Fears pollution affecting cognition as crabs exposed to polyethylene struggle to select good homes
When it comes to moving home, hermit crabs are experts, often swapping shells for the optimal abode.
But now researchers have found that exposure to microplastics disrupts this key behaviour. The finds are the latest to suggest such pollution could be having an impact on the world’s marine creatures.
Continue reading...Tearfund NGO says drinks makers not doing enough to tackle their plastic pollution
Coca-Cola and Pepsi are not doing enough to reduce their plastic waste footprint globally, according to a report.
The charity Tearfund has compiled a league table of how the companies, and Unilever and Nestlé, are faring in their commitments set against a three-point plan.
Continue reading...Bacterial enzyme originally found in compost can be used to make high-quality new bottles
A mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down plastic bottles for recycling in hours has been created by scientists.
The enzyme, originally discovered in a compost heap of leaves, reduced the bottles to chemical building blocks that were then used to make high-quality new bottles. Existing recycling technologies usually produce plastic only good enough for clothing and carpets.
Continue reading...Report says plastic from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever products could cover 83 football pitches every day
Four global drinks giants are responsible for more than half a million tonnes of plastic pollution in six developing countries each year, enough to cover 83 football pitches every day, according to a report.
The NGO Tearfund has calculated the greenhouse gas emissions from the open burning of plastic bottles, sachets and cartons produced by Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Unilever in developing nations, where waste can be mismanaged because people do not have access to collections.
Continue reading...Bacterium is able to break down polyurethane, which is widely used but rarely recycled
A bacterium that feeds on toxic plastic has been discovered by scientists. The bug not only breaks the plastic down but uses it as food to power the process.
The bacterium, which was found at a waste site where plastic had been dumped, is the first that is known to attack polyurethane. Millions of tonnes of the plastic is produced every year to use in items such as sports shoes, nappies, kitchen sponges and as foam insulation, but it is mostly sent to landfill because it it too tough to recycle.
Continue reading...Calls for sachets to be included in UK and European legislation banning other single-use items
The government must act urgently to stamp out the “curse” of single-use plastic sachets, billions of which are helping to fuel the global plastics crisis, campaigners are warning.
A coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from ketchup to shampoo – be included in European and UK legislation outlawing other “throwaway” items such as plastic straws and cotton buds.
Continue reading...Gradual phaseout will begin in March as part of government plan to outlaw all single-use bags by 2021
Tunisia has announced plans to stop its supermarkets and pharmacies from using single-use plastic bags from next month before phasing them out completely in 2021.
Plastic pollution has been a growing problem in the north African country in recent years, along with the challenges presented by its ancient industrial plants and barely managed household waste.
Continue reading...Exclusive: London has highest level yet recorded but health impacts of breathing particles are unknown
Microplastic pollution is raining down on city dwellers, with research revealing that London has the highest levels yet recorded.
The health impacts of breathing or consuming the tiny plastic particles are unknown, and experts say urgent research is needed to assess the risks.
Continue reading...The Garbage Cafe in Ambikapur, India, is helping to tackle the country’s plastic waste problem – and their novel idea is catching on
On bad days, when his employer made some excuse for not paying him his paltry daily wage, Ram Yadav’s main meal used to be dry chapatis, with salt and raw onion for flavour. Sometimes he just went hungry. For a ragpicker like him, one of the thousands of Indians who make a living bringing in plastic waste for recycling, eating in a cafe or restaurant was the stuff of fairytales.
But last week, Yadav was sitting at a table at the Garbage Cafe in Ambikapur, in the state of Chhattisgarh, over a piping hot meal of dal, aloo gobi, poppadoms and rice. He earned the food in exchange for bringing in 1kg of plastic waste. “The hot meal I get here lasts me all day. And it feels good to sit at a table like everyone else,” he said.
Continue reading...Save the Children urges people taking part in its charity event to source sweaters through clothes swaps and vintage shops
Save the Children is calling on people to hold clothes swaps and scour vintage shops rather than buy new Christmas jumpers, after research found that 95% of the novelty items for sale contained plastic.
