Would you feel comfortable feeding your family with food wrapped in plastic made from uncontrolled waste streams? Do we really want children’s toys or baby bottles made from recycled plastic whose chemical history cannot be reliably traced and so might contain ‘forever chemicals’ and other hazardous additives? These are not abstract questions. In the coming […]
At midnight today (9 April), the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission reached agreement on a long-awaited EU regulation to prevent plastic pellet losses in the environment, a major source of microplastics pollution. The decision came in the wake of yet another disastrous pellet spill in European waters off the English coast due […]
The three big institutions of the EU have today (17 November) agreed to a timetable to end polluting exports of plastic waste to some countries
Since records began in the late 1980s, over a quarter of a billion tonnes of plastic waste has been traded globally.
Until the mid-1950s, plastics were precious commodities that were used and treated carefully. But in just 65 years, plastic production has increased by 18,300 per cent – fuelling a relentless convenience lifestyle that produces enormous and unnecessary quantities of waste.
A new plan unveiled by the European Commission to curb plastic pollution is a step in the right direction but will only be effective if it is strongly implemented