

The agreement, at a meeting of environment ministers in Sydney on Friday, was welcomed by conservationists as a major breakthrough after years of voluntary industry action has failed to reduce waste.

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Developing country voices will be excluded at UN plastic talks, say NGOs

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Limits on numbers at Paris summit mean some of those ‘most needing to be heard’ will not be in attendance

Scientists and NGOs have accused the UN’s environment programme (Unep) of locking out those “most needing to be heard” from upcoming negotiations in Paris aimed at halting plastic waste.

Last-minute restrictions to the numbers of NGOs attending what the head of Unep described as the “most important multilateral environmental deal” in a decade will exclude people from communities in developing countries harmed by dumping and burning of plastic waste as well as marginalised waste pickers, who are crucial to recycling, from fully participating, they said.

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‘A sea of misinformation’: FTC to address industry greenwashing complaints

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As consumers turn to renewable and recyclable products, protests over industry’s use of misleading terms have proliferated

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is taking aim at greenwashing by big business with an update to its “Green Guides”, which would give the agency stronger legal cases against polluters by clarifying when companies’ deceptive marketing around sustainability and environmental responsibility violates federal law.

The move follows years of formal complaints filed with the FTC about often highly questionable claims made by fossil fuel companies, big agriculture, major food producers and other polluting industries.

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