The appeal for consumer “sustainability” comes ahead of the charity’s annual Christmas jumper day on Friday, when it encourages supporters to buy and wear festive pullovers. Research by the environmental charity Hubbub estimates that 12m jumpers will be bought this year, triggering huge amounts of plastic waste.
Continue reading...Experts fear species decline after huge number of deaths on Henderson and Cocos
More than half a million hermit crabs have been killed after becoming trapped in plastic debris on two remote island groups, prompting concern that the deaths could be part of a global species decline.
The pioneering study found that 508,000 crabs died on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands archipelago in the Indian Ocean, along with 61,000 on Henderson Island in the South Pacific. Previous studies have found high levels of plastic pollution at both sites.
Continue reading...Study of chicken egg samples reveals presence of dangerous chemical compounds around areas where waste is dumped
Plastic waste exports to south-east Asia have been implicated in extreme levels of toxins entering the human food chain in Indonesia.
A new study that sampled chicken eggs around sites in the country where plastic waste accumulates identified alarming levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls long recognised as extremely injurious to human health.
Continue reading...Floating boom finally retains debris from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, creator says
A huge floating device designed by Dutch scientists to clean up an island of rubbish in the Pacific Ocean that is three times the size of France has successfully picked up plastic from the high seas for the first time.
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.
Continue reading...Study finds 800,000 extra fibres are shed than on standard washing machine setting
Delicate wash cycles should be avoided whenever possible, according to scientists who found they can release hundreds of thousands more plastic microfibres into the environment than standard wash cycles.
Researchers at Newcastle University ran tests with full-scale machines to show that a delicate wash, which uses up to twice as much water as a standard cycle, releases on average 800,000 more microfibres than less water-hungry cycles.
Continue reading...PM trumpets his country’s achievements in address to UN general assembly
Scott Morrison signalled that Australia is unlikely to update its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris agreement before a speech to the UN in which he declared that the media was misrepresenting the country’s climate change record.
During a press conference before his UN speech at a recycling facility in Brooklyn, the prime minister said he wouldn’t characterise “misrepresentations” about Australia’s climate stance as fake news.
Continue reading...Image of Elizabeth May manipulated to make it seem as if she was using a reusable cup and metal straw instead of a disposable cup
Canada’s Green party has admitted to manipulating a photograph on its website to make it seem as if the party leader was using a reusable plastic cup and metal straw instead of a disposable paper cup.
The image shows Elizabeth May, smiling and holding a plastic cup emblazoned with the Green party logo and with a metal straw inserted in its cover.
Continue reading...Plastic pollution has entered the fossil record, research shows
Plastic pollution is being deposited into the fossil record, research has found, with contamination increasing exponentially since 1945.
Scientists suggest the plastic layers could be used to mark the start of the Anthropocene, the proposed geological epoch in which human activities have come to dominate the planet. They say after the bronze and iron ages, the current period may become known as the plastic age.
Continue reading...Punjab joins regions where polythene bags are illegal and stiff fines take effect in Islamabad amid demands for alternatives
Punjab has become the latest region in Pakistan to ban plastic bags, as the country battles to reduce single-use plastics that are damaging the environment.
So far there is no date for implementation in Pakistan’s most populous state. The south-eastern province of Sindh has announced it will ban polythene bags from October, and last week a ban took effect in Islamabad.
Continue reading...Experts find no proof minuscule particles are a threat to health but say more research is needed
Microplastics are increasingly found in drinking water, but there is no evidence so far that this poses a risk to humans, according to a new assessment by the World Health Organization.
However, the United Nations body warned against complacency because more research is needed to fully understand how plastic spreads into the environment and works its way through human bodies.
Continue reading...Judges overturn injunction won by plastic manufacturers after thin plastic bags were outlawed
Malawi’s highest court has imposed a ban on plastic bags, a huge milestone for the government and environmental charities who beat off challenges from some of the country’s big manufacturers.
The government imposed the ban on thin plastic bags in 2015, but the move was overturned by the high court after a number of plastic manufacturers who operate in the southern-east African nation obtained an injunction, citing an “infringement of business rights”.
Continue reading...